TicketsCINCINNATI – Luke Fickell used the word "culture" over and over again Tuesday during his first weekly news conference since he became the head football coach at the University of Cincinnati.
"It's what we promote and what we permit," Fickell said. "It's really what your program is."
Fickell acknowledged that the word has become something of a buzzword among football coaches, much as "creating a family atmosphere" used to be, and in many cases still is.
"It's what you guys will think when you watch on Thursday night," he said, "about what is this program really about? Is it about the 4-3 defense, is it about the spread offense? If that's what you think, then we probably aren't doing the things that we need to do to be the program that we're gonna have a chance, to not only get to excellence, but to sustain excellence."
Fickell would prefer everyone who watches Thursday night's 7 p.m. season opener against Austin Peay at Nippert Stadium to walk away impressed by how well his team plays together and how fast it plays. That is the culture he was talking about.
The former Ohio State defensive coordinator and nose tackle, who has spent 16 years of his coaching career at his alma mater, is just as eager as UC fans to see what has changed after a 2016 season in which the Bearcats slipped to 4-8, which led to the departure of Tommy Tuberville after four seasons as the Bearcats' head coach.
The 44-year-old Fickell was so excited at his press conference that he compared the season opener to opening presents on Christmas morning when he was a kid "because you're getting ready to unwrap some stuff and see some stuff that you're not exactly sure what's there."
"It's probably been since I first got started in coaching that I've been in this situation, my first year at the University of Akron," Fickell said. "That's probably the last time that I went into an opener not knowing exactly what to expect, not knowing what the atmosphere will be like, not knowing what you've got that's running out there."
The Bearcats, who were picked to finish fourth in the American Athletic Conference's East Division, will face an Austin Peay team that has lost 27 straight games and is 1-45 during the past four seasons. So unless the Governors, a Football Championship Subdivision program from Clarksville, Tenn., have made amazing strides since last season, this won't be a stiff challenge for the Bearcats.
Austin Peay, under second-year head coach Will Healy, hopes to break into the win column this season with an offense that amassed 4,042 yards last year, the second-most in program history. The Governors are led by quarterback JaVaughn Craig and tailback Kentel Williams, a sophomore who made the Ohio Valley Conference's All-Newcomer team last year when he rushed for 541 yards and six touchdowns while averaging 5.4 yards per carry.
"They've got 13 new guys from junior college transfers to Division I transfers," Fickell said. "I expect to see personnel that may be better than what people have seen on film and that's what you try to make sure our guys understand. But we've got to focus on ourselves. It's not that we don't prepare, it's not that we don't study them, but in the approach that we've taken we've got to focus on ourselves, and it's up to us to do the things that we need to do to be successful.
"There are some (areas) a little bit more than others that I want to see. I'm excited to see how the defensive and offensive line play. When we sit here and tell everybody that our program is an O-line and D-line based program, how could you say that you're not most excited to see how those guys play as a unit? There's a lot of anxiety, to be honest with you."
Junior Hayden Moore will start at quarterback for UC, having won the training camp battle over sophomore Ross Trail based on his advantage in experience. Trail, who has been hampered by an ab strain in recent weeks, will be available if needed.
The Bearcats, who feature a stable of talented running backs, are expected to focus more on the ground game than they have in recent years.
"The running game is going to be huge for us this year," Moore said. "I think the offensive line knows that and they know that a lot of pressure is going to be put on them and I think they're ready for it. That's one of our main goals is to run the ball."
But back to culture. However you want to define it, junior defensive tackle Cortez Broughton has no doubt that it has undergone a major shift from what it was during the last few years under Tuberville.
"It's changed 100 percent," Broughton said. "When it comes to culture, it's about attitude. It changed from somebody laid back to somebody very intense and that intensity brought out a lot of passion that just helped us create an aura of effort and attitude. (Fickell) preaches every single day effort and attitude. It makes you care.
"We needed that. That was a game changer. You go from 4-8 and you come in and he brings a different kind of energy from day one. Every single day you have to have that attitude about you that we have to be the best. It's like making a puzzle and you're trying to find that last piece. This game will be that last piece."
And perhaps the first step to getting the program back to where it was a few years ago.
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years – 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer – before joining the staff of GoBearcats.com in January, 2015.
"It's what we promote and what we permit," Fickell said. "It's really what your program is."
Fickell acknowledged that the word has become something of a buzzword among football coaches, much as "creating a family atmosphere" used to be, and in many cases still is.
"It's what you guys will think when you watch on Thursday night," he said, "about what is this program really about? Is it about the 4-3 defense, is it about the spread offense? If that's what you think, then we probably aren't doing the things that we need to do to be the program that we're gonna have a chance, to not only get to excellence, but to sustain excellence."
Fickell would prefer everyone who watches Thursday night's 7 p.m. season opener against Austin Peay at Nippert Stadium to walk away impressed by how well his team plays together and how fast it plays. That is the culture he was talking about.
The former Ohio State defensive coordinator and nose tackle, who has spent 16 years of his coaching career at his alma mater, is just as eager as UC fans to see what has changed after a 2016 season in which the Bearcats slipped to 4-8, which led to the departure of Tommy Tuberville after four seasons as the Bearcats' head coach.
The 44-year-old Fickell was so excited at his press conference that he compared the season opener to opening presents on Christmas morning when he was a kid "because you're getting ready to unwrap some stuff and see some stuff that you're not exactly sure what's there."
"It's probably been since I first got started in coaching that I've been in this situation, my first year at the University of Akron," Fickell said. "That's probably the last time that I went into an opener not knowing exactly what to expect, not knowing what the atmosphere will be like, not knowing what you've got that's running out there."
The Bearcats, who were picked to finish fourth in the American Athletic Conference's East Division, will face an Austin Peay team that has lost 27 straight games and is 1-45 during the past four seasons. So unless the Governors, a Football Championship Subdivision program from Clarksville, Tenn., have made amazing strides since last season, this won't be a stiff challenge for the Bearcats.
Austin Peay, under second-year head coach Will Healy, hopes to break into the win column this season with an offense that amassed 4,042 yards last year, the second-most in program history. The Governors are led by quarterback JaVaughn Craig and tailback Kentel Williams, a sophomore who made the Ohio Valley Conference's All-Newcomer team last year when he rushed for 541 yards and six touchdowns while averaging 5.4 yards per carry.
"They've got 13 new guys from junior college transfers to Division I transfers," Fickell said. "I expect to see personnel that may be better than what people have seen on film and that's what you try to make sure our guys understand. But we've got to focus on ourselves. It's not that we don't prepare, it's not that we don't study them, but in the approach that we've taken we've got to focus on ourselves, and it's up to us to do the things that we need to do to be successful.
"There are some (areas) a little bit more than others that I want to see. I'm excited to see how the defensive and offensive line play. When we sit here and tell everybody that our program is an O-line and D-line based program, how could you say that you're not most excited to see how those guys play as a unit? There's a lot of anxiety, to be honest with you."
Junior Hayden Moore will start at quarterback for UC, having won the training camp battle over sophomore Ross Trail based on his advantage in experience. Trail, who has been hampered by an ab strain in recent weeks, will be available if needed.
The Bearcats, who feature a stable of talented running backs, are expected to focus more on the ground game than they have in recent years.
"The running game is going to be huge for us this year," Moore said. "I think the offensive line knows that and they know that a lot of pressure is going to be put on them and I think they're ready for it. That's one of our main goals is to run the ball."
But back to culture. However you want to define it, junior defensive tackle Cortez Broughton has no doubt that it has undergone a major shift from what it was during the last few years under Tuberville.
"It's changed 100 percent," Broughton said. "When it comes to culture, it's about attitude. It changed from somebody laid back to somebody very intense and that intensity brought out a lot of passion that just helped us create an aura of effort and attitude. (Fickell) preaches every single day effort and attitude. It makes you care.
"We needed that. That was a game changer. You go from 4-8 and you come in and he brings a different kind of energy from day one. Every single day you have to have that attitude about you that we have to be the best. It's like making a puzzle and you're trying to find that last piece. This game will be that last piece."
And perhaps the first step to getting the program back to where it was a few years ago.
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years – 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer – before joining the staff of GoBearcats.com in January, 2015.