Luke Fickell reportedly has interest in top SEC job

Luke Fickell is having an outstanding season at Cincinnati that could culminate with a trip to the College Football Playoff. In the meantime, the head coach has been mentioned as a potential candidate for some much bigger jobs than the one he has with the Bearcats. He may be interested in at least one of them.

John Brice of FootballScoop.com listed Fickell as one of the coaches who could replace Dan Mullen at Florida. He expects Fickell to give the Gators job a “long look,” even if Fickell is currently focused on Cincinnati’s season.

Cincinnati’s 48-14 win over SMU last weekend was enough to convince the College Football Playoff Committee to rank them No. 4 in the latest rankings. They now have a clear path to making the CFP if they can take care of East Carolina and beat Houston in the AAC Championship Game.

While Fickell is expected to be a top target of at least one other school, he has not been strongly linked to any program.

Cincinnati is typically viewed as more of a jumping off point than a job a top coach would hold for many years. That’s why it’s strange that Fickell hasn’t been strongly linked to more prominent coaching vacancies, but that could change in the coming weeks. It’s possible he is just solely focused on the Bearcats given how things have gone for them.

Photo: Sep 4, 2021; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats coach Luke Fickell stands with his team prior to the game against the Miami (Oh) Redhawks at Nippert Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports