Penn State Football: Why Luke Fickell Should Be the Next Coach

Penn State has dismissed Joe Paterno as head football coach, leaving defensive coordinator Tom Bradley as interim head coach.

Had you bet one year ago that both Joe Paterno and Jim Tressel would be forced out of their jobs for moral/ethical violations within the year, almost everyone would have assumed you had lost your mind. However, the child sexual abuse scandal at Penn State and the improper benefits scandal at Ohio State have done just that.

All of a sudden, the Leaders division of the Big Ten appears to lack its namesake.

Although a handful of college football pundits have tried to compare the rapid and shocking fall of these two good men, a more ready analogy to Joe Paterno may be Woody Hayes, who was fired immediately after punching a Clemson player in the face during a bowl game in 1978.

Just like Hayes, Paterno was here one moment and gone the next as the State College situation blew up over the course of two frantic days.

So while it may be painful to be a Penn State fan or alumnus right now, the university has done the right thing and has cleaned house, all the way from Paterno up to the athletic director and the university president Graham Spanier.

Everyone makes mistakes, but some omissions are simply unforgivable, and the Penn State Board of Trustees understands that.

But let's not wallow in the mud of some pedophile scandal forever. There's a future to be dealt with regarding the Penn State football program.

Most importantly, who will coach this team following the unprecedented 46-year tenure of Paterno? Even though Al Golden would certainly be a top choice, and there are other desirable names out there for a major program like Urban Meyer and Greg Schiano, I think Penn State should shock the world and hire Luke Fickell away from Ohio State at the end of the season.

Luke Fickell? Are you crazy?

Not so fast. There are a plurality of reasons to go with Fickell.

First, Fickell is a defensive minded coach that has successfully led one of the best defenses in the country in Columbus the past five years. Before that, Fickell mentored great linebackers like A.J. Hawk and Bobby Carpenter.

With Fickell at the helm, Penn State will continue to be a defensive juggernaut. As proven by this season to date, a strong defense can dominate in the Big Ten. Fickell fits the style so familiar to the school in the mountains of Pennsylvania.

Additionally, Fickell knows what it is like to take over a program in slight disarray following the loss of a legendary head coach. Although Ohio State has struggled at times this season, Fickell has righted the ship despite all the suspensions and all the injuries to Buckeye players.

Fickell has dealt with following in the footsteps of a beloved coach, and has thrived in that situation. For a program that needs to turn the page on the Paterno era in a hurry, Fickell will be prepared to follow yet another disgraced good man.

Moreover, Fickell has cut his teeth as a head coach in a high pressure situation at a football program with high expectations. There have been mistakes and timeout mismanagement in his first year as a head coach, but Fickell will be far more ready to take on the head coaching position in year two.

Even with a transition to a new set of players and a new set of coaches, Fickell should be more confident and successful with one year under his belt. One only has to look at Northwestern and Pat Fitzgerald, or even Paterno himself, to see the long term benefits of hiring a young head coach to steer the program for a long period of time.

With only one year on the job, Fickell will not be terribly expensive to hire. Unlike Urban Meyer and Al Golden, who will demand more money for their level of experience, Penn State can hire Fickell and be fiscally responsible in these tougher economic times. Plus, if Fickell did not work out, Penn State would not be out a ton of money like it would be with one of these other higher profile coaches.

Here's an interesting parallel for those trying to draw them: Bo Schembechler. The greatest coach in Michigan history was hired after his previous tenure at Ohio State as an assistant coach for Woody Hayes.

There are many great coaching trees in professional and college football, and perhaps Jim Tressel will be the spawn of another great coaching tree assuming coaches like Mark Dantonio and Luke Fickell succeed on the same level that Tressel did. Now that Penn State is the biggest division rival for Ohio State, it would be fitting to hire a promising young coach that OSU does not want, in an effort to beat the Buckeyes on a regular basis like Bo did.

Now is a time for Penn State to think outside the box. If the Nittany Lions want a good head coach, there is a great candidate probably about to be kicked to the curb in Columbus in a couple of months from now.

Hire Luke Fickell, and Penn State can move on quickly from the stain at the end of the Paterno era.