Who is Mike Mickens? Notre Dame coach 'relentless competitor'
The scene just sticks.
Mike Daniels remembers the exact practice.
Never mind that it has been 14 or 15 years since Daniels was getting his first impression of University of Cincinnati teammate Mike Mickens.
“The very first spring practice, and maybe it was the second practice after helmet day, we did 1-on-1s,” said Daniels, a former Bearcats running back and current head coach at Cincinnati’s Princeton High School. “What was so evident to me was his competitive nature.
“He wasn’t the All-American yet, but he was so full of confidence. And whether he got beat or balled out or got an interception or got a touchdown scored on him, he was yapping and talking. And once you got to know him, that’s just who he is. You’re in 1-on-1s with all these older guys, and Mike is just competing his ass off and talking shit the whole time. He is probably the most competitive person I have ever been around in a sports space. He has that dog mentality; he’s always been that one that is going to challenge you at everything he’s doing.”
Mickens, whenever some semblance of normalcy returns to society and athletics then follows, is now competing in a different realm. He’s Notre Dame’s first-year cornerbacks coach following six combined seasons in the same positions at Bowling Green and, most recently, his alma mater.
Irish head man Brian Kelly doesn’t recall thinking to himself Mickens might one day be on his Notre Dame staff, as he does with offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, but he does remember Mickens’ attention to detail.
“Mike was very cerebral, very smart,” Kelly said. “He could always give you back what game plans were and what we wanted to do.”
Mickens owns just one official day of practice as a coach for the Fighting Irish after their spring debut on March 5. He is working, without a camp or any in-person access, to reload a group of Notre Dame cornerbacks that does not return 2019 standout Troy Pride Jr. or part-time starter Donte Vaughn, both exiting after graduation.
In talking to those close to Mickens, don’t expect the Irish’s new coach to seek excuses whenever practice and games resume. The Bearcats’ career interceptions leader (14) and three-time All-Big East selection forges an identity built on a singular focus and a desire to fight through obstacles like he’s still fighting through a wideout’s blocks.
“As a coach you really love guys like Mike Mickens,” said Joe Tresey, who served as Brian Kelly’s defensive coordinator at UC in 2007-08. “I can’t say enough about him just buying into the team concept. When Brian and we came in there, it was a little different than (predecessor) Mark Dantonio.
“We had to get buy-in from those guys because they’d been recruited by the previous staff. Mike was one of those guys and he led a lot of guys when we first got there. He said, ‘We’ve just got to bust our butts and get it done.’ Mike was a guy that led the charge.”
Tresey, like Daniels, recalls in Mickens an iron will that thrives in any competitive setting. Even through a nearly four-decades-long career, Tresey, too, singles out an individual practice moment.
“Man, 1-on-1s, during practice, just the 1-on-1s against Mardy Gilyard, who was a really good player,” Tresey said. “(Dominick Goodman) from Colerain, he could catch just about anything within his cylinder. We won some games, won the Big East and boy, Mike, he just did not want to lose to anybody and that carried over into games.”
Mickens’ unyielding determination and focus are things Daniels points to that date back to Mickens’ high school days in Dayton, Ohio.
“Mike was pretty no-nonsense off the field,” said Daniels, whose Princeton program had two elite prospects sign with Ohio State in 2020. “On the field, he was running his mouth and spitting at the mouth, but off the field, he had his high school sweetheart that he’s married to today.
“He wasn’t hanging around, hanging out. He was about what he’s about. He was talking, whether it was Spades or 1-on-1s or 7-on-7s. He was highly competitive, but he was a good brother to the team and a family man.”
Prevalent traits that also help explain Mickens’ ability to bring together close-knit units, according to former Cincinnati chief of staff Chris Spognardi. He remembers in Mickens a guy who as a first-year graduate assistant in 2011 drew people into him.
“I was around almost 100 GAs and quality control guys in 10 years at Central Michigan, Cincinnati and Tennessee, and Mike was top-two in guys that I was around,” said Spognardi, the first person in major college football to hold the chief of staff title a decade ago. “Nick Sheridan and Mike. Just Mike’s demeanor, even though was relatively young from an age standpoint, his maturity level was way past his age.
“He walked into that DB room Day 1, and he had that room captivated. He had played at Cincinnati, and they had seen his film because of how good he was. He played in the NFL for a minute, so he had that. And I think kids looked up to him because of that. So from Day 1, he could hold his own position meetings. Coach (Kerry) Coombs would let him take one side of the room, and he would take the other.”
Spawning from that is Mickens’ open-door policy – on campus or at home.
“He’s a family man, and in talking with the guys now at Cincinnati, his door was always open; not just to his office but his house,” said Spognardi. “Players were always there. He’s approachable, and it doesn’t matter who you are or your background. He’s not just a football coach but mentor to a lot of those guys. From Day 1 in 2011 to now, you can just see the continued growth and maturation that he’s had. He’s going to take his experience on the field and make sure those guys feel it, on and off the field.”
Daniels, after nearly returning to coach at the collegiate level after stints in both college and preps, sees in Mickens’ ascendancy a path long ago charted.
“It’s just no surprise he’s worked himself up and to Notre Dame,” said Daniels, his collegiate stints including Cincinnati and Kennesaw State. “When you study what he did in high school, then in college, he was basically a one-offer guy who ended up turning himself into an All-American, worked his way back to his alma mater and now he’s at the pinnacle of college football at Notre Dame. He’s always been that.”
For Mickens, it’s the scene that sticks.