Wisconsin football must embrace new identity under Luke Fickell

Following a tumultuous regular season, the Wisconsin Badgers have found their next head coach. On Sunday, after a gut-wrenching home loss to Minnesota, it was announced that Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Luke Fickell had accepted the same role at Wisconsin.

A shocking hire

The hiring of Fickell comes as a major surprise- as many fans expected that interim coach Jim Leonhard would earn the full-time gig. The former Badger defensive coordinator was seen as a likely successor to Paul Chryst, who was fired on Oct. 2 following a 2-4 start to the season. Over the past few seasons, Leonhard had become one of the most coveted coordinators in the country- yet he had declined multiple NFL offers to remain at his alma mater.

Leonhard went 4-3 as interim coach and helped the Badgers once again reach bowl eligibility- finishing the regular season at 6-6. Nevertheless, AD Chris McIntosh passed on hiring Leonhard, who has been a fan favorite ever since his playing days in the early 2000s.

Fickell brings a winning track record

While many Badger fans are disappointed that the administration didn’t promote Leonhard, Luke Fickell is no stranger to winning.

In his six-year tenure in Cincinnati, Fickell transformed the Bearcats into one of the best non-Power Fuve teams — and helped Cincinnati become the first non-Power Five school to qualify for the college football playoff. As the Bearcats’ head coach, Fickell went 57-18, and earned three consecutive conference championship game berths.

His program has also become a hotbed for NFL talent. After last season’s playoff run, the Bearcats had nine players drafted- which included fourth overall pick Sauce Gardner, and star quarterback Desmond Ridder.

How can he be successful in Madison?

Fickell must modernize Wisconsin football.

Over the past decade, Wisconsin has been known as a program with a conservative offensive philosophy. Paul Chryst’s teams didn’t ask much out of their quarterback- as the Badgers usually had a strong running game and defense. For Chryst, this was a relatively successful strategy, as he won ten games in four of his seven full seasons.

However, in this new era of the transfer portal and the dual-threat quarterback, Chryst’s offensive style let the Badgers down. With Wisconsin’s inability to develop Graham Mertz into a dynamic quarterback, the Badgers have now missed the Big Ten Championship for the third straight season. Last season, Wisconsin’s defense surrendered only 240 yards per game- the lowest in the country, yet this still wasn’t enough to overcome a glaring hole at quarterback.

In 2022, things only got worse. While Graham Mertz’s offensive weapons were inexperienced this season, he never became a threat to run the ball. On the season, he only has two rushing touchdowns, and no more than 11 rushing yards per game. This has allowed defenses to sit back in coverage, and dare Mertz to throw into tight windows.

In order to turn things around, Fickell must find a dual-threat quarterback that can be a spark plug for the Badger offense. Over the past few seasons, this has become the new normal in college football. Even quarterbacks deemed as “pocket-passers” have been a threat to run- ie. Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence.

If we look at this season’s projected top four teams (Georgia, Michigan, TCU, USC), each has a quarterback that can threaten defenses in the air and on the ground.

If Fickell pledges to revamp Wisconsin’s offensive philosophy, this should lead to a major boost in recruiting. According to 247Sports, Wisconsin has the second-lowest ranked recruiting class in the Big Ten for 2023. This ranking is probably a result of skill players being wary of Wisconsin’s run-first, conservative offensive style.

The future is bright for Wisconsin football

The potential departure of Jim Leohnard could result in some massive growing pains for the program, as a handful of current players might transfer. Yet Fickell is no downgrade.

Under Fickell’s watch, Cincinnati was invited to join the Big 12- a move that seemed unfathomable prior to his arrival. He also developed Desmond Ridder, a former 2 star recruit, into one of America’s best college quarterbacks.

There is no doubt that Fickell has been able to raise a program’s bar as a head coach. Hopefully he is able to do it again in Madison.