In reply to: Cincinnati is not the second best team in the country. * posted by tenndomer
For multiple reasons.
I'm not saying he is/should be the guy (although I definitely think it's a possibility he could be the right guy), but there are distinct differences between Fickell and Kelly, despite the fact both were HCs at Cincinnati.
Namely three things that didn't apply to Kelly:
a) His background as both a player and assistant at a top, high-level program and being familiar with the pressure/expectations;
b) (Related, but distinct, from point a) His experience as a coordinator under not only one, but two of the best coaches of the generation (one of whom - Meyer - can legitimately be called legendary), who they themselves were different from each other in terms of both personality/temperament and football X's and O's, so there's presumably lots of information/strategies he could take from both;
c) He has shown the ability to compete against the big boys/teams (almost defeating UGA in the Sugar Bowl last year, beating ND in South Bend with much less talent). Kelly had two such games - Oklahoma and Virginia Tech in 2008 - and was not competitive in either (and I hesitate to even put VT in that category as they finished with 4 losses that season - including 3 conference losses and a loss to East Carolina yet somehow won the ACC and got to play BK's UC team in the Orange Bowl).
My shoddy memory seems to remember people thinking bk had a ‘hot’ cinci team back in the day but I might be oversimplifying it.
I wasn’t too impressed with how Cinci played against us, but like you said, there are other points of differentiation.
Then our present day AD ever will. Please don’t read this as a knock against you- your points are valid
coaching women's softball at Assumption Community College in his early 20s?
win alone is more impressive than any win in Kelly's entire pre-ND career. Fickell learned under masters. Kelly is a self-made man who's NEVER learned under a master and he certainly isn't a master himself.
Next, Fickell's run-dominant offensive scheme is exactly what we need. His RPG since 2018 are 240, 208, 212 and 200 (YTD). That's an average of 215 yd. Meanwhile, Kelly's ND career average is 175. That's an enormous difference.
Finally, Fickell is highly respected among HS head coaches in Ohio. He would do VERY well in recruiting the state for ND. We have underperformed recruiting in Ohio, especially in Cincinnati, which is a Catholic HS hotbed and is absolutely not an OSU stronghold like Cleveland and Columbus are.
Fickell would be a recruiting monster for ND in Ohio. Hell, he just beat us with the Ohio kids OSU didn't want. Look at the linked UC roster. It's loaded with Catholic HS kids from Ohio. Fickell would dominate at ND.
that us knowing that we have three more seasons of Kelly after this season, is the surest sign of purgatory on earth, if not in the afterlife.