It hasn’t been the most successful start to his Wisconsin Badgers tenure for head coach Luke Fickell, who went 12-13 in his first two seasons, including a 5-7 year in 2024, where the team missed a bowl game for the first time in 22 years.
When initially arriving in Madison, Fickell and Athletic Director Chris McIntosh set the bar at Big Ten banners with the goal of winning a national championship. Two plus years into his tenure, it’s not clear that the Badgers have made much progress towards that goal.
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A big part of the Fickell hire was his ability to develop and recruit top talent. The Badgers have posted several top-30 recruiting classes, but had a bit of a down year recruiting with their 2026 class, which included several big misses.
Fickell is only in Year 3 of a seven-year contract that he signed when arriving back in 2022, and his buyout remains significant. But, is he on the hot seat with another down year in 2025?
College Football analyst Dan Wolken listed coaches on the hot seat after Virginia Tech fired Brent Pry and UCLA fired Deshaun Foster over the weekend. Unsurprisingly, Fickell was listed in the ‘teetering on the edge’ category.
“Firing him would cost in the neighborhood of $27 million, which may simply be a non-starter,” Wolken acknowledged. “But nobody could argue truthfully that this marriage has worked out. Wisconsin’s 14-14 record under Fickell is one of the biggest disappointments of the 2022 coaching cycle when he left Cincinnati to take what seemed like a good fit in the Big Ten. Last weekend’s 38-14 loss to Alabama was so uncompetitive that Wisconsin’s decision-makers have no choice but to be on alert. Another 5-7 type season might necessitate a buyout.”
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At the moment, it is a tough path for Fickell to reach a bowl game in 2025, given how tough Wisconsin’s schedule is.
But, I still see the Badgers head coach reaching at least a fourth year, given the buyout and the commitment that McIntosh gave when handing Fickell his initial seven-year contract.
Over the past few years, it was clear there was a talent deficit in Madison. The previous staff had worked well with those talent deficits, but the bar has significantly risen with the addition of four new teams in the Big Ten and the elimination of divisions.
Several of Fickell’s highly-touted recruits are starting to see the field, and the hope is that those players continue to develop throughout the course of the season. That would set a baseline for the Badgers heading into 2026 that they could build off. Obviously, the quarterback position will continue to be the biggest question, and Wisconsin probably won’t reach the heights it’s looking for until a long-term solution is there.
But, there are still several promising pieces in the program, which is why Fickell is likely to see a fourth year. However, the clock is clearly ticking for the head coach.
