When Athletic Director Chris McIntosh and the Wisconsin Badgers announced Luke Fickell as their next head coach, there was optimism, pride and — with a 12-team college football playoff on the horizon — hope.
But two years later, it would be hard to say they’ve made much progress even if they beat Minnesota on Friday.
Paul Chryst, who led the Badgers to three New Year’s Six bowls in eight seasons, was fired from the head position following a 2-3 start to the 2022 season, on the heels of an embarrassing loss to Illinois at Camp Randall, and it was absolutely the right decision at the time. His replacement, interim head coach Jim Leonhard, led the team to a 4-3 record the rest of the way, but another home loss, this time to Minnesota, brought the Axe to his short-lived time as the face of the program.
I’m not here to argue they should have stayed. The opportunity to hire the hotshot coach from Cincinnati was an opportunity the Badgers couldn’t pass up, but so far Fickell has seemed in over his head.
Last week, Wisconsin was embarrassed at Memorial Stadium by a Nebraska team that hadn’t beaten them since the Bret Bielema era. Two weeks ago, the team suffered a loss full of excuses — including the firing of offensive coordinator Phil Longo — to the No. 1 team in the country. Before that, a disaster in Iowa City and a second half collapse against Penn State.
TOGETHER, the losses mark the first four-game skid for the Badgers since 2008. A loss Friday would be the longest winless streak for the Badgers since 1991, Barry Alvarez’s second season as head coach.
Pointing fingers
So who’s to blame? At face value, it seems Fickell is throwing Longo, who led the Badgers to an underwhelming 97th national scoring and 102nd passing rankings through the first 10 games, under the bus. Fickell’s most stout defenders will offer him a mulligan, with injuries to quarterbacks Tanner Mordecai last year and Tyler Van Dyke this year unceremoniously thrusting Braedyn Locke into the starting role in the biggest spots.
The Badgers have even shown the ability to compete. They led the Nittany Lions at halftime, and they were just a missed call away from taking down the mighty Ducks. But looking at the game as a whole makes it clear: the Badgers have been inconsistent, outplayed and outcoached by their opposition week after week. Ultimately, it comes down to Fickell.
EVERYONE knows Fickell — who told fans he had just one goal “to play for a championship” at his introductory press conference — is the face of this program. His grit, toughness and history of success with Cincinnati made him feel like a perfect fit to carry on a Wisconsin legacy.
Instead, he’s shifted it in the opposite direction.
The Badgers have been at their best when they’ve had a clear identity: running the ball and playing good defense. Under Fickell’s command, they’ve fallen to the middle of the pack in both, 52nd and 64th, respectively.
As football shifts to a quarterback’s game, the Badgers have tried to become a team that relies heavily on the spread formations and airing it out, something they unsuccessfully tried to ACHIEVE through Longo’s Air Raid offense.
In 2022 under Chryst, the Badgers ranked 117th in passing attempts. Last year, they skyrocketed to 19th. With future NFL running back Braelon Allen still in the picture, rushing attempts dropped from 45th to 72nd. A clear shift in philosophy.
On defense, Fickell’s side of the ball, the team has dropped from 17th in points allowed per game under Chryst in 2022 to 52nd this year and from 10th in yards allowed per game to a measly 39th.
Shouldn’t you excel at your specialty?
Maybe we’ve set expectations too high. Winning in what is now a “Power Two conference” is difficult, and past Badgers teams were consistently able to overperform, courtesy of the now defunct Big Ten West division. Maybe fans need to tone it down a little. Maybe home against Northwestern really is a tough matchup. South Dakota is an FCS school, but they were ranked No. 6 after all, so it’s a quality win!
We might need to take off those rose-colored glasses because the schedules don’t get easier from here.
What’s next?
With Wisconsin on the hook for $40 million if Fickell is fired at the end of the season — a number likely out of McIntosh’s budget — getting rid of him is likely off the table for now.
Instead, the expensive head coach will seek a new front man on the offensive side of the ball when the season draws to a close, despite his insistence that he doesn’t think “it really is important as to who is calling [the offense].”
Whoever the Badgers hire for their offensive coordinator spot will signify the direction the organization is headed. A run-the-rock, three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust signing will signify the return to ways of old. A progressive, air-it-out, spread-offense addition will show a return to the Longo style of play, leaving fans hoping to squeeze out its full potential.
On the other side of the ball, Fickell will have to do better. Two Rivals four-star defensive backs from the 2024 class should see increased playing time in their sophomore years, and a spread of three-star players with an extra year under their belt will look to help push the Badgers to the next level.
But for Badgers fans, a glance at the 2025 schedule likely elicits a sigh. Wisconsin is scheduled to head to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama before heading into a Big Ten schedule that includes trips to Indiana, Michigan and Oregon and play host to Ohio State at Camp Randall.
But it’s MORE than just gloom and doom for the team in cardinal and white.
Fickell has recruited well on paper, with 2024 and 2025 recruiting classes ranked in the top 20 by Rivals. And the Badgers have hope under center, with four-star Florida recruit quarterback Carter Smith — whose classification as a “dual-threat” quarterback has fans reminiscing about Russell Wilson — announcing his commitment to the 2025 class earlier this week.
With teams like Indiana, Colorado and Arizona State turning things around in the blink of an eye, it’s fair for Badger fans to have hope. And with revenue sharing on the horizon, the landscape of college football will once again see a massive shift.
But leaving fans optimistic about teenagers who may not touch the field for another two or three years only works if the Badgers can pull it together, and a potential end to the famed 22-year bowl game streak already has them antsy.
Fickell will need his T.E.A.M. to exceed expectations to make it out of 2025 unscathed. Perhaps fans need to temper theirs.
Tomer Ronen is the Features Editor for the Daily Cardinal. He has covered protests, state politics, sports and more. Follow him on Twitter at @TRonen22.
