Wisconsin Badgers HC Luke Fickell Is a Helluva Salesman
The hiring of Luke Fickell was a gamble, but it could prove to be a transformative hire for the Wisconsin Badgers football program.
Madison, Wis. -- UW athletic director Chris McIntosh made a statement when he hired Luke Fickell as the 31st head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers football program.
That statement was clear and concise; the expectation is for UW to win the Big Ten West, compete for B1G titles and push for an appearance in the college football playoffs.
However, there was a checklist of things that needed addressing, and in short order to put the best possible team on the field in 2023.
He inherited a 2023 recruiting class holding only eight commits for next season, lost starting quarterback Graham Mertz to the transfer portal, and UW legend Jim Leonhard decided to part ways with the program after the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. There were also no guarantees the current players on the roster would stay amid the coaching turnover.
That said, during this period of complete and utter chaos surrounding the program, I've learned one thing: Luke Fickell might be one helluva salesman.
Luke Fickell retained in-house talent
Step one for Luke Fickell was retaining the players already in-house. Besides Graham Mertz, Isaac Guerendo, and Semar Melvin, UW didn't lose any key contributors to the transfer portal. He even kept star running back Braelon Allen on board despite rumors during the season he was considering a change.
Coach Fickell also convinced players like Michael Furtney, who started eight games at right guard - and Markus Allen, who entered the portal in October, to withdraw their names and rejoin the program.
He acknowledged that there was no desire to build a football team through the transfer portal - so sharing his vision for the program and selling the current Badgers players was vital.
I was very impressed at the lack of turnover because there is a ton of talent returning next season - now he can look to add to it.
Revamped the coaching staff
When a new head coach gets hired, it's not unusual for them to clean house and bring in their own guys - usually ones they've worked with at previous stops. For Wisconsin, a clean slate, particularly on offense, was a must.
On offense, coach Fickell replaced Bobby Engram, a first-year OC with no previous play-calling experience, and made a splash hire - getting Phil Longo, one of the best in the country, to leave UNC and help rebuild/run his offense in Madison. Talk about an upgrade.
The Badgers offense is getting a complete and utter facelift - and I, for one, couldn't be more excited.
Although coach Fickell didn't talk Jim Leonhard into staying - he brought Mike Tressel, the 2022 AFCA Assistant Coach of the Year, over from Cincinnati to run his defense. He also convinced his co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach Colin Hitschler to join him at UW.
While I can acknowledge these people aren't Jim Leonhard - it's hard not to be optimistic about his replacements.