CINCINNATI — When University of Cincinnati head football coach Luke Fickell says he could not do it without his wife, he is telling the truth.
While the coach of the undefeated Bearcats is on the sideline Saturday, Amy Fickell is taking care of their children – getting the kids to football, volleyball and wherever else they need to go.
"It's not any different than any other mom probably. I just do most of it by myself — and there's six of them," Fickell said.
The Fickells' youngest twins, Lakyn and Lucian, are in first grade; Ashton and Aiden, their oldest twins, are in eighth grade; daughter Luca is a junior at Saint Ursula; and son Landon is a freshman at UC. All of the kids have after-school activities.
"My youngest twins just finished their football season last weekend, my oldest twins are in their football playoffs Saturday, my daughter is in her volleyball districts Saturday and then my oldest is, you know, on the football team at UC," Fickell said.
Fickell's day is filled with more than just chauffeuring her children from game to game. On Oct. 28, Fickell finished bible study, picked up her kids from school and headed to UC practice to hand out Halloween candy to the team — getting a chance to see her husband and son.
"You know she has seven kids," Luke Fickell said. "Six real ones and me she calls the seventh, so she's got a lot on her hands."
Fickell said she does not mind the heavy lifting, understanding her husband's difficult job.
"I just kind of get it done here because he's got a lot," Fickell said. "He's got a lot on his plate, so that's kind of just how we work."
That can mean Fickell is representing both parents at most of their kids' events.
"I go to football games, and I holler at my boys," Fickell said. "You know, it bugs me just as much as it bugs him when they're not tough, and they're not going full go — I can't stand it. You kind of have to be that little bit of a dad, too, because there isn't a dad there watching."
During the football season, Fickell said, the children do not get to see their dad a lot, maybe seeing him before bed on Wednesday or Thursday nights, but their family motto is "it's about quality, not quantity" — and this family is a team.
"To have our kids be able to do all the things that they do, for her to be able to handle it the best way, knowing that I'm not going to be much of a help in a lot of things...not everybody can do that and not everyone can handle that," Luke Fickell said.
Fickell left UC practice to take her older twins to practice, pick up her daughter from volleyball and — at one point — eat dinner. She does not complain, though, saying she knew what she was getting into.
