Luke Fickell given the dreaded vote of confidence by the Badgers AD. "Coach Fickell sees the potential in what this team can be, as do I, and he shares the same disappointment and frustration," McIntosh wrote. "Our student-athletes continue to stand and fight with character and pride as they battle through this moment of adversity, and they deserve all of our support." Wisconsin's financial commitment has been questioned during the team's struggles under Fickell, and McIntosh wrote that investments will increase, especially with athlete recruiting and retention.
Don, with all due respect, I disagree that there are concerns running the ball. Wisconsin is 2nd defensively against the run behind Ohio State. Offensively I think we played into the pace of the game and how the badgers played us defensively. They are such a versatile team that each week will vary.
This is absolutely absurd how many firings of college coaches have occurred. I can’t ever remember this many dismissals during the middle of the season. Franklin: How can you fire a guy that put your program back on the map and took them to the semifinal. If I was a Penn State booster I would be embarrassed. Napier: Another premature firing. Who else wants the Florida job after the athletic department refuses to give their coaches stability.
Paterno put Penn State on the national stage with national championships in 82 & 86 and viable claims for national championships in 69, 81, and 94. Although his legacy was permanently damaged by the Sandusky scandal and he hung on too long, he still casts a long shadow at State College. The accomplishments of all later coaches are compared to Paterno’s by PSU fans. In Franklin’s case, he fielded quality teams but fell badly short against both Ohio State and Michigan with having only won 1 undisputed BT title and no national championships. No Franklin team compared to the 94 Lions who ripped through the BT and bludgeoned Oregon in the Rose Bowl to complete an undefeated season. Measured against standard set by Paterno, F fell short per the PSU fan base who feel they should field teams equal to the elite teams in the BT and nationally. One can debate whether their expectations are realistic in this era of college football but the historical successes of PSU during the Paterno era remain their gold standard.
I get it. I totally understand the high standards but still less than 10 months ago he came within 3 pts. of going to the National Championship game. I wonder who they are looking at as a replacement?
Don, living in Wisconsin, the Fickell era is like reliving the RichRod era at Michigan. Both tried to modernize power football programs with RR implementing a spread offense and LF an “Air Raid” offense. Both hires were enthusiastically welcomed by each fan base but after the performance of “modern” machine turned into crap compared to the teams of olden days, both fan bases went into tar and pitchfork mode. One thing that stands out to me is that Fickell’s playoff team at Cincy had 9 players go to the NFL while Wisconsin had only 1 player drafted last year although that fairly could be attributed to Cryst. F had some outstanding recruiters as asst coaches at Cincinnati and the main one is now a HC at South Bend. F may get another year but the natives here are ready to march on Camp Randall armed with beers, brats and bombs.
KP, the names circulating re Florida are the same names floating around PSU with the possible exception of Pat Fitzgerald who has only been mentioned as a possible PSU candidate although I do not think he would be a popular choice at PSU as his record at NW during his final years there were dismal although the present coach ( former DC hired by Fitz) is doing well with F’s recruits. Re F’s firing, it is reminiscent of Chizik coaching Auburn to a NC and getting fired 2 years later but I imagine Auburn fans and AD thought Gus and Cam were the ones responsible for the NC.
Yeah Chizik did get to stick around for 2 years, not 6 games. Auburn's boosters run the show there and change coaches like underwear. Freeze is on his way out.
But winning a NC usually provides a coach a nice grace period unless some scandal occurs, right? Lloyd Carr essentially became “Coach for Life” after the 97 NC. Coker got 5 years at Miami. The only two places I can recall with fast trigger fingers for a coach who won a NC were Auburn and LSU with Ed Orgeron.