Fansided

10 best college football coaching hires

By John Buhler

Dec 13, 2016; Boca Raton, FL, USA; Florida Atlantic Owls head coach Lane Kiffin speaks to the media at FAU Football Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 13, 2016; Boca Raton, FL, USA; Florida Atlantic Owls head coach Lane Kiffin speaks to the media at FAU Football Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 10, 2016; Cincinnati, OH, USA; University of Cincinnati new head football coach Luke Fickell speaks during a press conference in the Lindner Center on the UC campus. Fickell comes to Cincinnati from a defensive coordinator position at Ohio State University. Mandatory Credit: Sam Greene/The Cincinnati Enquirer via USA TODAY NETWORK
Dec 10, 2016; Cincinnati, OH, USA; University of Cincinnati new head football coach Luke Fickell speaks during a press conference in the Lindner Center on the UC campus. Fickell comes to Cincinnati from a defensive coordinator position at Ohio State University. Mandatory Credit: Sam Greene/The Cincinnati Enquirer via USA TODAY NETWORK /

It was good to see former Ohio State Buckeyes defensive coordinator Luke Fickell get a head coaching job. He takes over the Cincinnati Bearcats football program that Tommy Tuberville resigned from after going 4-8 in 2016.

Fickell played at Ohio State and had been an assistant head coach there since 2002. He was the interim head coach for the Buckeyes after the Jim Tressel resignation in 2011. Fickell was a loyal Buckeye, but wasn’t quite ready to be a college head coach.

We know that he is a solid defensive coordinator, but will Fickell pan out as a head coach the second time around? Well, he does know the Ohio recruiting region tremendously well and Cincinnati is the right size of a program for him to build in the mid-major category.

The Big 12 could expand to 12 or more teams in the coming years and Cincinnati is an obvious choice for expansion should the Big 12 go that route. Fickell can grow as a head coach at Cincinnati with a chance to be a leader of a Power 5 team in the next couple of years. Cincinnati is the perfect job for a first-time full-time head coach like Fickell.

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