Wisconsin fans losing faith in Luke Fickell after blowout loss to Alabama
Has Luke Fickell already lost the trust of the Badgers fanbase?
When Luke Fickell was hired as the next head coach for the Wisconsin Badgers football program, it felt like a seismic shift.
Fans were buzzing with excitement, hoping Fickell’s arrival could help take the program to the next level and get them over the proverbial hump. But after just three games into his second season, that optimism has all but evaporated, and it’s becoming clear that Wisconsin is further away from being a legitimate contender than anyone could have expected.
Saturday’s embarrassing 42-10 defeat at the hands of Kaelen DeBoer and No. 4 Alabama was a wake-up call. The Badgers’ most lopsided home defeat in 16 years was a humbling reminder of the gap that still exists between Wisconsin and the elite college football teams they're chasing.
Fickell’s spirited postgame statement to the media said it all: “If you haven’t had your a-- whooped before, you just did. And it hurts. And it’s not easy. But in this game, that’s going to happen. It’s a part of the game. It stinks. It doesn’t mean you didn’t work hard. It doesn’t mean you didn’t prepare. It means you didn’t get the job done.”
But here’s the problem—it wasn’t supposed to happen like this, not with the buildup surrounding Fickell’s hire. Most Wisconsin fans understood that 2024 didn’t need to be a finished product yet. But when you consider the top 25 transfer class and the high school recruiting haul this staff brought in, they expected to see noticeable improvement from Year 1, if for no other reason than a better understanding of the systems.
Instead, this team needs help in seemingly every facet and also doesn't have a strength you can point to on either side of the ball. Fickell himself admitted as much, saying, “We know we’ve got a hell of a long way to go to figure out what we are and what we can hang our hat on.”
The offense? Stalled. Despite bringing in Phil Longo to rejuvenate the approach, Wisconsin football hasn’t scored more than 40 points in 23 straight games, although that's not all on them. They've also failed to eclipse 30 points in 11 of their last 12 contests since October 2023. Not to mention, The Badgers have been held under 20 points four times.
The defense? It's also a far cry from what the standard has been.
For a team historically priding itself on physicality and execution, they’ve shown neither. Instead, the Wisconsin Badgers look like a team trying to figure out who they are 16 games into this transition, and in the process, they’re getting exposed by far better-coached football teams.
Wisconsin’s identity crisis runs deep. Under previous regimes, they knew their limitations. They knew they weren’t going to out-talent the Ohio States and Alabamas of the world. Instead, they leaned into their blue-collar brand of football—physical, disciplined, and relentless. But now? The Badgers are chasing something different, trying to out-recruit and out-scheme their way to success despite not having the talent to do so or being unable to adjust it to their respective skill sets. Both are an issue.
And that’s where the frustration lies for those in the fanbase. Moving on from Paul Chryst made sense, but what they’ve seen from Fickell and his staff so far has been nothing short of concerning. The team has been out-coached, out-manned, and out-played in critical moments, leaving the fans wondering if Fickell was the right hire for the Badgers after all.
The reality is simple: This wasn’t just a loss to Alabama; the Crimson Tide often beat down their opponents. However, this was a reflection of where Wisconsin stands in the grander landscape of college football. The fanbase’s patience is running thin, and unless Fickell can turn things around quickly or at least show marked improvement, the goodwill he had upon his arrival will disappear just as fast as it arrived.
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Yes, it's been frustrating. And concerning, especially with former players coming out publicly to express concern. However, I still feel, as I did the day Fick was hired, that this is a four-year plan. We can be frustrated, but to want to blow it up again after a year and three games is short-sited. Hard to have patience in today's world, but still feel the hiring was the right move. On Wisconsin.
This is "Dead-on-balls accurate." Thank you for saying what we're all thinking.