Gene Smith putting Luke Fickell as head coach should get him fired

I want to blame Luke for the way the team has played this year but I can't.  He's a young coach that is going through the growing pains that occur for any new head coach.

He inherited a team with a lack of experienced talent at the most important position on the field - quarterback.  He inherited a team with a definite lack of senior leadership with the departure of Pryor and the suspensions of Boom, Adams, and Posey.  He inherited a team that was replacing 7 starters on defense.  He inherited a team that has 22 freshmen or redshirt freshmen in the 2 deep.  He inherited a team that lost its two best minds on the offensive side of the ball (Hazell and Tressel).

This is a team that needed a firm hand on the rudder.  It couldn't afford a new coach to learn on the job.

As Athletic Director Gene Smith should have known all this and done what was necessary to give the team the best chance to succeed.  The problem he faced was finding a coach in June that was willing to come to Ohio State when all signs at the time pointed to a multi year probation.  The flip side is he needed a coach that was willing to come in with the interim tag as Ohio State needed to be able to go out and hire a better replacement once the NCAA sanctions were finalized.

In most cases no decent coach (head coach or assistant) would come to any school under those circumstances.  In spite of this Ohio State had an opportunity because of Glen Mason.  Mason was an Ohio State linebacker in the early 70s and an assistant coach under Woody and Earle Bruce.  He then went on to be a head coach at Kent, Kansas, and Minnesota and lead the last two schools to arguably their finest performances in the last half century.  He applied for the Ohio State job the last two times it was open and went he was passed over he reportedly broke down in tears.  This caused a rift in Minnesota and when he had a losing season in 2006 they parted ways.  He is now a member of the Big Ten Network broadcast team.

Mason's dream job has always been to coach at Ohio State.  Would he have taken an interim job knowing that he'd be replaced at the end of the season?  In a heartbeat.

Ohio State needed a coach that could deal with tough questions from the media and who better than a coach that has spent the last few years working in front of a camera.  Ohio State needed a coach that didn't have emotional baggage of coaching a bunch of men he considered mentors.  Ohio State needed a coach that didn't have preconceived opinions about the players.  Ohio State needed a coach with an offensive philosophy.

Glen Mason fit all those categories and quite frankly was the perfect fit for the situation.  Gene Smith instead decided to put Luke Fickell in an impossible situation (yes Luke could have declined but no true Buckeye could turn down the university when it asks for help) and has possibly permanently damaged his career.  It is Gene Smith's job to be the long term caretaker of the football program and put the team in the best situation to win.  He failed miserably with the hire of Luke Fickell and this more than any failing in compliance is why he should be fired once the dust settles.