Luke Fickell addresses viral clip of him leaving field to Wisconsin fans' frustration

Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell has been under fire in recent weeks as the Badgers have struggled on the field. The program has lost five straight games, most in blowout fashion.

At the end of Saturday’s 34-0 loss to Ohio State, the second straight game in which Wisconsin was shut out, Fickell did something that got the attention of plenty of fans. It happened as he was jogging off the field to the locker room.

As boos and chants rained down on him, Fickell put both arms up into the air and slowly curled his hands inward toward his shoulders. As if to say, ‘bring it on.’

Luke Fickell was asked about that Monday. A reporter started in.

“Did you see that or did somebody else?” Fickell asked, before being informed that there was video of it on the Internet. “Oh OK. You know what, it’s nothing more than, ‘I hear you. Blame me, put it on me.’ More than anything I want them to support the kids that are out there. Those are the peers.”

The head coach would go on to elaborate on his meaning, trying to make it clear that he wasn’t attempting to provoke the fans. Quite the opposite.

“I know that maybe at some point in time we don’t look at them, whether it’s students, whether it’s fans, as they are peers,” Luke Fickell said. “But they are. If anything it’s, OK, blame me, put it on me, I can handle it, I understand, I recognize the situation that we’re in.

“I’m not trying to be disrespectful. It is what it is. But it’s just one of those things that, moreso than anything, you say, ‘Look, I understand. I hear you.’ Not to say I like it, but heck it’s a part of the game. So it was more that than anything else.”

If Wisconsin wants to turn things around, it’s going to be difficult. Up next is a road trip to Oregon.

The next time Wisconsin is in front of the home fans might be two weeks later, after a bye, when the program hosts Washington. Luke Fickell is hopeful fans have had a chance to hear his message by then.

“Maybe hopefully they recognize it, what they do say is heard,” Fickell said. “Don’t know that it needs to be a response to, but in some ways, hey, now they know that I do hear them and there was a response that I understand, ‘Hey, put it on me because I am the one who’s to blame.'”