Exploring the Changes in Wisconsin FB Recruiting Under Luke Fickell
Since taking over the Wisconsin football program, Badgers head coach Luke Fickell has made some not so subtle recruiting adjustments.
Madison, Wis. -- The Wisconsin football program got a facelift when athletic director Chris McIntosh made the splash hiring of the offseason, bringing in former Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell to lead the Badgers.
With that hiring has come a slew of changes ranging from air raid offense installation to landing high-end transfer portal talents, and more recently, we've seen the program undergo significant changes on the recruiting front.
Today, BadgerNotes examines three major recruiting trends we've observed in coach Fickell's first seven months as head coach.
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Luke Fickell Certainly Has a Type at Cornerback
One of the most notable trends is Wisconsin football coaches' emphasis on size and length at the defensive back position.
A defensive-minded coach like Fickell understands the importance of having tall, athletic players in the secondary who can disrupt passing lanes and make plays on the ball.
In many cases, the defensive back play has been the difference in Wisconsin taking the next step as a program during the prime Paul Chryst years.
It's not as though this is the first time in college football history someone has thought of this concept (having height/length thresholds), but if UW misses on the first wave of defensive back recruits on their board, finding athletes with special tools to mold is a heck of a place to fall back on. Because if they can develop a few of them into meaningful contributors, those defensive backs have a clear advantage in both man and zone coverage.
The idea is that it'll make already tight throwing windows even tighter and allow the defense's playmakers to ball out on the backend.
Cornerback Jay Harper and safeties Kahmir Prescott and Raphael Dunn all meet the 6-foot threshold and make for an intriguing, high-upside group to develop for the secondary in the future.
Wisconsin Will Still Be a Running Team, But...
Another change in thinking I've observed from Luke Fickell in his first seven months on the job is his preference in running back recruits.