TicketsBy Bill Koch
GoBEARCATS.com
CINCINNATI – Luke Fickell needs only to walk one flight down in the Lindner Center to find a coach who endured a difficult time in his first season at the University of Cincinnati, hung in there, and turned around a program that was in the tank when he took over.
That coach is Mick Cronin, who in 2006 took over a basketball program with only two scholarship players and endured two losing seasons before turning it into a perennial NCAA Tournament participant that's ranked among the nation's top 15 as the 2017-18 season approaches.
"I've talked to Mick a little bit in the last few weeks about some of those things," Fickell said Tuesday at his weekly press conference.
But Fickell refuses to allow himself to think too much about what he hopes will be a rosier future for the UC football program. The time for that, he said, is after the season. For now, he said, he owes it to his seniors to do everything he can to help them find a way to take a 2-6 record and turn it into a 6-6 season.
"We've got one month guaranteed to us," Fickell said. "What are we going to do to make a difference?"
There was plenty of time for soul-searching last week for the UC coaches and players after their dispiriting 31-28 overtime loss to SMU on Oct. 21 as they tried to take full advantage of their bye week. They'll find out Saturday in New Orleans how much progress they've made when they take on Tulane. The Green Wave is 3-5 overall, 1-3 in the American Athletic Conference, and has lost three straight.
"We practiced on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, lifted on Friday, gave them the rest of the day Friday and Saturday," Fickell said. "We came back later on Sunday night to get back to work. It was a time for those guys to get away and relax their minds a little bit, not prepare for a game, to have a weekend where they could take a couple of deep breaths."
Fickell said he was encouraged by the way the Bearcats practiced during those three days last week.
"It starts with the attitude," he said. "You're never quite exactly sure what you're gonna get, but we come out on Tuesday and had the most spirited practice. We've got guys battling one another. We actually had some skirmishes and fights and things that you've got to break up."
After Saturday, the Bearcats will have three games left, all against teams with losing records, beginning with Temple (3-5) and followed by East Carolina (2-6) and Connecticut (3-5).
"We're still high energy," said senior offensive tackle Korey Cunningham. "Everybody's still positive in the locker room. That's what I like to see. Really, we're amping it up a little more trying to finish strong. That's the goal."
That's certainly what Fickell is focused on.
"You've got to live in the moment now and you've got to find a way to make this thing successful and we've got to find a way to finish this thing the right way," Fickell said "For me, pride is an incredible thing, the pride that you take in what it is that you do every single day regardless of what the record is, and the pride that you take in going out there to get better at what you're doing. If you don't love this sport, it'll humble you and you'll get knocked down."
More important than how many more games the Bearcats win this season, Fickell said, is how they approach what to many would seem like hopeless situation.
The seniors, he said, "will be evaluated on how they leave the program as opposed to how they took it over. If those guys tank it, it'll be a heck of a lot harder to move forward with the program. I keep telling them the things that happen even after they leave, that's how they'll be measured as leaders, as guys that set an example, as guys that helped change a culture."
Cronin told his players some of the same things during his two years as he worked tirelessly to resurrect the basketball program even as the losses piled up. It didn't happen right away, but by his third year the Bearcats had posted a winning record. They went to the NIT in his fourth year and broke through to the NCAA Tournament the following year. They haven't missed one since.
Of course, no matter how hard Fickell works, there's no guarantee that level of success will come to his program. As he said, the only thing the Bearcats are guaranteed for now is four more games this season. He and his players are determined to make the most of them.
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.
GoBEARCATS.com
CINCINNATI – Luke Fickell needs only to walk one flight down in the Lindner Center to find a coach who endured a difficult time in his first season at the University of Cincinnati, hung in there, and turned around a program that was in the tank when he took over.
That coach is Mick Cronin, who in 2006 took over a basketball program with only two scholarship players and endured two losing seasons before turning it into a perennial NCAA Tournament participant that's ranked among the nation's top 15 as the 2017-18 season approaches.
"I've talked to Mick a little bit in the last few weeks about some of those things," Fickell said Tuesday at his weekly press conference.
But Fickell refuses to allow himself to think too much about what he hopes will be a rosier future for the UC football program. The time for that, he said, is after the season. For now, he said, he owes it to his seniors to do everything he can to help them find a way to take a 2-6 record and turn it into a 6-6 season.
"We've got one month guaranteed to us," Fickell said. "What are we going to do to make a difference?"
There was plenty of time for soul-searching last week for the UC coaches and players after their dispiriting 31-28 overtime loss to SMU on Oct. 21 as they tried to take full advantage of their bye week. They'll find out Saturday in New Orleans how much progress they've made when they take on Tulane. The Green Wave is 3-5 overall, 1-3 in the American Athletic Conference, and has lost three straight.
"We practiced on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, lifted on Friday, gave them the rest of the day Friday and Saturday," Fickell said. "We came back later on Sunday night to get back to work. It was a time for those guys to get away and relax their minds a little bit, not prepare for a game, to have a weekend where they could take a couple of deep breaths."
Fickell said he was encouraged by the way the Bearcats practiced during those three days last week.
"It starts with the attitude," he said. "You're never quite exactly sure what you're gonna get, but we come out on Tuesday and had the most spirited practice. We've got guys battling one another. We actually had some skirmishes and fights and things that you've got to break up."
After Saturday, the Bearcats will have three games left, all against teams with losing records, beginning with Temple (3-5) and followed by East Carolina (2-6) and Connecticut (3-5).
"We're still high energy," said senior offensive tackle Korey Cunningham. "Everybody's still positive in the locker room. That's what I like to see. Really, we're amping it up a little more trying to finish strong. That's the goal."
That's certainly what Fickell is focused on.
"You've got to live in the moment now and you've got to find a way to make this thing successful and we've got to find a way to finish this thing the right way," Fickell said "For me, pride is an incredible thing, the pride that you take in what it is that you do every single day regardless of what the record is, and the pride that you take in going out there to get better at what you're doing. If you don't love this sport, it'll humble you and you'll get knocked down."
More important than how many more games the Bearcats win this season, Fickell said, is how they approach what to many would seem like hopeless situation.
The seniors, he said, "will be evaluated on how they leave the program as opposed to how they took it over. If those guys tank it, it'll be a heck of a lot harder to move forward with the program. I keep telling them the things that happen even after they leave, that's how they'll be measured as leaders, as guys that set an example, as guys that helped change a culture."
Cronin told his players some of the same things during his two years as he worked tirelessly to resurrect the basketball program even as the losses piled up. It didn't happen right away, but by his third year the Bearcats had posted a winning record. They went to the NIT in his fourth year and broke through to the NCAA Tournament the following year. They haven't missed one since.
Of course, no matter how hard Fickell works, there's no guarantee that level of success will come to his program. As he said, the only thing the Bearcats are guaranteed for now is four more games this season. He and his players are determined to make the most of them.
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.