Luke Fickell Aims for Championship Glory with Wisconsin (United Latest News)

Luke Fickell, Wisconsin have one goal: win a championship

Luke Fickell and the Wisconsin team are both focused on an objective; winning the College Football Playoff. To demonstrate their determination Wisconsin has offered Fickell a seven-year contract $55.3 million and the head coach emphasized this goal during the Big Ten media day. Fickell made it clear that regardless of the year their primary focus is playing for a championship. He stressed that external opinions won’t define their success; instead, success means performing at their best towards the end of the season. How they handle challenges grow as a team and perform in the month will shape their perception of success as they move forward.

The Badgers had a 7 6 season year with a 4 5 record, in Big Ten play. They made the decision to replace head coach Paul Chryst after five games. Jim Leonhard, the star defensive back and current coordinator took over as interim coach for the remainder of the regular season (Fickell guided Wisconsin to victory in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against Oklahoma State). Interestingly Leonhard has recently been hired as a football analyst for Illinois one of their Ten West rivals.

During Chrysts tenure from 2015 to 2022 Wisconsin achieved a record of 67 26. They secured three Ten West titles. Had four seasons with at least ten wins.

Wisconsin Badger Women’s Volleyball Season 2023. (United Latest News)

On the hand Cincinnati had Luke Fickell as their head coach from 2017 to 2022. Under his guidance they had a run with a record of 57 18. In three out of six seasons they won eleven or more games. Their standout year was in 2021 when they went undefeated at 13 0 and earned a spot in the College Football Playoff. Unfortunately they were defeated by Alabama in the semifinals. The year Cincinnati finished with a record of 9 1 and their only loss came against Georgia in the Peach Bowl. It is worth mentioning that Fickell also served as head coach at his alma mater Ohio State in 2011 and was part of their coaching staff from 2002 to 2016.

With Fickell taking charge at Wisconsin now it is expected that there will be changes, to their strategy and approach.
Wisconsin has always had a preference, for prioritizing the running game like Big Ten schools. They usually have a quarterback who prefers to stay in the pocket, such as Graham Mertz, Jack Coan and Joel Stave. On the contrary Cincinnatis teams under Fickell tend to involve their quarterbacks in the running game. For instance Desmond Ridder and Hayden Moore were actively involved.
However there have been some changes this offseason. Mertz, Wisconsins quarterback between 2020 22 decided to transfer to Florida. In response Wisconsin brought in Tanner Mordecai ( from SMU and Oklahoma) and Nick Evers (from Oklahoma) through the transfer portal. Both Mordecai and Evers possess some level of mobility as quarterbacks.
Fickell anticipates that there will be differences in Wisconsins offense season but not to an extent that it becomes unrecognizable.
“I believe you’ll witness some changes for sure ” Fickell expressed. “It could be variations, like incorporating two ends or three tight ends or even having two backs on the field simultaneously; these are elements that have traditionally been associated with Wisconsins success.”To expand on the topic I believe that the reason, for any changes made is not necessarily to veer from what we have excelled at but rather to prioritize the importance of individuals involved.

Growing up in the Midwest and having learned from a coach one thing I’ve come to understand is that it all comes down to people. When you bring together the individuals they recognize that it doesn’t matter how they are labeled or categorized. Whether they lean towards a ground and pound approach or an air raid strategy. What truly matters are the core values underlying their actions. While their methods may appear different, on the surface delving deeper reveals that it still revolves around strength in the lines. Physicality and dominating the line of scrimmage remain paramount regardless of whether we’re speaking about offense or defense.

No matter how expansive Wisconsins offense becomes on the perimeter they still boast one of the running backs, in the nation in Braelon Allen. He has consistently rushed for over 1,200 yards in each of his two seasons at Madison.

Wisconsin will kick off their 2023 season on September 2nd with a home game, against Buffalo. Their first Big Ten conference game will take place on September 22nd when they face Purdue.