Fickell

I have an Ohio State calendar hanging on the wall in my apartment, amongst other Ohio State paraphernalia.

The picture for the Month of May is of Jim Tressel.

I'm not changing it for the rest of the year.

But Luke Fickell is Ohio State's head coach now, albeit "interim." I hope that come January we can delete "interim" from his position and not have to replace it with "former."

Eleven Warriors has me covered:

One thing is for sure, we're going to find out what kind of leadership skills [Luke Fickell] brings to the table in the face of adversity. My bet is we're going to be more than pleased. We already know he was a rising, respected star on the recruiting and assistant coach fronts and I love the fact he's from Columbus, started 50 games for the Buckeyes and by all accounts relates extremely well to the players. He feels like a scarlet and gray version of Fitzgerald. I love that.

It's also a good bet he studied what he liked about Tressel so he could incorporate into his own skill set. Typically, all this wouldn't be enough if the guy had no previous head coaching experience but I'm intrigued by the fact he gets a full season to test drive his skills for all to evaluate. If he can't handle it, fine. But if he can, I'd like to think we've found our guy. Before Tressel was hired, I was one of those guys that felt like we needed to make splash. Now, I've realized you don't need a big name to win at Ohio State. The facilities, history, tradition, track record of putting guys in the NFL and the city of Columbus do a lot of that heavy lifting for you. What you really need is a guy genuinely passionate about the school he represents that can seal the deal with top talent. Surround that guy with legit assistant coaches at a place like OSU and great things will happen.

Maybe it's partly because I'm dying for something to believe in but I believe Fickell can be the guy that takes all the anxiety out of next [ed: year?]. What about you?

Go Bucks.