Wisconsin football hits rock bottom, must 'weed out' divided locker room

Wisconsin's coaching staff needs to begin weeding out anyone who isn't bought into the football program's vision moving forward.

With bowl eligibility on the line, Luke Fickell and the Wisconsin football program laid arguably their biggest egg of the season. The Badgers lost 24-10 at home to a Northwestern team that was better prepared, played with more energy, and, quite simply, wanted it more — despite having an interim head coach on the opposing sideline. 

"That's embarrassing, and I take the blame of it and not having guys ready, and not at any phase of the game," Fickell said after the game.

Transitioning from one coaching staff to another is always challenging. Still, it's an even tougher sell when it involves deviating from a philosophy that's defined the Wisconsin Badgers since the Barry Alvarez era.

Thus far, Fickell has faced unique challenges in maintaining the team's locker room culture and winning tradition in his first season. Rumblings of a divided team have started to leak out, leading to coaches and players discussing the need to determine who wants to be here and who doesn't. 

"We're going to have to look at tomorrow, and we're going to have to be one day at a time and one practice at a time, one moment at a time, and find a way, with the guys we got, and the guys that want to be here and the guys that want to do it, to push forward and do the things that we can do and do them better," Fickell stated.

Defensive star Hunter Wohler seemed to echo that statement in an impassioned post-game ranting with media members that centered around the team's lack of effort, being soft, and not executing the coaching staff's game plan.

"I think there's some people that are bought in, and we need to get everybody," Wohler said. "This game doesn't happen with one or two people. It happens with a full team." 

Wisconsin Must ‘Weed Out’ Divided Locker Room

When Luke Fickell took over the Wisconsin football program, it marked a significant shift in coaching philosophy and culture.

For more than three decades, the Badgers thrived under a one-lineage approach, cultivating a winning tradition and borderline unparalleled consistency. However, Athletic Director Chris McIntosh felt the need for a cultural overhaul — and a more modern approach was evident.

Bringing in Phil Longo to install a spread offense and Mike Tressel to run a 3-3-5 scheme, Fickell aimed to imprint his coaching philosophy on a team accustomed to a very different schematic philosophy. Now, the challenge lies in whether the locker room fully supports this new vision.

Frustration is mounting among the fanbase with each passing game, waiting for that pivotal moment when the players, fueled by anger and frustration, draw a line in the sand — and turn a corner. Unfortunately, this season has seen the team taking more punches than delivering them.

Coaching transitions often come with struggles as players grapple with buying into a new approach, especially when the prior staff had established a culture they believed in. The athletic director's treatment of previous coaches Paul Chryst and Jim Leonhard might have sowed seeds of skepticism and resistance toward Fickell's regime — but those players should have entered the transfer portal last offseason if that's the case.

Building trust can take time, but after listening to Tanner Mordecai and Hunter Wohler air their grievances, it's clear there are divisions within the team. This division, rooted in disparate backgrounds and loyalties, is becoming an underlying challenge that Luke Fickell must sort out quickly to turn things around.

"There might be some weeding out that we need to do because right now, the things that we have going on are not what Wisconsin Football is," Wohler remarked after the Northwestern loss.

Final Thoughts

As the old adage goes, "Perception is reality."

If Badgers players perceive mistreatment or have been "left in the dark" during the head coaching transition, resentment can breed, widening the rift within the team — which feels like where Wisconsin is right now.

Luke Fickell's team hasn't even remotely met expectations this season — that's objectively true — and the coaching staff deserves plenty of blame.

But, these shortcomings and divisions within the locker room could also present a temporary remedy with long-term benefits — the option to part ways with anyone harboring reservations.

The likelihood of higher-than-average turnover during the off-season looms large for the Badgers. Some players may choose to depart independently due to a lack of buy-in or uncertainty about their roles moving forward — and if that does happen — good riddance. Others may not have the choice — and could get recruited over in favor of someone the new regime deems a better fit for their preferred style of play.

Either way, the upcoming off-season stands as a pivotal period for Fickell and his staff. It will be imperative to address these divisions, rebuild trust, and establish their own identity within the team.

Only time will reveal how successfully they navigate these obstacles and perpetuate the winning tradition of Wisconsin football.

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