MADISON, WI (WTAQ) – University of Wisconsin Athletic Director Chris McIntosh made it clear the Badger football program needed an overhaul when he dismissed Head Coach Paul Chryst five games into the season, allowed popular defensive coordinator Jim Leonard to finish out a 6-6 year as interim coach and one day after a disappointing season ending 23-16 loss to Minnesota, fired Leonard to hire University of Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell as the 31st Head Coach in Wisconsin history.
Fickell arrived in Madison via a private jet Sunday night after the UW Board of Regents met to finalize details of a contract for the 49 year old native of Columbus Ohio. He reportedly met with the team, with a vast majority of the players openly campaigning for Leonard to stay on.
A former player at Ohio State, Fickell was a longtime assistant under Buckeye coaches Jim Tressel and Urban Myer before taking over the Bearcat program in 2017. He went 57-18 at Cincinnati, winning AAC titles in 2020 and 2021 when he led the Bearcats to a 13-0 record and a berth in the College Football Playoff, losing to Alabama in the national semifinals 27-16 but earning unanimous Coach of the Year honors. 9 of his players were drafted by NFL teams this past spring. Cincinnati finished 9-3 this year.
He takes over a Wisconsin program that has been competitive in the Big 10’s west division and has been bowl eligible for 21 straight years but McIntosh believes Fickell is best suited to take the program to the next level of competing for conference championships and college football playoff appearances.
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