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

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Time will tell what the results are but as an outsider I like it. It's a new direction for a program in dire need of a shake up. 

One of the most boring trends in that program is always doing what everyone expects. 

[homer]

I'm curious which recruits will flip to UW from Cincy. They have a commitment from a 4 star QB

[yourout]

45 minutes ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Time will tell what the results are but as an outsider I like it. It's a new direction for a program in dire need of a shake up. 

One of the most boring trends in that program is always doing what everyone expects. 

One thing everyone on both sides of the argument will agree on is.... It's not boring.

[rickh150]

If UW beat Minnesota by 25, does this coaching change still happen? If yes, how about if Leonard would have run the table… no losses. Almost assuredly no… Leonard would still be coach. 
 

So in a nutshell, huge losses by Leonard. 

[yourout]

4 minutes ago, rickh150 said:

If UW beat Minnesota by 25, does this coaching change still happen? If yes, how about if Leonard would have run the table… no losses. Almost assuredly no… Leonard would still be coach. 
 

So in a nutshell, huge losses by Leonard. 

My doubts started when the had a two point chance to win in Michigan State in overtime and he elected to kick the XP.

I hope he gets to work under a top shelf HC before he gets his shot as a HC. I don't think working under Chryst was the best place to see head coaching excellence up close.

[rickh150]

The timeline of all this is fascinating…. When did CM make the decision? Last night? 

[yourout]

Just now, rickh150 said:

The timeline of all this is fascinating…. When did CM make the decision? Last night? 

I suspect it was Fickell who called and said yes after being noncommittal.

Rumor has it lawyers were working on a contract for JL last week.

[HarryDoyle]

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

Very surprised at this. I'm a Leonhard guy, I thought he would be a terrific hire. Of course that doesn't mean Fickell can't be the same thing, he certainly is proven.

I would heavily tap the breaks on the idea of a whole bunch of guys leaving & next years' team being BOTH transfer-laden & successful. This program was always built on judicious recruiting & player development, and I don't see that changing. I'm not saying we won't take guys from the portal, we've done that under Chryst. I just don't see us building the backbone of next years' team on people from elsewhere like we're the 2021-2022 Padres or something.

Also, 18-22 year-olds are impressionable. No doubt you'll see some leaving the program. But I've seen plenty of instances where kids are thinking of leaving, meet the new coach, and like what they hear.

[Jim French Stepstool]

5 hours ago, MrTPlush said:

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.

If Mac is good with this decision I trust him. Fickell certainly has the resume. But Leonhard certainly was much more than a local guy who was around awhile. His rep in football circles is sparkling, as are (I believe) his connections. Yeah, the lack of HC chops would've been a concern. I just felt it was worth it, that he'd grow into the job & experience success, and once that happens he's pretty much Bo Ryan or Tommy Lasorda, he ain't going anywhere. 

Best of luck to Jimmy wherever he lands.

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

4 hours ago, LouisEly said:

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. 

Wohler would be awesome in that role.

[MrTPlush]

Some guys will leave because of this and others will come in because of it. That’s how it goes.

I just don’t think Leonard really did a great job in his short stint. They don’t really have the time to watch some guy grow into being a HC. It’s really easy for a program to totally spiral if it gets out of hand.

Nebraska went from perennial bowl team to nothing like that. With the way college football is going, if you can’t keep up, you are going to average real quick.

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, yourout said:

I suspect it was Fickell who called and said yes after being noncommittal.

Rumor has it lawyers were working on a contract for JL last week.

My understanding is that Fickell was contacted quite a while ago & showed little to no interest, supposedly because he believed what most of us believed--that the job was Leonhard's and UW contacting him was merely part of the facade of making it look like a search. 

This proves one thing: right or wrong, this is some kinda cojones from Mac. The importance ($$$) of football at a power 5 school, at this relatively early stage of his regime to can a FB coach IN SEASON, then in the eyes of most go against the grain with the new hire, I don't think he'll need to attend any self-confidence seminars anytime soon.

[LouisEly]

27 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

My understanding is that Fickell was contacted quite a while ago & showed little to no interest, supposedly because he believed what most of us believed--that the job was Leonhard's and UW contacting him was merely part of the facade of making it look like a search. 

This proves one thing: right or wrong, this is some kinda cojones from Mac. The importance ($$$) of football at a power 5 school, at this relatively early stage of his regime to can a FB coach IN SEASON, then in the eyes of most go against the grain with the new hire, I don't think he'll need to attend any self-confidence seminars anytime soon.

Oh, Fickell showed interest.  To the point that his wife visited Madison a few weeks ago to check it out.  Flew into Chicago and then was driven up to Madison so as to not be noticed.

[Sixtolezcano]

8 hours ago, Brewcrew82 said:

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

They did give up 40 points and 500 yards to Philly tonight. Mission accomplished.

[Jim French Stepstool]

29 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

Oh, Fickell showed interest.  To the point that his wife visited Madison a few weeks ago to check it out.  Flew into Chicago and then was driven up to Madison so as to not be noticed.

Shades of the John Madden/Bill Parcells rumors from the 80s-90s except A) the coaches visited, not the wives and B) this actually happened?.

My understanding of his initial lack of interest was from back in October. But if she visited a few weeks ago, yeah, that's interesting. Macintosh did a good job of keeping a lot of this under the radar.

[MrTPlush]

Lincoln Riley going to USC, bringing a QB with him, and having USC one win from a spot in the playoff in a matter of months is probably a good reason the Badgers chased after a more high profile coach with success.

[wildcat83]

I think who the offensive coordinator is will be the most important part of the hire.  Fickell is a defensive guy, whether Leonard stays or not, I’m sure he can fill out that side of the staff with quality people he’s comfortable with.  Finding an offensive coordinator that can inject some life into the offense, develop QBs, and attract some higher WR recruits will probably determine the ceiling for the program.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

15 hours ago, yourout said:

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

Three straight 13-win seasons. The chance might be below 0%

[JosephC]

The Journal-Sentinel is reporting that the list included Jim Leonhard, Luke Fickell, Lance Leipold and Dave Aranda.  Leipold was never offered the job, and Aranda "was intrigued by the idea of running UW"s program but is happy at Baylor."  Worth noting that Aranda makes 6 million a year at Baylor, likely just about the same as UW money (actually UW money becomes about 450k less after factoring in the state income tax).

Sounds like Leonhard would have gotten the job if Fickell hadn't accepted it.

Also reported that Leonhard was "blindsided and devastated" by the news. 

[yourout]

44 minutes ago, JosephC said:

The Journal-Sentinel is reporting that the list included Jim Leonhard, Luke Fickell, Lance Leipold and Dave Aranda.  Leipold was never offered the job, and Aranda "was intrigued by the idea of running UW"s program but is happy at Baylor."  Worth noting that Aranda makes 6 million a year at Baylor, likely just about the same as UW money (actually UW money becomes about 450k less after factoring in the state income tax).

Sounds like Leonhard would have gotten the job if Fickell hadn't accepted it.

Also reported that Leonhard was "blindsided and devastated" by the news. 

I feel bad for him but such is the nature of big time college athletics.

[JosephC]

Well the recruiting turnover is fully on now.

Chris Terek, a guard who had probably been the consensus top recruit for the Badgers, has decommitted.  And Terek is a hard decommit with little to no chance of a return, as he appears to be fully committed to Notre Dame.  Also decommitting is DT-Roderick Pierce.

The following players have decommitted from Cincinnati: WR-Ayden Greene, CB-Jonas Duclona, CB-Amare Snowden.  Cincinnati also had a decommit a few days ago, ATH-Jason Hewlett, but that happened well before the Fickell announcement and appears completely unrelated to the coaching carousel.  Most think he is headed to Michigan.

[MrTPlush]

Recruit changes are meh...the bigger deal will be who will transfer from Wisconsin and if any Cincy players follow their coach. 

[homer]

UW's 2023 class was not that great as it stood. Some recruit swapping may be a good thing.

[wallus]

Fickell needs to keep the studs in state and get some skilled position studs from the warm climate areas. You do that, you can win the Big Ten West (which isn't a super high expectation)