Contract Details Emerge For Wisconsin Badgers HC Luke Fickell
The numbers are in, and one thing is for sure, UW is paying Luke Fickell the big bucks.
(Photo: Courtesy of UW Athletics)
Madison, Wis. – The Wisconsin Badgers shocked the college football world this past weekend when they hired former Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell to the same position at UW.
But the question on everyone’s minds is, what did the Badgers have to pay to land one of college football’s best and brightest?
It was initially reported by Pete Thamel, ESPN’s Senior College Football writer, that the Wisconsin Badgers contract with coach Fickell was a seven-year pact averaging nearly $7.9 million per year.
Yesterday, during Fickell’s introductory press conference, UW AD Chris McIntosh set the record straight, “It begins at $7.5 million and averages $7.8 million over seven years,” he told reporters.
That’s $54.6 million in total – which tells me the Wisconsin Badgers boosters backed up the brinks truck.
For reference, that would have tied him as the 10th highest-paid head coach in college football last season, according to NBCSports.
Among Big Ten coaches, Fickell is now the fourth highest-paid HC, trailing Ohio States Ryan Day, Michigan States Mel Tucker, and Nebraska’s new hire, Matt Rhule.
With great contract – comes great responsibility
UW AD Chris McIntosh fired Paul Chryst, a coach that won more than 70% of his games, went 6-1 in bowl games and appeared in several Big Ten Championships during his tenure. He also passed up Jim Leonhard, one of the brightest defensive minds in college football, to hire Luke Fickell.
You don’t make this move, especially with this kind of pay hike relative to PC, without having lofty goals for the program, so he’ll be expected to deliver and get UW back to competing for league titles.
“We’ve got one objective — one goal — play for a championship,” Fickell told reporters. “That is open-ended, but it gives you a lot of flexibility. You have an opportunity in this league; if you are playing for a championship, amazing things can happen. I think you just got to stay focused and know that’s what it comes down to.”
It’s been a whirlwind couple of days for the University of Wisconsin, but one thing is for sure, UW is all-in on its football program, and fans should be excited.
Contact/Follow us @Badger_Notes on Twitter, Subscribe to the BadgerNotes Newsletter here, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, opinion, and analysis. You can also follow Dillon Graff on Twitter @DillonGraff.
Join the Badger Notes watch party and stream Wisconsin Badgers games by following this link.
*Chat about this article over at Badgers After Dark