Wisconsin's Luke Fickell and LSU's Brian Kelly reflect on their time coaching smaller programs ahead of their bowl game
TAMPA – Luke Fickell and Brian Kelly were born and raised in different areas of the country – Fickell in Ohio and Kelly in Massachusetts.
They are separated by 12 years.
Kelly, in his second season at LSU, is 62.
Fickell, in his first full season at Wisconsin, is 50.
The strongest link between the two men who will lead their teams in the 2024 ReliaQuest Bowl on Monday? Both got their first full-time head coaching jobs at smaller schools.
Fickell took over the Cincinnati program in 2017. The Bearcats were in their fifth season in the American Athletic Conference at the time. They are set to move to the Big 12 next season.
Kelly took over Grand Valley State, a Division II program, in 1991.
Both coaches were asked Friday to comment on their journeys from smaller programs to Power 5 conferences.
Fickell offered the most interesting comment.
“I would take this opportunity – I said this when I was at Cincinnati – I don’t understand why we still use the term Power 5,” Fickell said. “We’re all playing the same game. We all understand there are some differences. But sometimes when we use that term, we kind look down on (players). Those guys aren’t at the same level. When in reality they are.”
Fickell clearly believes that. UW brought in four transfers from Cincinnati last winter and brought in a Division II cornerback in the spring. The cornerback, Nyzier Fourqurean, started out at Grand Valley State.
“You do learn to not make excuses and to do more with less,” Fickell said of his time at Cincinnati. “And I don’t mean that with players. I mean that sometimes with resources and things that you’re doing.
“You recognize what it is that you need to do and what it is that you have and then try to be really grateful for the things you do have.
“I think it helped me be organized and understand that you don’t always need more to have success and you‘ve got to find ways to use the things you do have.”
Kelly, who coached at Grand Valley State, Central Michigan and Cincinnati before taking over the Notre Dame program in 2010, shared similar thoughts.
“You have to deal with less in some instances and it makes you a better coach,” he said of his early years as a head coach. “You have to know all of the jobs. It makes you better prepared when you have more resources.
“So, when you work at a place like Cincinnati that may not have some of the things you have (elsewhere), you have to make up for that. You have to be more creative. You can’t say: ‘We don’t have it.’
“That’s not good enough because you have to make do … and that makes you a better coach. Then you take that with you at the next stop. You become more creative and more inquisitive and how you can do it even better.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Luke Fickell, Brian Kelly reflect on coaching at smaller programs
