Wisconsin Football Coach Gets Unexpected Praise, But Is Disaster Looming?

Big Ten coaches seem to think Wisconsin is still in a good spot with Luke Fickell as the team's coach.

The Badgers are coming off their worst season in decades. Fickell went a pathetic 5-7 in his second year in Madison.

The team snapped its 22-year bowl streak, and fans' patience has run out. There had better be significant signs of improvement or Fickell is in huge trouble.

Yet, it seems like other B1G coaches aren't as pessimistic.

Will Wisconsin improve in Luke Fickell's third year as the team's head coach? (Credit: Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via USA Today Sports Network)

Big Ten coaches still believe in Luke Fickell. 

Athlon spoke to multiple Big Ten coaches anonymously about rival programs, and for some reason I don't really see, the conference is still high on Fickell.

Four unnamed coaches told Athlon the following:

• "Nothing about the offense made sense here. [Phil] Longo moving on benefits everyone involved, and if they bounce back and become more of a modern version of that classic Wisconsin power run offense, you’ll wonder why they ever made the move in the first place."
• "[Jeff ] Grimes is a great hire, and they flipped the entire offense except for the backs. They need to go back to Wisconsin football this season, and they’ve got a young backfield that can do it."
• "They’re talented in some spots, but they’re still very young."
• "[Luke] Fickell is the guy, but the offensive issues have overshadowed the overall plan so much that it’s easy to see why some folks might lose faith. I think they just overreached on trying to modernize the program schematically."

Is Wisconsin football coach Luke Fickell on the hot seat entering the 2025 season? (Photo by Ross Harried/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Now, nobody is saying the Badgers are magically going to become contenders, but it does seem like rival coaches feel Wisconsin is moving in the right direction.

I'm not convinced.

Was the hiring of Jeff Grimes as the team's offensive coordinator a step in the right direction? Yes. Wisconsin needs to get back to running the ball and being built on toughness and grit. The air raid offense was never going to work. Wisconsin is cold as soon as October rolls around. It's simply unrealistic to air it out in those conditions.

Yet, there's simply no reason at all to believe Fickell is going to turn into a smashing success in year three until fans see some actual results. We've seen this movie before. Lots of optimism, great hype speeches, some early flashes and then collapse down the stretch.

Wisconsin football coach Luke Fickell is 13-13 since being hired by the Badgers. (Photo by Ross Harried/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The biggest issue is Wisconsin's schedule. The Badgers play Alabama, Michigan, Iowa, Ohio State, Oregon, Washington, Indiana, Illinois and Minnesota.

They could lose every single one of those games. That would put the team at 3-9 in a worst-case scenario. Fickell's buyout is north of $40 million. That's a lot of cash, but I'm not sure that his buyout would be enough to save him if the Badgers fall that flat in 2025.

Will Wisconsin improve in 2025? (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)

We'll see how things shake out starting in late August. I'll continue to reserve judgment until I see some results. Let me know what you think at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.