The Wisconsin Badgers were bested by the Minnesota Gophers in their final game of a disappointing 2024 regular season. After the embarrassing 24-7 loss, Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell took the brunt of the blame from fans.
Fickell took over the Badger football program in 2022 and through his first two years (plus one game in 2022) with the team, the Badgers have gone just 13-12 overall.
Pretty impressive start for Luke Fickell at Wisconsin. pic.twitter.com/JfOOz4Vi5W
— GopherHole.com (@GopherHole) November 29, 2024
From sarcasm about his embarrassing wins to calling for him to be fired, Wisconsin fans are beyond disappointed in their head coach.
“T.E.A.M.” on the back of Coach Fickell’s windbreaker stands for:
— Brian Fishbach (@BrianFishbach) November 29, 2024
Terrible Experiment At Madison pic.twitter.com/EmQhoQZvTv
Prior to joining the Badgers, Fickell was a highly successful Group of Five head coach at Cincinnati. With the Bearcats, Fickell went 57-18 overall and if you ignore his first season with the team, they went 53-10 under his guise.
Getting home from work and seeing Wisconsin fans booing Luke Fickell
— Michael Boston (@michaelkboston) November 29, 2024
pic.twitter.com/wsWvGXc7ap
In 2023, the Badgers at least made it to a bowl game, where they lost to the LSU Tigers in the ReliaQuest Bowl. After the final game in 2024, Fickell was begging the Wisconsin fan base for mercy and faith.
Luke Fickell on his message to fans. pic.twitter.com/SeeaEwqzZE
— The Camp (@The_Camp_WI) November 29, 2024
The one thing Fickell said that Badger fans might agree with is the fact that they can't see anything to believe in. A 5-7 finish to the 2024 season is beyond embarrassing for a head coach who was supposed to help the program return to greatness after Paul Chryst's campaign with the Badgers came to an end.
The product that Luke Fickell has put forth in Year 2, after taking over a program in good shape, is not talked about enough.
— Justin Thind (@JustinThind) November 29, 2024
Wisconsin is 3 quarters from posting its 1st losing season in 22 years. He basically gutted that program’s identity & stability overnight.
Just one week before the loss to Minnesota, the Badgers were defeated by unranked Nebraska Cornhuskers after falling short against the No. 1 Oregon Ducks. The Badgers and Fickell fired their offensive coordinator Phil Longo. The offense put up just 32 points after letting go of Longo.
As of Dec. 1, 2024, it would cost Wisconsin $40,186,667 to get rid of Fickell, the thirteenth-highest buyout in all of college football.