Michigan State Football: 3 reasons Luke Fickell would be perfect fit

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OXFORD, OH – SEPTEMBER 16: Head coach Luke Fickell of the Cincinnati Bearcats looks on against the Miami Ohio Redhawks during the first half at Yager Stadium on September 16, 2017 in Oxford, Ohio. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

1. Luke Fickell is cut from the same cloth as Mark Dantonio

I know some fans don’t want to hear this because of the way the Mark Dantonio era ended, but Luke Fickell’s career has been eerily similar to the former Spartan head coach’s.

No, Fickell was never an assistant at Michigan State like Dantonio was under Nick Saban, but he spent years at Ohio State as a defensive coordinator and took his first big coaching gig at Cincinnati where he has coached three seasons and made a couple of bowl berths. Unlike Dantonio, though, he won 11 games in back-to-back seasons at Cincinnati — Dantonio had a couple of seven-win campaigns.

Fickell grew up in Ohio and has been groomed to dislike the Michigan Wolverines and if you’ve followed the drama between the Cincinnati coach and Jim Harbaugh, you’d be able to see that quite clearly. Oh, and the fact that he coached and played at Ohio State helps.

Dantonio rose through the ranks as a defensive coordinator-turned Cincinnati coach and Fickell is doing the same thing.

Moreover, Fickell knows the Midwest, is familiar with the Big Ten and has even tried his hand at coaching one of the biggest programs in the country on an interim basis. He has gotten his experience since then and is ready for round two.

Next. 5 potential HC candidates to replace Mark Dantonio. dark

Fickell has taken the Dantonio route of coaching and we all know how well that played out for a decade in East Lansing.

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