Luke Fickell speaks on uncertain future as head coach at Wisconsin

Luke Fickell finds himself on a hot seat through two and a half seasons of a tenure at Wisconsin. As for his future in Madison, though, he doesn’t yet know, and neither does anyone else yet to his knowledge.

Fickell was asked in his first question at his press conference about his future as head coach of the Badgers. He was unsure of where it stands, but he knows thinking too much about it yet won’t do him or anyone in their program any good.

“I don’t think any of us have a crystal ball. I have never asked the question. It’s not something that I can dwell upon. It’s not something that – I can’t tell you that it’s not something that, you know, I don’t think about. I’m not saying it’s something that, when you go home, and your wife doesn’t look at you. But, it doesn’t do us any good, right? It’s not going to change the fact that we got a practice tomorrow. It’s not going to change the fact of anything on Saturday,” said Fickell. “I guess you just let everybody else kind of deal with those things.”

“But, I have not been told,” Fickell said. “I’m not worried about that. I mean, I understand, you know, if we don’t meet expectations and we don’t do the things we need to do, anything can happen.”

This comes after a pair of comments this morning about the football program by the Badgers. AD Chris McIntosh shared a release this morning, while Fickell commented on the current state of things to open that presser on Monday morning.

“I share in the disappointment with this football season to date; it has fallen well short of our standards. At Wisconsin, we do not shy away from setting lofty expectations – for our teams, our coaches, and for myself. We embrace them and accept the responsibility of meeting those goals. While our coaches, staff and student-athletes continue to demonstrate the work ethic and values that represent UW Football, the results simply are not where any of us want them to be. Coach Fickell sees the potential in what this team can be, as do I, and he shares the same disappointment and frustration. Our student-athletes continue to stand and fight with character and pride as they battle through this moment of adversity, and they deserve all our support,” wrote in part and posted by McIntosh. “While we still have a lot of football to play this season, with the support and significant involvement of Chancellor Mnookin, Athletics is committed to elevating the investment into our football program to position us to compete at the highest level. As a department, we must provide our coaches the tools necessary to succeed. That means more Athletics-funded investments into infrastructure, staffing and, most importantly, student-athlete recruiting and retention…You have my unrelenting commitment to do what is necessary to make that happen. Thank you for dedication, loyalty and passion.”

“Everybody, including myself – I would think me more than, you know, most, and not saying that for the guys in that locker room, are very disappointed in where we are, you know, and the way in which we played…and, you know, be as competitive as we need to be, and want to be, and expect to be. And so, you know, I know how everybody feels, you know, and I live it every single day, every minute and the guys in that locker room do the same thing, but we’ve got to find ways to continue to push ourselves forward, move forward, and find ways to continue to get better, and, you know, its everybody’s responsibility in this program and on this team,” Fickell went on to say in his opening statement. “I’m not shying away from that, not trying to avoid, you know, that and move on, but, at some point in time, each and every week, the whole idea is you got to be able to move forward and go to the next step and find ways to continue to push and get better.”

On Saturday, Wisconsin fell to 2-5, with a fifth consecutive loss and second straight shutout, by losing 37-0 to No. 1 Ohio State. That brings Fickell to a record of 14-18 (.438) since his debut in 2023, and with this trending to be one of the program’s worst in the last few decades with games still upcoming to finish the season against No. 6 Oregon, Washington, at No. 2 Indiana, No. 23 Illinois, and at Minnesota. With that, buyouts and firings are likely to be discussed by the Badgers, with On3’s Pete Nakos reporting a figure of $25 million being owed if the school wants to move on from Fickell.

Nothing yet sounds to be imminent as far as a decision at Wisconsin. Still, the Badgers, still led by Fickell, are focusing on how to turn their season around at all, as they prepare to play another ranked game on the road on Saturday.