Doc's TML: Will Luke Fickell go to Notre Dame? It would appear to be a perfect match.

My love for you is limitless, Mobsters. I just want you to know that. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m outta here.

I once excused Brian Kelly in print, in the wake of his messed-up departure from UC, by explaining that the early-signing date needed to be pushed back a month or two, so mercenary coaches with massive egos could finish what they started at School A, before ditching their players for School B. I suggested Kelly never made a secret of his affection for Notre Dame. The little shaver listened to Irish games on the radio, as a kid in Boston.

Maybe he meant LSU. He was listening to LSU. He’s a closet crawdad from way back. A real mud bug.

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College football is grubby, greedy, unrepentant and unfixable. And it’s more popular than ever. Loyalty is as thin as a dollar bill, on both sides of the field. LSU, Kelly’s new limitless love, made room for BK by firing Ed Orgeron a year and a half after he won a national title. John Brannen did respectable work at UC in the midst of a pandemic. He’s unemployed.

The coaching churn is just another game. Some fans enjoy it more than the games themselves. Me, it makes my brain hurt.

It forces me to write another boring, speculative, sources-say column about the future of (fill in the blank) Mark Dantonio, Butch Jones, Luke Fickell, Sean Miller, Chris Mack, Skip Prosser, Marvin Lewis and Dusty Baker. And Brian Kelly, the king of ‘em all.

These guys leave. All of them, one way or another. It’s what they do, it’s who they are. I have no doubt Kelly meant his words of love. I also have no doubt they didn’t faze him. When your ego overwhelms your conscience, you get Brian Kelly.

He did a great job at ND, same as he did here. The Irish made the playoff in ’18 and ’20, they’re 44-5 since ’17. 113 Ws in 12 years. Now he’s leaving there the same way he did here. Out the back door.

And here we are, again, wondering if a UC coach will stay or go. We’ll talk about right-fits and money and loyalty. We’ll take bets on what Fickell will do. What will he do?

If he goes to South Bend, it almost certainly won’t be before UC plays a postseason game. That means the Irish will have to wait and waiting means a recruiting/signing vacuum others will be glad to fill. That said, ND and LF seem a special match. Luke the strong Catholic, spotless record, impressive human being, stays in the Midwest and inherits a national icon of a football program. Or. . .

Luke becomes the one guy in the history of the universe who doesn’t chase the rainbow. Assuming it's offered.

There are other good candidates, starting with Fickell’s former D-coordinator Marcus Freeman and Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald. Hey, maybe Pete Carroll will decide his time is up with the Seahawks.

I’d prefer not to write another word on this. If Fick goes, he goes. It will be what’s right for him and he will leave UC football far better than when he found it. If he stays, wonderful. They’ll name a building and a street after him one day.

Either way, this movie is older than Gone With The Wind. Which should be the title of Brian Kelly’s autobiography.

Now, then. . .

I’M THINKING SOMEONE GOT TO Z. TAYLOR a few months ago, sat him down and told him this:

Give the ball to Mixon.

I don’t know this. I tried asking Taylor during yesterday’s Zoom. He sorta dodged the question by suggesting Year 3 everyone is completely connected with what’s going on and everybody’s doing great jobs. OK.

But The Men have gone from running five-wide, empty-backfield sets early in the season to giving Mixon the ball 58 times in two games now. The offense doesn’t look a lot like it did in September. Spreading defenses out then. . . now, pounding them between the tackles. (And, more often lately, on the edges) with Joltin’ Joe, mixin’ it up.

So. . . Frank Pollack? The O-line coach who, right now, is unofficial team Most Valuable Non-Player? Could you see him saying to Taylor, “Zac, the offense isn’t working. We’re not scoring enough points, Joe Burrow’s bruises are mounting. Let’s give the ball to Mixon’’? Me, too.

In the five games between Oct. 10 and Nov. 7, Mixon had 10,18, 12, 14 and 13 carries. The Men went 2-3. In the two games since, he’s had 30 and 28. The Men are 2-0.

Coincidence?

Not a chance. Props to Taylor for changing horses in midstream, for the flexibility to admit what he was calling and planning wasn’t working, and for the humility needed to change gears. Maybe someday soon, Burrow will have the experience to work wonders with five wides and not enough blockers. Now, he’s better with the Mixon security blanket and fewer bruises to heal and decisions to make.

What say you, Mobsters?

BACK TO COACHES of quasi-am teams. . . The current carousel reminds me of a suggestion I made years ago. More relevant now than ever:

Require all new head coaches to sign and honor 5-year contracts. Coach inks deal, has to stay five seasons. School inks deal, cannot fire him until after Season 5. That’s one full recruiting cycle. It allows both parties to make an accurate, objective decision based on facts, not ego striving.

And broke schools such as UC might get a reprieve from having to pay more money to coaches in the middle of their current deals.

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That delays the craziness that exists now. After five years, coaches and schools are free to do extensions of any length, until the coach leaves/gets fired, whereupon the five-year requirement starts anew.

Exceptions would be made for rule-breakers and morals issues, obviously.

Um, Doc, this is Fickell’s 5th season at UC and Kelly’s 12th at Notre Dame.

Yup. I didn’t say my rule would eliminate job-hopping. But it’s a start. I’m sure Oklahoma fans would be happy about my rule today.

Short and sweet, Mobsters. I have to go to Fickell’s news conference and try not to yawn when he’s asked about his situation. The more things change, the more they don’t.

TUNE O’ THE DAY. . . I always felt like I should like these guys more. But with the exception of the two “rain’’ songs and this one, I really don’t. I never bought John Fogerty’s cajun-boy act, given he grew up in California. Plus, “Centerfield’’ is a pox on the game of baseball.

But this is a good tune.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Is Luke Fickell leaving Cincinnati for Notre Dame?