UW Football - It's official. Badgers hire Luke Fickell.

[nate82]

Fickell will be the new Badgers HC according to CBS Sports.  

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/wisconsin-to-hire-luke-fickell-badgers-expected-to-finalize-agreement-with-cincinnati-coach-sunday/

[UpandIn]

4 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

Fickell turned down ND a year ago.

Pure speculation, but he coached at OSU, left OSU to go to Cincinnati (probably could have gotten bigger jobs had he waited a little), and then turned down ND a year ago... I wonder if he saw the poop-show that being a HC at a high-pressure school like OSU or ND can be (remember, Meyer stepped down for health reasons) and doesn't want to be at one of those high-pressure schools. 

It was just an example, but I never heard that Fickell turned down the ND job and I can't find anything on it other than articles about if ND would wait for Cincy to finish their playoff run and that Marcus Freeman was the likely successor and was the one talking to recruits. 

AS for leaving OSU, he was a position coach. I'd imagine that'd be his dream job...because he's said that would be his dream.

 

And yes, OBVIOUSLY it's speculation. I don't have a crystal ball, but if he has a lot of success at UW, there's going to be even more Blue Bloods who come after him offering the 10/100M type deals that the Badgers likely wouldn't. IF that happens, it'd almost certainly be after a couple of VERY successful seasons at UW and a nice run. So whatever...I wouldn't really care at that point.

I'm SURE the Badgers weighed the certainty and stability of Leonhard vs hiring one of the biggest names in coaching at the moment and factored that in. And maybe Fickell never leaves. I don't know. We'll see.

[UpandIn]

12 minutes ago, owbc said:

I don’t really care where Fickell goes in 5 years. Wisconsin was in danger of falling back into the pack of perennial mediocrity that describes most of the B10 West. 
 

They are now immediately relevant on the national stage and should pick up enough transfers to be relevant next year. They should be winning the B10 West every year starting next year. 
 

 

I think that's a bit much. I think they'd have been fine if they would have gone with Leonhard.

 

But Fickell does seem like he's maybe raised the bar on the Badgers ceiling. Now the admissions department has to work with him just a LITTLE bit more and grant him at least a couple more appeals. 8 is not enough given the admissions standards at UW. 

[DuWayne Steurer]

Let's make this a new topic. 

[DuWayne Steurer]

It's going to be interesting to see what the terms of the contract are. Badgers are still on the hook for a not-insubstantial amount of money to Chryst.

Another observation that (more than a few people) have made, is that Fickell is the heir-apparent to Day at Ohio State.

My question is this. Fickell is 49, and Day is 43. Is Day expected to leave soon-ish? Does he have ties to some other school or job that's going to make him want to leave tOSU at some point? Otherwise, given that Fickell is older, and Day seems VERY well entrenched at Ohio State, I don't see why we should expect Fickell to be eyeing that job any time soon. 

[adambr2]

I have to ask. Is there a chance now that things circle back to Jim Leonhard Packers DC?

[homer]

18 minutes ago, DuWayne Steurer said:

It's going to be interesting to see what the terms of the contract are. Badgers are still on the hook for a not-insubstantial amount of money to Chryst.

Another observation that (more than a few people) have made, is that Fickell is the heir-apparent to Day at Ohio State.

My question is this. Fickell is 49, and Day is 43. Is Day expected to leave soon-ish? Does he have ties to some other school or job that's going to make him want to leave tOSU at some point? Otherwise, given that Fickell is older, and Day seems VERY well entrenched at Ohio State, I don't see why we should expect Fickell to be eyeing that job any time soon. 

Yeah I don't see Day going anywhere unless it's to be a head coach in the pros...and even then the pay is probably better at OSU. He makes $9.5 million. LaFleur makes $5 million.

 

Now if OSU loses to UM another time or two then he might get canned.

[DuWayne Steurer]

That's the only thing I can see that would open up that job. The alumni and the board aren't going to take Day getting kicked around by the rival like that too many more times. 

[Sixtolezcano]

Kerry Coombs (special teams coach) has been named interim head coach. What are the odds that Coombs will coach the Badgers in a possible bowl game (Mayo?).

[homer]

What if Matt Rhule hired Leonhard? That'd be something.

[patrickgpe]

22 minutes ago, Sixtolezcano said:

Kerry Coombs (special teams coach) has been named interim head coach. What are the odds that Coombs will coach the Badgers in a possible bowl game (Mayo?).

He is the interim for the bearcats, so not likely coaching Wisconsin in a bowl

 

[Brewcrew82]

I’m stunned tbh. I can tell you that the “Wisconsin way” is a real thing that has pervaded the culture here since Barry arrived. Once the job was posted after the win over Nebraska last week, it seemed to me that Leonard’s hire was a mere formality given how ingrained into this culture both he and McIntosh are. For McIntosh to spurn the heir-apparent and go outside the family to hire perhaps the hottest up-and-coming name in the sport is so utterly ballsy and a pure master stroke IMO. There is absolutely no excuse for the way this team has played since 2020, and Leonhard, while far from the main cause, is nevertheless a part of that. 

[Brewcrew82]

36 minutes ago, homer said:

What if Matt Rhule hired Leonhard? That'd be something.

Hoping the Packers’ inevitable thrashing tonight in Philly spurs LaFleur to start making back-channel contact….

[UpandIn]

1 hour ago, DuWayne Steurer said:

It's going to be interesting to see what the terms of the contract are. Badgers are still on the hook for a not-insubstantial amount of money to Chryst.

Another observation that (more than a few people) have made, is that Fickell is the heir-apparent to Day at Ohio State.

My question is this. Fickell is 49, and Day is 43. Is Day expected to leave soon-ish? Does he have ties to some other school or job that's going to make him want to leave tOSU at some point? Otherwise, given that Fickell is older, and Day seems VERY well entrenched at Ohio State, I don't see why we should expect Fickell to be eyeing that job any time soon. 

I saw 6M as his starting salary. 

As one of those who've made the inference that Fickell is the heir apparent at OSU, that's purely based on him having gone to OSU and then coaching there(where he was let go during a 7-6 season, so really kinda the same situation Leonhard is in). 

Maybe he wouldn't go back there. Day seems like he's got a long time left at OSU. 

I was more just thinking Fickell is such a respected up and coming coach, I could see a lot of the blue bloods coming after him...even more so if he gets gets UW back to a top 10-15 program in the near future.

 

Maybe Fickell at 49 just settles into UW, loves it here and spends 15 years here. Probably the best case scenario. Now it's going to be fun to see what Cincy players come with him. 

[UpandIn]

50 minutes ago, homer said:

What if Matt Rhule hired Leonhard? That'd be something.

Again, hope he ends up staying in State, but...ANY chance he stays at Wisconsin to become the DC?

I'd guess the odds are about as close to 0 as you can get. He's gotta be feeling a certain type of way at this point. He turns down other jobs, he's viewed as the heir apparent as UW and they go and hire an OSU guy?

[yourout]

26 minutes ago, Brewcrew82 said:

Hoping the Packers’ inevitable thrashing tonight in Philly spurs LaFleur to start making back-channel contact….

I'm hoping it spurs Guty to reach out to Sean Payton who reaches out to JL

[Brewcrew82]

2 minutes ago, yourout said:

I'm hoping it spurs Guty to reach out to Sean Payton who reaches out to JL

I guess I just don’t see any way LaFleur gets fired…

[yourout]

21 minutes ago, Brewcrew82 said:

I guess I just don’t see any way LaFleur gets fired…

One can hope.... It's on my Christmas list and I'm an owner. ?

[LouisEly]

Technicality, it's not "official" yet.  No formal announcement has been made and likely won't until after the Board of Regents meets at 4pm.

I don't doubt it, just think we can leave out the "official" part of the thread title until then.  It was thought as soon as 24 hours ago that Leonhard was "official".

[MrTPlush]

This was the right choice, tbh. Leonard and his no HC experience was way too risky. Get a good proven HC…not role the dice on someone just because they are a Wisconsin guy and been around awhile.

[SomewhereInTime]

Fantastic news!  This program needed a complete overhaul.

[OldHeidelberg]

14 minutes ago, SomewhereInTime said:

Fantastic news!  This program needed a complete overhaul.

Yes, I was stunned Leonhard didn't get the job but after thinking about it a bit I realized the program is on the downswing and hiring from within was maybe not the way to go. And a quality outside candidate emerged so not surprised anymore. Hope they know what they are doing but things are changing fast in college football, what has worked for the Badgers all these years may need some big adjustments and I am glad they see that.

[DuWayne Steurer]

1 hour ago, Brewcrew82 said:

I’m stunned tbh. I can tell you that the “Wisconsin way” is a real thing that has pervaded the culture here since Barry arrived. Once the job was posted after the win over Nebraska last week, it seemed to me that Leonard’s hire was a mere formality given how ingrained into this culture both he and McIntosh are. For McIntosh to spurn the heir-apparent and go outside the family to hire perhaps the hottest up-and-coming name in the sport is so utterly ballsy and a pure master stroke IMO. There is absolutely no excuse for the way this team has played since 2020, and Leonhard, while far from the main cause, is nevertheless a part of that. 

 

While I agree, and I think many fans (including myself!) have held on to that culture for a long time, I think it's also allowed the administration, alumni, fans and basically everyone involved in UW football to fall into a pretty strong sense of complacency.

I've long said that the 8-9 win seasons, with the occasional 10 win punch-up and a trip to an Orange Bowl or whatever NY day bowl is what we can and should expect, I'm also happy to see the administration and McIntosh take a shot and go outside the normal established boundaries and try something different. 

I'm also glad that after they tried it once with Gary Anderson and it didn't work.... they weren't shied away from trying it again. Just because something doesn't work one time doesn't mean we need to be stuck in 1970's football forever. 

[JosephC]

I was pretty skeptical that Leonhard would get the job after recruits started dropping.  It would be pretty foolish to watch those recruits go...and put the current players through the uncertainty of who the coach will be if you are just going to hire the current interim.

I was hoping for Leonhard, but am happy with Fickell.  I had some concerns that McIntosh might go out and hire a sketchy character like Tom Herman,

Hopefully Fickell will bring 6-8 of Cincy's recruits along with him, because the Badgers sure could use them.  Rivals has Cincinnati's class currently ranked 26th which is a bit higher than what Wisconsin does in most seasons.  Looks like the headliner is a TE named Anderson...Bucky sure could use one of those.  Fickell's recruiting has roughly run from Michigan through Maryland with a few Florida guys mixed in over the last couple of seasons.  That seems like a good fit for Wisconsin.

The defense he's been using is a 3-3-5, not sure if the Badgers have someone that will fit in that "big safety/small linebacker" role which tends to be a real key spot in that defense.

Currently coordinators are Gino Guidugli and Mike Tressel.  Wouldn't mind seeing both of those guys on the Badger's staff.  I can remember when Guidugli was Cincinnati's QB, I wonder if he'll get the head coaching job since there are some strong ties there.  Guidugli is also from Cincinnati (actually Fort Thomas, Kentucky, which is right across the river from Cincinnati).

 

[LouisEly]

21 minutes ago, JosephC said:

The defense he's been using is a 3-3-5, not sure if the Badgers have someone that will fit in that "big safety/small linebacker" role which tends to be a real key spot in that defense.

 

From a scheme standpoint, this is what I'm most excited about because the weakness of Leonhard's scheme has been defending the 11 personnel scheme.  The 2-4-5 that they've used has not worked against OSU or Minnesota.  The 3-3-5 is a much better matchup at controlling the LOS while still having the DBs to defend 3 WR, and UW will have better DL than Cinci to be able to effectively use 3 DL.  I think the 4-2-5 is best, but UW doesn't have the DEs on the roster right now for the 4-2-5 unless Witt's foot miraculously heals and Thompson drops a little weight to become more agile.

As for the big nickel, they have plenty of guys who can do that - Austin Brown, Preston Zachman (who was initially recruited at LB), Cade Yacamelli, Hunter Wohler (6'2", 210), Jake Ratzlaff, and Aiden Vaughan.