It is time for the Wisconsin Badgers to tug the plug on the Luke Fickell period.
With fellow Large Ten packages the UCLA Bruins and Penn State Nittany Lions already within the hunt for a head coach after firing DeShaun Foster and James Franklin, respectively, the Badgers ought to quickly observe go well with.
On Saturday, Wisconsin (2-5, 0-4 in Large Ten) dropped its ninth consecutive convention sport, 34-0 at house in opposition to Related Press No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes (7-0, 4-0 in Large Ten), the staff’s second consecutive shutout loss at Camp Randall after final Saturday’s 37-0 loss to Iowa (4-2, 2-1 in Large Ten). Wisconsin’s final Large Ten win got here on October 19, 2024, at Northwestern.
Luke Fickell’s period has reached the tip of its course
What as soon as appeared like a home-run rent has become a catastrophe, as Wisconsin has reached its lowest level because the Don Morton period (1987-89). Fickell led Cincinnati to an unprecedented Faculty Soccer Playoff berth in 2021, changing into the one mid-major program to succeed in the four-team CFP in its 10-year existence (2014-23), and appeared like a superb alternative after the college fired former head coach Paul Chryst 5 video games into the 2022 season.
However the Badgers have regressed underneath Fickell’s watch and are on monitor for consecutive shedding seasons for the primary time since 1989-90, Morton’s final season and the primary 12 months underneath future Wisconsin legend Barry Alvarez.
The offense has devolved to turn out to be not solely the worst within the Large Ten however within the nation. Getting into Saturday, Wisconsin ranked No. 131 in FBS in scoring (15.5 factors per sport) and No. 130 in whole offense (292.5 yards per sport). It is one among two energy convention groups (North Carolina Tar Heels) to fail to common a minimum of 300 yards per sport.
This system must be a lot additional alongside in its improvement with Fickell as head coach. However it’s more and more clear that the Badgers are ready for a breakthrough that can by no means come.
Holding Fickell by means of the common season would solely delay what must be an inevitability. It is also pricey.
Per CBS Sports, the Badgers are on the hook for 80 p.c of the cash owed on Fickell’s preliminary deal — $25 million on the finish of the season, so barely extra with 5 video games remaining — with a buyout. Firing Fickell in-season would give him time to pursue different jobs, reducing into the quantity the Badgers owe him in future years.
With the losses piling up and a brutal schedule the remainder of the season, it is pointless to increase the Fickell period any longer. Wisconsin’s last 5 opponents are a mixed 26-7 (.788), making it unlikely the staff will expertise a late-season surge and turn out to be bowl-eligible. It is time for the Badgers to look towards the longer term, which Fickell has no enterprise being a part of.
