Luke Fickell is ready to become Wisconsin’s next head football coach, where he will enjoy the not-so-unique privilege of being third-best in the Big 10 every year until he hangs up his whistle. In the good years, his Badgers will play in the Citrus Bowl, also known as Not The Grandaddy of Them All. In leaner years, maybe they’ll rejoice in their invitation to the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce on three. Ready. . . break!
He’ll no doubt make more money in Madison than he did in Clifton. Very possibly he’ll sign more players with more stars next to their names. Perhaps, Wisconsin will pony up more NIL money than UC could.
All that really means is, he’ll be not as good as Ohio State and Michigan.
He succeeds Paul Chryst, who went 67-26 in 7 1/2 seasons and for that was fired midway through this one. The back-breaker for Chryst was losing to Bret Bielema-coached Illinois in October. Bielema became coach of the Illini. . . nine years after he left Wisconsin.
Look, no one here expected UC to be Fickell’s destination gig. He has done too much, too quickly not to cash in. But. . . Wisconsin?
Ohio State would have been a no-brainer. We’d have thrown Fickell a metaphorical parade and thanked him for what he’d done. A gem in need of polishing, say UCLA or Texas? Understood. Safe travels. Make us proud.
Wisconsin at its best is almost never better than OSU and Michigan. In 2024, the conference adds Southern Cal. Good luck, Luke, if championships are the goal.
It’s big-picture disappointing. Losing Fickell is a serious blow to UC’s lofty dreams. Fickell showed what a great coach can do for a program with mighty aspirations, same as Tuberville showed how quickly those aspirations can wither in the hands of a bad coach. Success at places like UC is a fragile thing.
Fickell was 57-18 in six seasons at Cincinnati (53-10 since 4-8 in 2017) and got the Bearcats to the Final Four last year. The Group of Five never had a better ambassador. Recruiting was good, Big 12 affiliation was good, the Big 12’s new TV deal was impressive. And now. . .
Big picture, UC has to wonder just how far its aspirations can take it. Can the school do better than Fickell? If it does, somehow, will the new coach truly stick around when he says he will?
Fickell was making $5 mil a year through ‘28 reportedly the most money among all Group of Five coaches when he signed an extension early this year. His assistants also did well. Their salary pool went from $3.9 mil to $5.2 mil. UC did about all it could do for Luke Fickell. There isn’t a T. Boone Pickens hanging around in Terrace Park.
Sometimes, watching UC struggle nobly and successfully feels like a perpetual ride on the hamster wheel.
We shouldn’t begrudge Fickell. He has done too much good and represented the school, the city and the region too well. There are a handful of destination jobs. They start with Alabama and just about end with Michigan and Ohio State. This day would have arrived, eventually.
Only Fickell knows why he thinks Wisconsin is a significantly better gig than Cincinnati. But if his bottom line is to coach the last team standing in any given year, he didn’t help himself Sunday.
Congrats to him, I guess. He more than earned the promotion. Is that what we call it?
Time to hop back on the hamster wheel.
I’m so happy I found you, Doc. I’ve really missed your writing! Just curious if there has been any rumbling of discontentment between Fickell and Cunningham? I recall Fickell being pretty hissed about how Brannen was handled when he was fired. Fickell and Cunningham never seemed to gel, at least publicly, and apparently Luke wanted out last year but felt the timing wasn’t right with the playoffs. I’m grateful he stayed, but I have to wonder if there is more under the surface. Fickell seems like a guy that would never want to hurt the university so we may never know the full truth, but his comments about being philosophically aligned with the AD at Wisconsin are what made me wonder if maybe he was not aligned here. It seems Wisconsin is a good fit for his personality, we will miss him, but We wish him the best!
I'd like to offer some better fuel for the fire, but I am in 100% agreement with Doc on this one. Fickel; taking the Wisconsin job is not likely the place he'll make it to "The Last Man Standing" on the college gridiron. So, nuff said on that. I will add this re: whoever may follow Coach Fickell into the position of HC for the Bearcats, PLEASE do not let it be Urban Meyer. He has proven himself unworthy to be in any position of influence over young men in the age range of 18-23, or so. In fact, Meyer is a disgrace to the males species of the human race. Sure he coached college football teams that won a lot more than they lost. Yippee! If the world of sports villifies Peter Edward, and UC sent Bob Huggins packing, the powers that be simply cannot justify in any way consideration of hiring Urban. I have to believe "we" all know of other much better choices to take the Bearcats program into the Big 12 and beyond.