COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State's Luke Fickell interviewed for the head coaching job at Pitt, the

and

eported Friday.

Fickell was in Hershey, Pa., about three hours east of Pittsburgh, on Friday night, watching Noah Spence, a recruit planning to visit Ohio State this weekend, play in a state championship game. OSU coach Urban Meyer and fellow assistant Mike Vrabel were on hand as well.

Fickell was the Buckeyes' head coach during their 6-6 season this year and is continuing to lead the team through its Gator Bowl preparations, he is scheduled to coach the Buckeyes in their game against Florida on Jan. 2. Meyer is recruiting, and after the bowl, he will take over the entire program, with Fickell staying on as a significant defensive assistant.

That is, unless Fickell heads to somewhere such as Pittsburgh. The Panthers lost their head coach when Todd Graham, after one season, left Pitt for Arizona State this week.

While serving as an assistant, Fickell will retain the $775,000 salary that he was boosted to as the head coach this season. He has strong ties in Columbus, where he grew up, for his family and for his wife's side of the family. His life is here. He played in Columbus for five years and then returned to coach for the Buckeyes, starting in 2002. His life has been far less transient than most people in the coaching profession.

So he won't leave for just any job. For instance, Fickell did not have much interest in the Akron job this year. But, at 38, he does want to be a head coach. If he wants to be the head coach at Ohio State again someday, he very well might have to leave Columbus for a head job elsewhere to make that happen.

But he won't go until what he's gaining is worth what he's giving up. A job such as Pitt, now in the Big East but moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference, certainly seems to be that kind of job. Fickell in past years, for instance, did have interest when a school such as Cincinnati had an opening.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: dlesmerises@plaind.com, 216-999-4479