M-Borg vs. THE Flavortown U Thread, Orig. by Buckeye Paul, absconded w/by talent.

[paul daugherity]

Oh I never thought you were commenting on Tressel's religiousity, Lines. I always thought it was a jab at his character and buckeye fans willingness to ascribe great attributes to him. I think it is pretty telling that OSU fans' jabs at Hoke focus on his appearance (e.g. "Flounder") rather than his character.

[Hannibal]

The cheaters at OSU are thin and don't you forget it!

[Dr. Strangelove]

Speaking more seriously, I'd have to agree that Fickell is going to become a minor hero in all this: the good solider who stepped aside, stuck with the program, and eased the transition. Career-wise I think he made the right move. He could have shot for a head coaching job at a crap program like Akron or maybe even Cincinnati but 1) Akron is a dead-end job that has done nothing but kill people's careers in major football and 2) Cincinnati long-term future, as the Big East falls apart, is very shaky.

I hate to bring this up but would compare the way Bruce and Cooper and Tressel and Fickell have handled leaving the program (despite all being fired in one way or another) compared to Lloyd Carr. Although I made fun of him a lot, I never really had anything against Carr until after he stopped coaching. Since then I feel I've lost a lot of respect for the guy. Rich Rod was an overly loyal, overly emotional bonehead who probably would've done himself in eventually, but Lloyd did his part to speed that along and apparently sabotaged a very good coach's chances of getting the position because he wasn't one of Lloyd's "boys".

I guess I just see guys like Bruce and even Cooper being much more visible around OSU's program, doing more to support it, even though they honestly have more right to feel mistreated than Lloyd Carr does. JMO

[SeanB]

Fickell is not the "good soldier", he has become the ultimate lap dog.

He will become an after thought as the next two seasons progress.

Kept on in "some capacity" is akin to getting booted to the fringes of urban's staff.

The importance of this rivalry to osu was kicked to the curb, not by Fickell and staff, but by the self-serving brass at the university. meyer tried his best to deflect. If it was such a solid deal, they could have well waited a few more days to even begin the talks, thus quelling the impossible to contain rumors. It wouldn't have made much difference in the ultimate outcome. osu still gets meyer.

Good luck, Luke. You deserved better from your university. Not unexpected, however.

[Jeff Buchanan]

...... Since then I feel I've lost a lot of respect for the guy. Rich Rod was an overly loyal, overly emotional bonehead who probably would've done himself in eventually, but Lloyd did his part to speed that along and apparently sabotaged a very good coach's chances of getting the position because he wasn't one of Lloyd's "boys".

You really need to read Bacon's book, dsl. LC could have done more to support RR and ease the transition but I'm left with the impression that powers to be "on the Hill" as it is called (this includes the Presidents office and the Regents) made boneheaded decisions about how to react publicly to the Rosenberg piece, the subsequent NCAA investigation it sparked and claims that RR rightfully made based on what he was told about the team's record high GPA.

They screwed RR on a number of occasions with press releases that made him look bad. He made things worse by blowing up over them, sulking and otherwise losing focus on his job. The team suffered. I don't think anyone knows if this was purposeful and calculated or just a bunch of politicos doing stupid things for reasons that have nothing to do with advancing the interests of M football .... the face of the University of Michigan.

It's a sad, convoluted tale but LC was likely only a minor player. Football outsiders in positions of power within the University community with little concern for the program who had agendas that involved advancing themselves were probably collectively more to blame than LC ever was. I suspect he actually regrets how things went down. It wasn't pretty and I can guarantee you he loves Michigan.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Fickell is not the "good soldier", he is the ultimate lap dog.

He will become an after thought as the next two seasons progress.

Kept on in "some capacity" is akin to getting booted to the fringes of urban's staff.

The importance of this rivalry to osu was kicked to the curb, not by Fickell and staff, but by the self-serving brass at the university. meyer tried his best to deflect. If it was such a solid deal, they could have well waited a few more days to even begin the talks, thus quelling the impossible to contain rumors. It wouldn't have made much difference in the ultimate outcome. osu still gets meyer.

Good luck, Luke. You deserved better from your university. Not unexpected, however.

1) It's been reported that Meyer's agent leaked word of the negotiations between Meyer and the university

2) It has not been officially announced yet but the Dispatch already reported that Fickell is going to be the DC. Hardly an afterthought on the fringe of the staff

http://www.buckeyextra.com/content/stories/2011/11/28/fickell-to-stay-at-ohio-state.html

[iam416]

There was no way to keep a story this big under wraps. And there was no way OSU was going to do anything but hit the ground running immediately after the M game. The clock on the recruiting period is ticking and ticking fast.

Commendable move by the BoT getting this done post haste.

[SeanB]

Oh sweet joy if he IS the DC. That would be tremendous. Fantastic. Glorious.

Michigan ran rough-shod over the Buckeyes on Saturday. 444 yards total. Balanced offense and the most points in 50 some years.

I hope you're right!

[iam416]

I suppose the same could be said for Mattison. Only M's offense was gads better than the utter crap OSU trotted out for most of the season. 34 points to that offense. Oh joy! Mattison is back!

[Dr. Strangelove]

You really need to read Bacon's book, dsl. LC could have done more to support RR and ease the transition but I'm left with the impression that powers to be "on the Hill" as it is called (this includes the Presidents office and the Regents) made boneheaded decisions about how to react publicly to the Rosenberg piece, the subsequent NCAA investigation it sparked and claims that RR rightfully made based on what he was told about the team's record high GPA.

They screwed RR on a number of occasions with press releases that made him look bad. He made things worse by blowing up over them, sulking and otherwise losing focus on his job. The team suffered. I don't think anyone knows if this was purposeful and calculated or just a bunch of politicos doing stupid things for reasons that have nothing to do with advancing the interests of M football .... the face of the University of Michigan.

It's a sad, convoluted tale but LC was likely only a minor player. Football outsiders in positions of power within the University community with little concern for the program who had agendas that involved advancing themselves were probably collectively more to blame than LC ever was. I suspect he actually regrets how things went down. It wasn't pretty and I can guarantee you he loves Michigan.

I don't know the full details of what Lloyd does behind the scenes but I do know he damned Rich Rod with silence at a time the guy needed some support. He's never been a people person but I get the sense there's more bitterness there than in guys like Bruce & Cooper, who have more legit reasons to resent the university JMHO. Bruce especially has remained a virtual cheerleader for OSU. Heck, Urban springs from his coaching tree. Maybe he does far more than I give him credit for in a non-public role.

[iam416]

Tressel did a lot to really keep those guys in the fold. Gave them offices at the WHAC and had them talk to the team.

Anyway, back to Fickell, it's not entirely clear what position he'll have. Don't believe the Dispatch. The very strong rumor is that Mike Stoops will be DC. I've looked more and more at his record at OU as DC, and am slowly coming around to being very excited about the possibility.

[Mike]

"I suppose the same could be said for Mattison. Only M's offense was gads better than the utter crap OSU trotted out for most of the season. 34 points to that offense. Oh joy! Mattison is back!"

The same Greg Mattison who coordinated Turban's D for a national championship team at Florida.

[iam416]

On the offensive side Studwara is his rumored to be UM3's target. That seems likely to me.

His #2 choice is, supposedly, Chad Morris at Clemson.

He's also going to go after Billy Gonzalez at LSU hard (WRs/passing game coordinator).

[iam416]

The same Greg Mattison who coordinated Turban's D for a national championship team at Florida.

Since we're playing dumb, the same Greg Mattison who got blasted by M. Obviously, one game does not make or break a coach, despite Sean's suggestion to the contrary.

[Dr. Strangelove]

The same Greg Mattison who coordinated Turban's D for a national championship team at Florida.

Same Greg Mattison who coordinated Turban's defense against a certain team from up north in 2007 as well

EDIT: Damn talent keeps beating me to these punchlines...