Who Should Succeed Jim Tressel at Ohio State?

After Jim Tressel deviated from three years to two on his contract extension, Buckeye nation has been wondering if he will retire after the 2014 season.  ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg believes he will. 

When asked who should take over, Rittenberg indicated that he did not think Ohio State would chose from one of their current assistant coaches but felt they would get a big name high profile coach to replace Tressel.  I’d like to argue against Rittenberg, hiring someone outside the family could prove detrimental to the Ohio State Football culture. 

In a story published by Robert Gartrell of Lantern titled, “Who Will Be Next when Tressel Decides to Hang Up the Vest?” four names are mentioned: Urban Meyer, Bo Pelini, Luke Fickell and Darrell Hazell. 

History shows that Ohio State should go with either Fickell or Hazell.  Urban Meyer just stepped down from coaching, but in 2015, I would be surprised if he were not coaching somewhere or ready to come back.  But even if he is available, I do not think he would be the best hire for OSU. 

If one studies major college football programs at the level of Ohio State, one finds an alarming trend.  If a program has success, continuity breeds more success.  Michigan did this for almost 40 years until 2008. They are currently going through their worst stretch since 1962-1963. 

Things changed in 1969 when Bo Schembechler took over.  Bringing the winning ways he learned under Woody Hayes, Schembechler ushered in a new era of Michigan excellence.  After Bo retired, the reigns were handed to Gary Moeller and after his coaching stint ended, Lloyd Carr was promoted.  From 1969 to 2007, Carr’s last year, Michigan had an overall winning percentage of almost 78percent.

Since Carr retired, Michigan’s overall percentage is about 42 percent and they are going to their first bowl game since Carr left.  Rodriguez was not a Michigan man and brought the spread offense with him.  So far, the decision to go with Rich Rod over a proven Michigan man has been highly detrimental even to the point where Ohio State fans are complaining that the rivalry has lost a lot of its luster.

Woody Hayes took over Ohio State in 1951 and from 1951 to 1987, Ohio State only had two losing seasons. They were coached by Ohio State Men in Hayes and Bruce.  Even though Earle Bruce was not on Hayes’s staff at the time of his hiring, Bruce is definitely an Ohio State man as he graduated and was also assistant at OSU. 

Enter John Cooper.  Though he had success as far as total wins and losses, his overall record against Michigan and the bowl games was a dismal 5-18-1, unacceptable at Ohio State. 

Jim Tressel will retire someday.  He has not only brought about a successful football program on the field, but he also strives to help his team become better people off the field. 

Tressel does more than X’s and O’s, he has a plan to develop character in his players, grow them in leadership and help them give back to the community.  He helps the players understand that playing at Ohio State is a privilege.  When he retires, I argue that the best candidate will be someone on his current staff. 

As of now, the two prominent names are Luke Fickell and Darrell Hazell.  I would argue that Fickle has one advantage, he played and coached under John Cooper and observed how Cooper consistently lost to Michigan and was on the 1995 and 1996 teams that were favored to beat UM but did not.  Fickle knows what not to do. 

He has also been on Jim Tressel’s staff since 2002 and has had a chance to see how Tressel molds players, how he prepares his teams to beat Michigan, how he monitors the players physical level so they do not burn out in November and how Tressel handles game day, all invaluable lessons that someone outside the OSU family may not know. 

Tressel’s teams play well in November.  Fickle has observed Tressel these many years and should be able to continue OSU’s winning ways. 

Robert Gartrell writes, “Former Buckeye linebacker James Laurinaitis cites Fickell as one of the most influential coaches on the staff and someone who challenges his players every day in practice.

"'I think when Coach Tressel decides to leave that Fickell is definitely someone they're going to have to look at,' Laurinaitis said. 'He's a great leader and he's going to be a great head coach some day, whether he's at Ohio State or somewhere else.'"

When Tressel retires, Luke Fickell should be the hire to replace him.  If not Fickell, then Darrell Hazell or someone from Tressel’s staff who understands how Tressel forms the winning culture both on and off the field.  But hopefully, Ohio State will have coach Tressel for a long long time.