Luke Fickell and Cincinnati were a great marriage, a feel-good story, a nice change of pace from the unchecked greed and naked striving that flourish in college athletics. Fickell was a coach on the rise who turned down high-profile jobs to stay and keep building around a special nucleus of players. Cincinnati was a school on the wrong side of the Power 5 tracks that worked to meet Fickell’s commitment halfway with increased salaries, facilities and staff.
They mutually achieved the unprecedented last season, Fickell’s fifth on the job. First, Cincinnati broke into the Power 5, effective 2023, with membership within the Big 12. Then the Bearcats backed it up on the field by posting a 13-0 record and becoming the first Power 5 outsider to make the College Football Playoff. They carried a banner for everyone trying to win against odds that were stacked toweringly high against them.
But there was always an expiration date on their wedded bliss. That is no one’s fault—really, it’s a testament to both coach and college that it lasted six years and produced a 57-18 record. Other hot coaches had come and gone more quickly at Cincinnati (Mark Dantonio, Brian Kelly, Butch Jones), whereas Fickell was there long enough to become the school’s all-time leader in victories.
