Current position | |
---|---|
Title | Head coach |
Team | Wisconsin |
Conference | Big Ten |
Record | 10–8 |
Biographical details | |
Born | Columbus, Ohio, U.S. | August 18, 1973
Playing career | |
1993–1996 | Ohio State |
1997 | New Orleans Saints |
Position(s) | Nose guard |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1999 | Ohio State (GA) |
2000–2001 | Akron (DL) |
2002–2003 | Ohio State (ST) |
2004 | Ohio State (LB) |
2005–2010 | Ohio State (co-DC/LB) |
2011 | Ohio State (interim HC) |
2012–2016 | Ohio State (co-DC/LB) |
2017–2022 | Cincinnati |
2023–present | Wisconsin |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 73–33 (.689) |
Bowls | 3–4 (.429) |
Tournaments | 0–1 (CFP) |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
2 AAC (2020, 2021) 1 AAC East Division (2019) | |
Awards | |
| |
Luke Joseph Fickell (born August 18, 1973) is an American football coach and former player. He is the current head coach at the University of Wisconsin. Previously he was the head coach at the University of Cincinnati, a position he held from 2016 through 2022. Fickell played college football as a nose guard at Ohio State University from 1993 to 1996 and then was an assistant coach for the Buckeyes. He was interim head coach at Ohio State for the entire 2011 season.
Fickell started his playing career at St. Francis DeSales High School, where he was a two-time first-team All-Ohio defensive tackle as well as a three-time state champion in wrestling. [1] After redshirting for the Buckeyes in 1992, Fickell was a standout defensive player, making a school-record 50 consecutive starts at the nose guard position from 1993 to 1996. In his freshman year, he lined up next to Dan Wilkinson. Despite having a torn pectoral muscle, Fickell started the 1997 Rose Bowl, making two tackles in the Buckeyes' victory over Arizona State. After graduating from Ohio State in 1997, Fickell signed as an undrafted free agent with the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). [2] After tearing his ACL, he spent the remainder of the season on the injured reserve list and was later released by the team. [2] [3] [4]
After a brief stint in the NFL and at Ohio State as a graduate assistant in 1999, [5] in 2000 Fickell was hired by the University of Akron as the defensive line coach. [6] [7]
After two seasons with the Zips, he returned to Ohio State in 2002 as the special teams coordinator under second-year head coach, Jim Tressel, helping guide the team to the 2002 BCS National Championship. [8] [9] In 2004, Fickell took over as the linebackers coach, adding the title co-defensive coordinator to his responsibilities in 2005. In 2010, he was named Assistant coach of the Year by the AFCA, joining a list of Buckeyes coaches to be recognized by the association that also includes Carroll Widdoes, Woody Hayes, Earle Bruce, and Jim Tressel. [10]
In 2011, Fickell was originally named to serve as interim head coach in place of Jim Tressel, who was given a five-game suspension by the NCAA due to a recruiting scandal. However, in May of that year, Tressel resigned and Fickell was given a one-year contract to serve as interim coach, only for the 2011 season. [11]
After Ohio State posted a 6–6 regular season record, [12] Fickell was passed up as the permanent head coach, and instead Ohio State hired Urban Meyer. Fickell guided the Buckeyes to the 2012 Gator Bowl against the Florida Gators. [13] After Meyer took the helm, Fickell returned to his old job as co-defensive coordinator (helping guide the Buckeyes to the 2014 CFP National Championship), a job in which he served until he was named head coach at Cincinnati. [14] While on Meyer's staff, Fickell was part of the coaching staff that won the National Championship in the 2014 season. [15]
On December 10, 2016, Fickell was named as the 42nd head coach of the University of Cincinnati, taking the place of the resigning Tommy Tuberville. [16] [17]
In his first season, Fickell led the Bearcats to a 4–8 record. [18]
The 2018 season would be a historic turnaround of the program, finishing with an 11–2 record and a 35–31 victory in the Military Bowl over Virginia Tech. [19] [20] Fickell was named AAC Coach of the Year for the 2018 season, [21] which was only the third 11-win season in the University of Cincinnati history. [22]
He led the team to another 11-win season in 2019. [23] The Bearcats reeled off nine straight wins after falling 42–0 to Ohio State in the second game of the year. [24] The team won the East Division championship in the AAC for the first time, [25] but fell two straight weeks to Memphis, in the final regular season game and in the AAC Conference Championship. [26] [27] For the second straight year, Cincinnati won its bowl game over an Atlantic Coast Conference team, winning the Birmingham Bowl over Boston College by a score of 38–6. [28]
Before the start of the 2020 season Fickell agreed to a contract extension which would keep him at Cincinnati through the 2026 season. [29] Fickell had previously received head coaching interest from other schools such as Michigan State, [30] Florida State, [31] West Virginia, [32] Louisville, [33] and Maryland. [34]
Fickell was one of thirteen coaches named to the watchlist for the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award before the 2020 season. [35]
In 2020, Luke Fickell led the Cincinnati Bearcats to a 9–1 campaign including Cincinnati's second perfect regular season which included winning the 2020 AAC Championship Game against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Cincinnati was selected for the 2021 Peach Bowl against the #9 Georgia Bulldogs. Both teams went into the game down a number of key players due to injury, illness, or opt-outs, including Cincinnati's two All-Americans Sauce Gardner and James Wiggins. After leading by a score of 21–10 entering the fourth quarter, Cincinnati ultimately fell to Georgia on a 53-yard field goal with 7 seconds left in the game, by a final score of 24–21. Fickell was named AAC Coach of the Year for the second time in his career.
In 2021, Fickell again led the Bearcats to a perfect regular-season record, including non-conference wins at the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Indiana Hoosiers. Cincinnati then defended their American Athletic Conference Football Championship with a 35–20 victory over the Houston Cougars. With a record of 13–0 as the only undefeated team in the nation, Cincinnati was selected as the #4 seed in the College Football Playoff, making them the first program outside of a "Power 5" conference to advance. Fickell was named AAC Coach of the Year for the third time in his career, and for the second consecutively, as well as being named the winner of six other major awards including Home Depot Coach of the Year, [36] Sporting News College Football Coach of the Year, [37] Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year, [38] Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year, [39] AFCA Coach of the Year, [40] and the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award. [41] Later on Cincinnati would go on to lose the College Football Playoff Cotton Bowl Semifinal to the University of Alabama and Head coach Nick Saban falling to them 27–6. [42]
In the 2022 season, Fickell led the team to a 9–3 record in the regular season. [43] The Bearcats lost to Louisville 24–7 in the Fenway Bowl. [44]
In November 2022, Wisconsin hired Fickell as its football coach replacing Paul Chryst. [45] [46] [47] He led the Badgers to a 7–5 record in the 2023 season. [48] The Badgers lost 35–31 to the LSU Tigers in the ReliaQuest Bowl. [49]
Luke Fickell and his wife, Amy (Goecke), who has a physical therapy degree from Ohio State, have six children—five sons and one daughter—including two sets of twin boys. [50] [51] They started dating when Amy was a sophomore at Ohio State; they were married in 2000. [52] Fickell and his family are Catholic, which played a factor in Fickell's interest in coming to Cincinnati. [53]
Fickell's eldest son, Landon, committed to Cincinnati as an offensive guard out of Moeller High School as part of the 2021 recruitment class. [54]
Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ohio State Buckeyes (Big Ten Conference)(2011) | |||||||||
2011 | Ohio State | 6–7 | 3–5 | 4th (Leaders) | L Gator | ||||
Ohio State: | 6–7 | 3–5 | |||||||
Cincinnati Bearcats (American Athletic Conference)(2017–2022) | |||||||||
2017 | Cincinnati | 4–8 | 2–6 | T–4th (East) | |||||
2018 | Cincinnati | 11–2 | 6–2 | 3rd (East) | W Military | 23 | 24 | ||
2019 | Cincinnati | 11–3 | 7–1 | 1st (East) | W Birmingham | 21 | 21 | ||
2020 | Cincinnati | 9–1 | 6–0 | 1st | L Peach † | 8 | 8 | ||
2021 | Cincinnati | 13–1 | 8–0 | 1st | L Cotton † | 4 | 4 | ||
2022 | Cincinnati | 9–3 | 6–2 | 3rd | Fenway* | ||||
Cincinnati: | 57–18 | 35–11 | *resigned prior to bowl game | ||||||
Wisconsin Badgers (Big Ten Conference)(2023–present) | |||||||||
2022 | Wisconsin | 1–0 | 0–0 | 5th (West) | W Guaranteed Rate | ||||
2023 | Wisconsin | 7–6 | 5–4 | T–2nd (West) | L ReliaQuest | ||||
2024 | Wisconsin | 2–2 | 0–1 | ||||||
Wisconsin: | 10–8 | 5–5 | |||||||
Total: | 73–33 | ||||||||
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
|
James Patrick Tressel is an American college football coach and university administrator who served as president of Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio from 2014 to 2023. Before becoming an administrator, Tressel was the head football coach of the Youngstown State Penguins and later the Ohio State Buckeyes in a career that spanned from 1986 until 2010. Tressel's teams earned several national championships during the course of his career, earning him numerous accolades.
The Victory Bell is the trophy awarded to the winner of the American college football rivalry game played by the Cincinnati Bearcats football team of the University of Cincinnati and the Miami RedHawks football team of Miami University. The Victory Bell is the oldest current non-conference college football rivalry in the United States. Having first been played in 1888, the rivalry is tied for being the oldest in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, with the North Carolina–Wake Forest rivalry and the Duke–North Carolina football rivalry also dating to 1888. It is also the fourth-most played college football rivalry game, with 127 meetings total.
The 2005 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented Ohio State University in the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head football coach was Jim Tressel. The Buckeyes played their home games in Ohio Stadium. The team finished the season with a win–loss record of 10–2, and a Big Ten Conference record of 7–1. They tied for the Big Ten championship with Penn State.
The Keg of Nails is a traveling trophy continuously awarded to the winner of the American college football rivalry game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and Louisville Cardinals. The rivalry has stretched over the span of four conferences from the Missouri Valley Conference, to Conference USA, and more recently in the Big East Conference, which in 2013 was renamed to the American Athletic Conference. It is believed to be the oldest rivalry for the Louisville football team and the second oldest for Cincinnati, only behind the Victory Bell with the Miami RedHawks.
The 2004 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented Ohio State University during the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head football coach was Jim Tressel. The Buckeyes played their home games at Ohio Stadium. The team finished the season with a record of 8–4 and a Big Ten Conference record of 4–4.
Marcus Freeman is an American football coach and former linebacker who is the head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He previously served as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Notre Dame in 2021. Freeman has also previously served as an assistant coach at the University of Cincinnati, Purdue University, Kent State University, and Ohio State University.
The Cincinnati Bearcats football program represents the University of Cincinnati in college football. They compete at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level as members of the Big 12 Conference. They have played their home games in historic and renovated Nippert Stadium since 1924. The Bearcats have an all-time record of over .500, having reached their 600th program victory in 2017. The program has had a resurgence in recent years. After joining the Big East for the 2005 season, the Bearcats have gone 155–75, along with 14 bowl game appearances, 7 conference titles, 4 BCS/NY6 Bowl berths and 38 NFL Draft selections, as of the 2022 season.
Kerry Coombs is an American football coach who is the special teams coordinator and cornerbacks coach at the University of Cincinnati. Previously, Coombs was an assistant coach for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL) in 2018 and 2019 and the defensive coordinator for the Ohio State Buckeyes from 2020 to 2021.
Mike Tressel is an American football coach who is currently the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach for the Wisconsin Badgers. Tressel, the nephew of former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel, joined the University of Cincinnati's football coaching staff under Mark Dantonio in 2004. Tressel followed Dantonio to Michigan State when he was hired there in December 2006. He was named the acting head coach when Dantonio announced his retirement in February 2020. Tressel was one of two Dantonio assistants retained by Dantonio's successor, Mel Tucker.
Tuf Jarred Borland is an American former football linebacker and current coach for the Wisconsin Badgers. He played college football at the Ohio State University. After going undrafted in the 2021 NFL draft, he signed with the Minnesota Vikings. He appeared in two games with Minnesota during the 2021 season, but was released in 2022.
The 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 152nd season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision. The regular season began on August 28, 2021, and ended on December 11, 2021. The postseason began on December 17, with the main games ending on January 10, 2022, with the College Football Playoff National Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, and the all-star portion of the post-season concluding with the inaugural HBCU Legacy Bowl on February 19, 2022. It was the eighth season of the College Football Playoff (CFP) system. It was the first time since 2016 that no major team finished the season undefeated as the Cincinnati Bearcats, the season's last undefeated team, were defeated in the 2021 Cotton Bowl Classic. The season's Heisman Trophy winner was Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Bryce Young.
The 2021 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bearcats played their home games at Nippert Stadium and competed as members of the American Athletic Conference (AAC). They were led by fifth-year head coach Luke Fickell.
The 2021 American Athletic Conference football season was the 30th NCAA Division I FBS Football season of the American Athletic Conference. The season was the ninth since the former Big East Conference dissolved and became the American Athletic Conference and the eighth season of the College Football Playoff in place. The American was considered a member of the Group of Five (G5) together with Conference USA (C–USA), the Mid-American Conference (MAC), the Mountain West Conference and the Sun Belt Conference.
The 2022 American Athletic Conference football season is the 31st NCAA Division I FBS Football season of the American Athletic Conference. The season is the tenth since the former Big East Conference dissolved and became the American Athletic Conference and the ninth season of the College Football Playoff in place. The American is considered a member of the Group of Five (G5) together with Conference USA, the MAC, Mountain West Conference and the Sun Belt Conference. In September 2021, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF accepted invitations to join the Big 12 Conference. The three schools had been contractually required to remain with The American through 2024, but the conference and its departing members reached a buyout agreement that allowed those schools to leave in 2023.
The 2022 Fenway Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 17, 2022, at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. The game was the inaugural edition of the Fenway Bowl and it featured Cincinnati from the American Athletic Conference and Louisville from the Atlantic Coast Conference. The game began at 11:03 a.m. EST and aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2022–23 bowl games concluding the 2022 FBS football season. Sponsored by cloud storage company Wasabi Technologies, it was officially known as the Wasabi Fenway Bowl.
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)2. Was your Catholic faith a factor in choosing where you wanted to be a head coach? LF: "I'm not sure it was one of those things where you say, 'I've got to go to a place that has a high Catholic influence or community,' but my family, like I said, is the number one most important thing to me. And for my family to go to a place where they felt like they could thrive and truly set roots and say, 'We can live here for 10, 12, 15 years' or whatever … to be in a community like this where there are a lot of options for schools, youth sports. There were a lot of factors, and obviously, faith was a big part of that thought."