Urban Meyer may be known now as a college football analyst on ESPN, but he was once a respected head coach of his era, especially during his time at Ohio State. During “The Triple Option” podcast, the coaching legend was asked about mentoring some of the current crop of coaches across various schools.
In particular, Urban Meyer was asked about Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell, who used to play as a nose guard for Ohio State before working as a defensive coordinator for his old school under Meyer. The former Ohio State head coach was all praises for his old protegee.
“As a player, as a coach, when I evaluate people, one thing I have never mentioned is that I want them to have these two qualities, and I think Luke Fickell was a state heavyweight champion, I think for four years, at least three years in the state of Ohio which is a wrestling state,” said Urban Meyer.
“He is tough, undersized nose guard, a worker, grinder, and then No. 2 is competitor, you knowm he is a guy that I have to tell him to calm down sometimes during spring practice because he wants to win every drill, so Luke Fickell, I think No. 1 toughness, No. 2 competitive spirit. He loves players, he really cares deeply about them. Academically, …he works so hard so he makes sure the guys are ready for life after sport.”
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Fickell was a part of the NFL for only one year, in 1997 for the New Orleans Saints. He then started working as a coach in 1999 for Ohio State, before transferring to Akron, and back to Ohio State. He then became the head coach of Cincinnati from 2017 to 2022, before being the Wisconsin head coach from 2023 onwards.
Urban Meyer Still Holds a Grudge Vs. Sports Illustrated
While he now holds a media job, Urban Meyer admitted during last week’s episode of the “Triple Option” podcast that he still has a grudge against Sports Illustrated, particularly about how then-head coach Jim Tressel was forced to resign, only to be replaced by interim head coach Luke Fickell, and this led Meyer to return to the school as the head coach to replace his protegee again.
In the scandal, Sports Illustrated reported in 2002 that six Ohio State players had a deal with a local tattoo artist where they exchanged memorabilia for free tattoos. This caused a big scandal that led to Tressel resigning, with Fickell being forced to replace him as the interim head coach. It became a scandal as this was still the pre-NIL period and it violated the NCAA’s rules.
“They were trading memorabilia for tattoos,” said the former Ohio State coach. “So, competitive advantage, zero. There’s nothing there. The inconsistency of that penalty, to this day, still bothers me.”
Meyer noted that he still has a grudge towards the publication over the incident but acknowledged they broke NCAA rules at that time.
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