MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh stood side by side with Luke Fickell two years ago this week, both men all smiles as they posed for a photo-op in a room inside Camp Randall Stadium while holding a red Badgers jersey with the last name of the football program’s newest coach stitched into the back.
It was a moment amid turbulence that felt like a victory lap of sorts, part of an evening filled with understandable platitudes after McIntosh’s hiring of one of the hottest names in coaching about what the future could hold for a program ready to aim higher.
“We have the same expectations, championship-level expectations,” McIntosh said then. “It became evident that Luke and his experience and his belief system and his approach and his process, which was proven and does align with what we believe here, was the way that I thought we should go and was the way that I felt best positioned our program for long-term success.”
Two years later, all the excitement surrounding Fickell’s hiring has evaporated. Forget championship-level expectations. His second team didn’t even reach .500-level expectations. The latest example of how far away McIntosh’s declaration felt came Friday afternoon when Wisconsin — playing with a trophy against a bitter rival and bowl eligibility on the line — fell flat on its face once again in a 24-7 loss to Minnesota. Thus likely concluded the worst Wisconsin football season in 23 years — the last time the Badgers finished with a losing record and failed to qualify for a bowl game.
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Fickell sat in a different room underneath the stadium this time, his smile having been replaced with a scowl and expressions that seemed to waffle between anger and perplexion. Wisconsin, which once stood at 5-2 overall and riding a three-game winning streak, closed the regular season with five consecutive losses for the first time since Barry Alvarez’s 1991 team lost six straight.
Fickell is 12-13 overall and 8-10 in the Big Ten since the start of last season. He found himself answering questions after another distressing performance about why his plan at Wisconsin hasn’t worked and whether it ever will work. His message to fans who are undeniably concerned about the direction of the program was one short on actual answers — which have continued to elude Fickell all season.
“Just like I told the players, those that stay will be a champion,” Fickell said. “You’ve got to have people that believe in you. I know it’s hard, having faith in things you can’t see. And right now, I’m sure they can’t see it, either. And that’s the tough part. They’ve got to believe. Obviously, seeing is believing.
“I don’t worry as much about them as I worry about those guys in that locker room. Our job is to get them to believe, is to put the product on the field. Right now, we don’t have that opportunity, and we haven’t done it. So, I would understand if (fans) are worried. It’s their prerogative. Our job is to prove it, and we haven’t done that. But we will.”
Whether Wisconsin will certainly is open for debate. Players, to a man, continued to express positivity about Fickell as a leader and his ability to turn around the program. But internal optimism hasn’t yielded better results. Badgers left tackle Jack Nelson said, “There’s no doubt that right now things look dark,” while expressing his support of Fickell for the future.
Since Fickell’s hiring, it has felt as though Wisconsin has been attempting to fit a round peg into a square hole by uprooting some of the basic staples that led to previous success. Fickell already publicly acknowledged one failure two weeks ago by firing offensive coordinator Phil Longo, whose Air Raid system rarely thrived. What happened Friday in the battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe served as a microcosm of Wisconsin’s problems.
Wisconsin finished with 166 yards of total offense, the fewest for the program since a 2016 loss at Michigan when the Badgers recorded 159 yards — a span of 108 games. Quarterback Braedyn Locke completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes. The Badgers carried the ball 24 times for 36 yards. Fickell noted “there’s no way in hell” to win a Big Ten game and a rivalry game when running the ball for 36 yards. Wisconsin trailed 21-0 before it scored its only touchdown in the third quarter.
“This is a low for our program,” Locke said. “This is a low for myself. Something I’ve never experienced as a football player, something that a lot of guys on our team have never experienced. It’s a hard feeling.”
Wisconsin defensive coordinator Mike Tressel joked during the week that Minnesota “may not pass the ball one time.” Yet Gophers quarterback Max Brosmer was the difference in the game. He completed 17 of 26 passes for 191 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions and scored the other touchdown on a 1-yard sneak.
Wisconsin’s defense used to be among the most formidable in the country, but the Badgers have slipped considerably. There were moments of near brilliance against Penn State and Oregon but disasters against Iowa and Nebraska. Those last two performances, coupled with the result against Minnesota, mean the Badgers will spend all offseason walking by an empty trophy case from those three rivalry games. Wisconsin’s 22-year bowl game streak, which was the third-longest active mark in the FBS, also figures to be over barring multiple five-win teams failing to reach bowl eligibility on the final weekend to open the door for the Badgers on the strength of their Academic Progress Rate.
Wisconsin limped to the finish line, as Fickell said the players were “beat up physically, mentally and emotionally.” Safety Hunter Wohler, one of the team’s leaders, said the late-season losing streak took a toll on the Badgers.
“There’s a million different things I wish I could tell you that I could put a finger on,” Fickell said. “But I’ve been coaching for a good while and playing this game for a good while, and I don’t know that I’ve been in a position and a situation like this, to be honest with you.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got a lot of things we’ve got to get done. We’ve got a lot of things we’ve got to fix up and correct. Unfortunately, we’ll have a lot of time to do it. But it starts with checking ourselves first and foremost. And leadership is the key to what it is that we do. I take full responsibility for that.”
McIntosh pinned his hopes on Fickell, and there doesn’t seem to be any going back on that decision given the financial ramifications. Fickell’s buyout would be $40 million, significantly more than the $11 million former Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst was paid after his firing in October 2022. The next year will be critical to instill confidence, and despite recruiting at a high level, it won’t be easy.
Badgers defensive lineman Ben Barten said Fickell reminded players that “this isn’t the Big Ten West anymore,” where the team could count on playing certain (beatable) foes every year. Wisconsin has a schedule in Year 3 that features road games against Alabama, Oregon, Michigan, Indiana and Minnesota, as well as home games against Ohio State and Iowa. Those are all programs Wisconsin lost to either this season or the last time the teams played. Fickell hasn’t played Michigan but is 1-7 against those other teams in two seasons at Wisconsin.
Fickell has what is without a doubt the most important offseason of his Wisconsin tenure ahead of him. He must ensure he makes the right hire with his next offensive coordinator and determine whether any other staffers should go. He must figure out the best course of action with an uncertain quarterback room. He has to recruit his players, some of whom may be worn down from another disappointing campaign, because the transfer portal opens Dec. 9. And he has to continue to find difference-makers through the portal.
“The only thing we can do now is hope that we get a good amount of people to come back,” Badgers receiver Vinny Anthony said. “I hope a lot of people don’t leave and we can just build off of this and know this is the lowest we’re ever going to be, and hopefully we can come back and be better next year.”
If Fickell’s first two years at Wisconsin have proved anything, it’s that there are no guarantees in this process. Championship-level aspirations haven’t aligned with reality. And, as another season concludes, it’s growing more difficult to believe.
(Top photo of Braedyn Locke: Mark Hoffman / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
