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No. 40 which is ahead of 26 P5 classes
The closest G5 is BSU at 65
The only G5 with 4 stars and we have 3!
The rest of the AAC:
MEM 66
TULANE 67
ECU 70
UCF 71
SMU 81
UH 82
TEMPLE 97
USF 101
TULSA 112
NAVY 126

Again I think UC needs to give Luke a contract that will pay him $1 over any G5 coach which means today $3,700,001

You must invest to support the $160 that has been invested.

Just imagine if this type of recruiting class can become somewhat normal with a couple high 3* and a couple more 4* each year. One thing that is Fickell has also been underrated at over the years if finding recruits that were largely overlooked and getting more out of them. One of the most recent examples is Sauce who as a true Freshman ranked as one of the best CB’s in the country last year.

There is still very good talent at several other AAC programs. Many of these programs are hitting the transfer portal hard. We should be at a point where we start to establish more quality depth than our conference mates, though. But it's time to take that next step and actually win this conference.

It sets the table to go even higher next year. Yeah, I said it. If we win the conference chip and play in the NY6 we will be hottest thing this side of the P5 since the hey dey of Boyzee dominance. It'll be college football porn - the eyes won't be able to peel away. We can actually attract a 5 star kid. Think big and be big. Speak loudly and carry a titanium bat.

(02-11-2020 08:33 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  It sets the table to go even higher next year. Yeah, I said it. If we win the conference chip and play in the NY6 we will be hottest thing this side of the P5 since the hey dey of Boyzee dominance. It'll be college football porn - the eyes won't be able to peel away. We can actually attract a 5 star kid. Think big and be big. Speak loudly and carry a titanium bat.

One correction, we'll be hotter than many schools in the P5. I said this years ago on here...but the vibe of UC is far more appealing than standard college towns and suburbia for a lot of recruits out there. They don't stick out in a bad way here as much as they would in an Evanston or a Winston Salem or a Bloomington, and weve got an opportunity to carve out a niche the same way Miami FL did in the 80s (obviously to a limited degree based on the structure of the sport now). And we have a few things going for us that Boise never did, Eastern Time Zone, National Televsion, and a Metropolis as a home.

(02-11-2020 08:56 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(02-11-2020 08:33 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  It sets the table to go even higher next year. Yeah, I said it. If we win the conference chip and play in the NY6 we will be hottest thing this side of the P5 since the hey dey of Boyzee dominance. It'll be college football porn - the eyes won't be able to peel away. We can actually attract a 5 star kid. Think big and be big. Speak loudly and carry a titanium bat.

One correction, we'll be hotter than many schools in the P5. I said this years ago on here...but the vibe of UC is far more appealing than standard college towns and suburbia for a lot of recruits out there. They don't stick out in a bad way here as much as they would in an Evanston or a Winston Salem or a Bloomington, and weve got an opportunity to carve out a niche the same way Miami FL did in the 80s (obviously to a limited degree based on the structure of the sport now). And we have a few things going for us that Boise never did, Eastern Time Zone, National Televsion, and a Metropolis as a home.

Well said. I was comparing us to Boyzee from a performance on the field standpoint as a program outside of a power conference.

Speaking of mangnitude...

(02-11-2020 08:00 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  Just imagine if this type of recruiting class can become somewhat normal with a couple high 3* and a couple more 4* each year. One thing that is Fickell has also been underrated at over the years if finding recruits that were largely overlooked and getting more out of them. One of the most recent examples is Sauce who as a true Freshman ranked as one of the best CB’s in the country last year.

I think it is more that CLF and his staff have been excellent at finding guys BEFORE they hit the radar of the bigger school, and being able to value them, and build a relationship before schools like Michigan State, or Indiana talk to them.

I believe this is exactly what happened with Prater, and it was mentioned some really big schools like LSU tried to talk to him later in the process, and he would not really give them the time of day because he was dead set on Cincinnati.

(02-11-2020 07:17 PM)doss2 Wrote:  No. 40 which is ahead of 26 P5 classes
The closest G5 is BSU at 65
The only G5 with 4 stars and we have 3!
The rest of the AAC:
MEM 66
TULANE 67
ECU 70
UCF 71
SMU 81
UH 82
TEMPLE 97
USF 101
TULSA 112
NAVY 126

Again I think UC needs to give Luke a contract that will pay him $1 over any G5 coach which means today $3,700,001

You must invest to support the $160 that has been invested.

I'm all-in on this plan. And for those continuing to preach the "UC doesn't have the money" mantra, you are part of the problem. You have to think bigger. Investing in Fickel is an investment for the future that has the opportunity to pay off big.

Imagine if Va Tech didn't invest in Frank Beamer 25 years ago. Would they be a nationally respected program today? Imagine if Louisville didn't invest in their entire athletic department 15 years ago. Would they be in the ACC today?

UC has a $1.3B endowment, a large alumni base, and nine Fortune 500 companies in a 50 mile radius. The money is there.

Anybody else remember that halftime interview at Nippert with Chip Kelly where he answered a question, then redirected the discussion to how great the atmosphere was and how he had not expected that?

(02-12-2020 08:19 AM)nachoman91 Wrote:  [quote='doss2' pid='16670997' dateline='1581466631']
No. 40 which is ahead of 26 P5 classes
The closest G5 is BSU at 65
The only G5 with 4 stars and we have 3!
The rest of the AAC:
MEM 66
TULANE 67
ECU 70
UCF 71
SMU 81
UH 82
TEMPLE 97
USF 101
TULSA 112
NAVY 126

Again I think UC needs to give Luke a contract that will pay him $1 over any G5 coach which means today $3,700,001

You must invest to support the $160 that has been invested.

I'm all-in on this plan. And for those continuing to preach the "UC doesn't have the money" mantra, you are part of the problem. You have to think bigger. Investing in Fickel is an investment for the future that has the opportunity to pay off big.

Imagine if Va Tech didn't invest in Frank Beamer 25 years ago. Would they be a nationally respected program today? Imagine if Louisville didn't invest in their entire athletic department 15 years ago. Would they be in the ACC today?

UC has a $1.3B endowment, a large alumni base, and nine Fortune 500 companies in a 50 mile radius. The money is there.
[/]

I like what I see of the man, pay him well. But every recent coach that was not a washed up retread has done well here, pay him what the budget will allow. We should be growing the endowment, not giving it to football coaches.

I don't think the endowment is even part of the discussion. An endowment has to be earmarked for something and I think we'd have heard if someone had created an endowment fund for the athletic department or football team.

With that said, sign the man to a long term personal services contract with the university and athletic department so that there is decent $$ package going to he and his family over say a 5 year period after the end of his coaching tenure. Let that psc roll over each time he signs a contract extension.

Probably a thousand reasons that won't work but the key is UC is going to have to work outside the box to counter the big $$ football schools to keep CLF.

(02-12-2020 08:19 AM)nachoman91 Wrote:  

(02-11-2020 07:17 PM)doss2 Wrote:  No. 40 which is ahead of 26 P5 classes
The closest G5 is BSU at 65
The only G5 with 4 stars and we have 3!
The rest of the AAC:
MEM 66
TULANE 67
ECU 70
UCF 71
SMU 81
UH 82
TEMPLE 97
USF 101
TULSA 112
NAVY 126

Again I think UC needs to give Luke a contract that will pay him $1 over any G5 coach which means today $3,700,001

You must invest to support the $160 that has been invested.

I'm all-in on this plan. And for those continuing to preach the "UC doesn't have the money" mantra, you are part of the problem. You have to think bigger. Investing in Fickel is an investment for the future that has the opportunity to pay off big.

Imagine if Va Tech didn't invest in Frank Beamer 25 years ago. Would they be a nationally respected program today? Imagine if Louisville didn't invest in their entire athletic department 15 years ago. Would they be in the ACC today?

UC has a $1.3B endowment, a large alumni base, and nine Fortune 500 companies in a 50 mile radius. The money is there.

We should not be thinking, "Can UC afford to _____?"
We should be thinking, "Can UC afford to NOT _____?"
In the case of keeping Luke Fickell and his best staff, the answer is NO, we CANNOT afford to lose them. A few extra million $ per year is laughably irrelevant when considering it is probably our only ticket to rejoining a power conference. We absolutely MUST rejoin a power conference... the day it happens, UC's financial and athletic, and therefore academic, futures will shoot up to unimaginable heights for generations to come.

Honest question here. Does it really matter?

If Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, etc. come calling, do you think it matters one bit whether Fickell is making 2.3 million a year or 3.8 million. If a big time blue blood comes calling, isn't he gone either way?

(02-12-2020 01:00 PM)Bruce Monnin Wrote:  Honest question here. Does it really matter?

If Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, etc. come calling, do you think it matters one bit whether Fickell is making 2.3 million a year or 3.8 million. If a big time blue blood comes calling, isn't he gone either way?

It would not matter as to OSU or ND or perhaps PSU. Forget MI as he us not a MI Man.

Know would it matter vs IU, PU, IA, WVU or similar? Maybe as $3.7 would put him at around #30

(02-12-2020 01:00 PM)Bruce Monnin Wrote:  Honest question here. Does it really matter?

If Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, etc. come calling, do you think it matters one bit whether Fickell is making 2.3 million a year or 3.8 million. If a big time blue blood comes calling, isn't he gone either way?

Probably so. UC can, and should, do some things to recognize an amazing performance in 2019 and for the 2020 recruiting cycle. I'll guess that what he wants isn't all about him either--a new locker room and maybe a plan for a permanent indoor practice facility. My belief is the University has some money to put toward these initiatives, but certainly not a blank check.

Earlier in this thread, the point had been mentioned about the endowment. It's one of UC's crown jewels and it matters a lot when assessing an institution's reputation, both for the academic side and among presidents of other institutions who we want to vote affirmatively when UC's number is called again by the P5.

But as others have said, it's not a passbook savings account and in many cases it's not even directly spendable but relies on investment earnings to fund initiatives. It's really more the sum of hundreds of individual gifts that have been donated to fund specific purposes such as scholarships, basic research, medical research and faculty positions to name just a few. And a portion of the investment earnings are what is most often used. There are certainly athletic scholarships in there too, but it's not a money pot we can dip into for coaching salaries or other emergencies of the day. If so, it probably would have been exhausted long ago.

If Fickell really intends to make his four years here turn into ten years, then maybe an annuity upon completion of that period makes sense to augment the salary increases along the way. Most all of his career has been in the Ohio Retirement System and it's a pretty good one. That wouldn't necessarily hold him here, but the longer he sticks around, the better that looks.

(02-12-2020 01:57 PM)doss2 Wrote:  

(02-12-2020 01:00 PM)Bruce Monnin Wrote:  Honest question here. Does it really matter?

If Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, etc. come calling, do you think it matters one bit whether Fickell is making 2.3 million a year or 3.8 million. If a big time blue blood comes calling, isn't he gone either way?

It would not matter as to OSU or ND or perhaps PSU. Forget MI as he us not a MI Man.

Know would it matter vs IU, PU, IA, WVU or similar? Maybe as $3.7 would put him at around #30

Doss is correct. No UC fan is suggesting we'll compete with the blue bloods. We're just saying let's put our best foot forward to give UC the best shot possible of not losing him to all the other schools. If they do that and none of the blue bloods have a coaching change over the next 5-7 years, UC could be in a position of relative national prominence at that point. Then when the Big12 contract comes up and the conference and schools decide what to do, UC is in a great position to be the best viable candidate.

(02-12-2020 07:53 AM)Banter Wrote:  

(02-11-2020 08:00 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  Just imagine if this type of recruiting class can become somewhat normal with a couple high 3* and a couple more 4* each year. One thing that is Fickell has also been underrated at over the years if finding recruits that were largely overlooked and getting more out of them. One of the most recent examples is Sauce who as a true Freshman ranked as one of the best CB’s in the country last year.

I think it is more that CLF and his staff have been excellent at finding guys BEFORE they hit the radar of the bigger school, and being able to value them, and build a relationship before schools like Michigan State, or Indiana talk to them.

I believe this is exactly what happened with Prater, and it was mentioned some really big schools like LSU tried to talk to him later in the process, and he would not really give them the time of day because he was dead set on Cincinnati.

That is definitely one of Fickell’s strength’s and a part of it. Some of the kids though are just as talented and just don’t blow up, for whatever reason. Fickell has always been able to find those diamonds that are undervalued by other programs and recruiting services.

I think part of that is also not just finding the talent, but developing the talent and knowing which kids will be coachable and willing to put the work in. Either way, I look forward to seeing it continue here!

Recent history has proven this job makes good coaches very rich. If or when coach moves on, there will still be a concrete gorge on the north side of Clifton that is undeniably special. Pay him as best we can, he is doing a great job, but understand that there are aspiring coaches across the midwest that are super bitter he turned down the MSU job.

There is a new red recruit alert out on Twitter now!