For the Wisconsin Badgers this season they are only picking loss badges! Five defeats is no joke, after all. Maybe this has left the Wisconsin HC Luke Fickell feeling ‘enough is enough.’ And he dived right into his coaching roster and came up with a huge shake-up after their fresh loss against the Oregon Ducks 13-16 on November 16.

Maybe that’s how he wanted to cope with the tough loss. Well, that doesn’t mean he disposed of all the burden of the big defeat to his program. Instead, as an ideal HC he did not inch even for once before taking the blame.   

Luke Fickell takes a firm step to start a new chapter for Wisconsin

The Badgers are now maintaining a streak. No, not a winning streak! They lost for the third time in a row. Fickell’s Wisconsin did hold Dan Lanning’s Ducks to just 16 points but at last, the offense failed to keep the pace. Obviously, Badgers’ offensive coordinator Phil Longo had to bear the blows. He had already been in a sticky spot as his Air Raid offense already gained heavy scrutiny. For the coach, the QB Braedyn Locke had caught the brunt of the criticisms on offense as fans started to pour in their pleas to bench the struggling signal-caller. So HC Fickell had to take the matter into his own hands and pulled a shocker. On Sunday, November 17, he fired his offensive coordinator Longo.

“This morning, I informed Phil Longo that he will no longer serve as our offensive coordinator,” stated the upset HC. Now that he is in an evaluation mode, Fickell further revealed, “After continuing to evaluate the program, I decided we are not where we need to be and believe this decision is in the best interest of the team.” Even though he had not uttered any harsh words for the fired coach, he is in no way going to sacrifice the time that is now left. “This team still has a lot in front of us and I am committed to doing everything we can to close out this season with success,” he added. With this, he thought of being hard on himself.  

How HC Luke Fickell puts himself in the hot seat

After all, the Badgers got a chance to face against each other after four years. Yes, the last time they were in the 2020 Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Cut to 2024, the Camp Randall Stadium was all hyped up for the Midwest Big Ten Conference matchup. But poor Wisconsin, it did not end the way they might have envisioned. All thanks to the star of the show, Lanning’s star QB Dillon Gabriel who started off slow but soon gained momentum in the second half. After Oregon’s undefeated 11-0, Fickell had to drop in some kind words for the rivals

“They did a great job on tackling, they did a great job of eliminating the big plays,” stated the Badgers HC. Definitely, it hurts since Fickell has been extremely sure about his program’s prep, “There was not a doubt in the eyes in the locker room, and I do mean that.” Maybe they fell prey to an ugly fate that left him to go all emotional.

Sitting at the helm, Luke Fickell deep down holds himself responsible as he said, “But, I do believe, where it is not always seen or always felt, there’s something that is building and something that’s coming. Just, unfortunately, hasn’t been able to rear its head in games like this. I put that on me.” It’s good to know that the HC did not let the program sink under the false ego and had actually started taking baby steps for a better future. 

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