Luke Fickell often claims he lives "under a rock."
The sixth-year University of Cincinnati football coach says he doesn't pay attention to the polls (Fickell's Bearcats are No. 24 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll) or keep up with what's going on outside of his program.
"This rock, it's not just a rock," he said. "There's 125 of these 18-to-22-year-olds. It's not a little rock."
Fickell may be consumed by the goings-on under his rock, but he's still found time to take notice of the early trend going on this season under the even larger rock of college football: coaches are being fired early and often.
"It's really a bad place that we're headed in this profession," Fickell said.
A total of five FBS coaches were fired before October.
Nebraska fired Scott Frost after the Cornhuskers opened the season 1-2. Frost, who led Nebraska to a national championship in 1997 as the team's quarterback, was 16-31 in four-plus seasons as the program's head coach. Had Nebraska waited until October, Frost's buyout would have been cut in half from $15 million to $7.5 million.
Arizona State and its coach, HermEdwards, "mutually agreed to part ways" after the Sun Devils also opened the 2022 campaign 1-2. Edwards spent four-plus seasons at the school, posting a 26-20 mark. But Edwards' success was marred by an NCAA investigation into alleged recruiting violations, including allegations that he and his staff hosted prospects on campus during the COVID-19 recruiting dead period.
Georgia Tech fired Geoff Collins after the Yellow Jackets' 1-3 start. Collins was 10-28 in his three-plus campaigns in Atlanta. He's due a buyout of at least $10.5 million, the remaining amount on the final three years of the seven-year deal he signed with the school. Collins left Temple to take over at Georgia Tech before the 2019 season.
Colorado let go of Karl Dorrell after he and the Buffaloes started 0-5. Dorrell's squad was outscored 216-67 during the opening skid. Dorrell finished 8-15 in his two-plus seasons in Boulder. Dorrell will receive a buyout of about $8.7 million, according to the school.
Perhaps the most shocking of the early firings in college football this season came in Madison, Wisconsin. After a 2-3 start, Wisconsin decided to part ways with longtime coach Paul Chryst. The Wisconsin alumnus was let go after seven-plus seasons. Chryst went 67-26 in his time in Madison, including a 6-1 record in bowl games. Chryst's Badgers lost three of their first four games last year but finished 9-4.
"I think it’s a little sad to see a guy like Paul Chryst, who has been at his place as long as he has and done what he's done, to be out after five games," Fickell said. "Same thing at Nebraska (Frost), your alma mater. Look I don't know what's going on there, I just think it's a bad trend for our kids. Not for us, we're professionals. We understand you're evaluated on wins and loses. But I think the example that we're setting for our young guys is, hey, if it's not right, just change it and get rid of it in the middle of what you're doing. No wonder we have more transfers."
Chryst, who played quarterback and tight end for the Badgers in the late 1980s, is set to receive an $11 million buyout from his alma mater.
Chryst and Fickell, a former Ohio State player and longtime assistant with the Buckeyes, are more than familiar with one another from their time in the Big Ten Conference.
Fickell's start with the Bearcats was just as turbulent as Chryst's ending at Wisconsin. Fickell opened his Cincinnati career with a 4-8 (2-6 American Athletic Conference) campaign in 2017. It was the same record as UC's previous coach, Tommy Tuberville, who resigned after four seasons. Fickell even trudged through a five-game losing streak in his first year.
Despite Fickell's rocky debut, Cincinnati stayed with the Columbus native, and Fickell in turn stayed with the Bearcats. While he garnered interest from other schools, Fickell built a program and a Cincinnati team that went 44-7 from 2018-21. Fickell was the consensus National Coach of the Year after leading the Bearcats to a 13-1 mark last season and a spot in 2021 College Football Playoff.
Cincinnati then had a program-record nine players selected in the 2022 NFL Draft, including fourth-overall pick Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner, who is now a starting cornerback for the New York Jets.
Fickell has a 100% graduation rate. Every player who completed their eligibility at UC since Fickell took over the program in December 2016 has earned their degree. That's more than 100 players over a span of five seasons.
Fickell said that success – both on the field and in the classroom – is due to the program's continuity.
"I think it's the only way to create sustained success," he said. "Just because when you don't have some stability and continuity, it's really hard for young guys to grow. I know this world today is a transfer portal, and everyone's talking about those things. That's not who we are. That's not how we grow the program."
Fickell and his staff have added some key pieces through the portal in recent years. Players like running back Jerome Ford (Alabama), James Hudson (Michigan), wide receiver Michael Young Jr. (Notre Dame), linebacker Darrian Beavers (Connecticut), safety Bryan Cook (Howard), defensive lineman Jowon Briggs (Virginia), linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. (Miami University) and wide receiver Nick Mardner (Hawaii) have all played key roles in Cincinnati's success. But the vast majority of the Bearcats' high impact players (Gardner, Desmond Ridder, Alec Pierce, Coby Bryant and others) started their college careers under Fickell.
Beavers (Colerain High School), Cook (Mount Healthy), Briggs (Walnut Hills) and Pace (Colerain) were local products very much on Fickell's radar before they wound up playing for other coaches at other schools. They then ultimately transferred back home to UC. Ben Bryant, Cincinnati's starting quarterback this season, is an Eastern Michigan transfer but started his career with Fickell and the Bearcats.
Though Fickell has had a few players enter the portal, he and his staff have yet to experience a mass exodus like some programs. Fickell credits a lot of that to the makeup of his staff. While Fickell has lost some of his assistants to other programs, most notably longtime defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame) and longtime offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock (LSU), he has filled those vacant positions with coaches with either close ties to him, the Cincinnati program or the area.
"There's got to be some stability in what's going on to give 18 to 22-year-olds a chance to grow," said Fickell, who has six children (including Cincinnati sophomore offensive lineman Landon Fickell) with his wife, Amy. "That's where I think we've done a really good job. Not because of me, but because we've been able to keep the key pieces in place here. From our strength program to what we've done offensively (promoting quarterbacks coach and UC Hall of Famer Gino Guidugli to offensive coordinator) to what we've done defensively (replacing Freeman with former Cincinnati assistant Mike Tressel and bringing in former Colerain High School mentor and veteran defensive backs coach Kerry Coombs to lead the UC cornerbacks and special teams). We haven't really changed. We've grown, but we haven't changed. That stability has given our kids a much greater opportunity to grow, to play above the talent levels at which they have and to play together."
Fickell, who signed an extension with Cincinnati earlier this year that keeps him at the school through the 2028 season, has given every indication that he intends to stay at the helm of the Bearcats program for the long haul. Cincinnati is set to join the Big 12 Conference on July 1, 2023.
"To me," Fickell said, "I think as we continue to see how this college football era – the next 10 years – goes, I think you're going to see the ones that have more stability are going to be the ones that in the long run are going to be those programs that you know year in and year out are going to be really good."