Ohio State Football: Why 2011 Season Is a Lose-Lose Situation for Luke Fickell

The 2011 Ohio State season will already be largely remembered for the scandal that has engulfed the whole Buckeye football program.

And while the football players along with interim head coach Luke Fickell have promised that they won't be distracted by the negativity around the program, the effect of that type of situation is inevitable.

Right now, there is no set plan for the future, with the NCAA still to issue penalties on Ohio State, and no coach for the following season set in stone yet.

The other thing that doesn't help Fickell out is not even having Terrelle Pryor starting after the fifth game of the year.

The combination of those things will make it tough enough for Fickell and his young team to have the type of year that OSU is accustomed to having.

Pryor's departure from the team will mean that a new QB, likely freshman Braxton Miller, will have to take control of an offense that lost its primary play caller in Jim Tressel.

The team was already going to need to establish a new identity through the first five games of the season with the Suspended Five out of the picture.

But with Pryor gone, this more or less equates to three offensive starters returning from an injury all at the same time.

The downside is that Ohio State will have to trot out an inexperienced QB against the meat of their schedule, such as at Nebraska, home against Wisconsin and Penn State and at Michigan to end the regular season.

Whether the team can hold it together against a Big Ten that is much deeper than it has been in recent seasons is anyone's guess. 

But for Luke Fickell, this season may be the most important in his life.

Aside from the obvious reasons of trying to extend Ohio State's dominance of the Big Ten in the face of potential NCAA sanctions, he is also fighting for his job as well.

Ohio State will not fully start its coaching search until the end of the regular season, meaning 2011 is an extended job interview for the 37-year-old first-year head coach.

While Urban Meyer and Jon Gruden will likely be favorites in the job search, Fickell gets the unique opportunity of having a year to show what he can do with the guys that are in Columbus already.

And although Fickell doesn't have the experience of most other candidates, it is a huge advantage.

But the suspensions and NCAA distractions really can hinder the performance of the team and dampen Fickell's resume in the process.

Whether or not he needs to win a certain amount of games to hold on to his job, it will be interesting to see if the athletic department changes their expectations of Fickell based on what has already happened or might happen soon.

Remember, the NCAA can still slap Ohio State with a bowl ban and a decision on sanctions could come as early as mid to late October.

This would also include a ban on performing in the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game regardless of whether or not Ohio State wins the Leaders' Division.

But the problems from the NCAA could ultimately put Luke Fickell into a bind for his future.

This is not the way he nor most any other coach would want to get into a head coaching position.

Now with uncertainty abound and questions swirling around the program with the end far from sight, Fickell's future is as cloudy as the team for which he coaches.

He does have a chance to keep his job after this season, but the odds might be stacked against him not only with the names he has to compete with for the job but with what he has to work with this year.

Even though Luke Fickell is very much a bright young coach, he will be under a ton of pressure to either meet expectations or end up not being the head coach at Ohio State next season.

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