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Football
Fickell Saddened for Children, Not Paterno
By Brandon Castel

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Luke Fickell tried to keep the conversation on Ohio State and the upcoming game at Purdue during his weekly Thursday press conference. In the end, the magnitude of the situation at Penn State was too great for silence.

Luke Fickell
Photo by Dan Harker

“I know everyone is going to ask about the whole Penn State situation. I don’t have a ton of comments about it and it’s obviously not the forum to get into it a whole lot,” Fickell started.

“Obviously, it’s very sad. It’s disturbing. Most importantly I feel for all the families involved, and especially the kids involved. That’s the thing you can’t lose sight of; how many lives will truly change because of the events that will happen, who knows. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the families involved.”

Fickell has experienced scandal first-hand at Ohio State following the allegations against Jim Tressel and the eventual resignation of the man who hired him as an assistant coach back in 2002.

He assumed the interim-head coaching job back in May under the shroud of controversy, but that is nothing compared to what Tom Bradley is preparing to undertake in State College. 

“I’m going to try to stay focused on Ohio State and our game with Purdue,” Fickell started again.

“Obviously coach Bradley’s been coaching for over 30-some years, so I’m sure he’s well-equipped to do what he has to do. Our situations are very different. Some similarities, but I don’t think he needs any help from me.”

If anything, Fickell is trying to keep his own mind from wondering. He has enough to worry about with his own future at Ohio State, not to mention a Buckeyes team that is trying to battle back in the Big Ten championship race after dropping the first two games to open conference play.

Inside the walls of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center is where Fickell, his coaches and his players find their escape. That is where they can focus on football instead of the madness going on in State College, or anywhere else in the world for that matter.

“I don’t want to stick my head in the sand and understand there are different things that go on, but there is so much stuff out there that if you allowed yourself to be enthralled with all that stuff, you wont have enough time to do what you need to do and to give all the time and effort you need to your program and your young men,” he said Thursday.

“There will be a time and a place to look back and see how we all learn from history.”

How Paterno will ultimately be remembered is now in the hands of history. Only time will tell how much this scandal will taint the legacy of college football’s all-time winningest coach.

That is not what’s important now.

“I can’t characterize his career,” Fickell said after calling him a ‘great man’ just two days earlier.

“It’s sad because of the situation. It’s sad because of the families. It’s sad because we’re dealing with a lot of young children. That to me is what is most sad. Coach Paterno will have his legacy and all those things will continue to move on.”

Except the lives of those children, they may never move on.

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