Luke Fickell doesn’t just endure criticism. The Ohio State defensive coordinator thrives on it. It’s just his nature.
So what’s he to do when the defense is coming off a national championship in which it peaked at the perfect time and returns most of its key players? The only thing he knows how to do: Create friction.
He even invented word for it: “Discomfortable.”
“We make it very uncomfortable still,” Fickell said after practice on Thursday. “Sometimes you have to find other ways to create that discomfort. We didn’t have to do that last year. We had a lot of outside sources that would help create that discomfort and that challenge to them mentally.