2024 Wisconsin Season Thread

[CatsbyAZ]

It's one thing if you're Florida's Billy Napier and quickly realized by Gator fans as way in over your head. But what to make of Luke Fickell's underwhelming 10-7 start at Wisconsin? On paper it appeared Wisconsin made a near perfect hire. Fickell arrived with extensive experience in the Big Ten, finished 57-18 to include consecutive Top 10 finishes in six years at Cincinnati, and recruiting ticked upward.

Fast forward to now and not only is Wisconsin off to a bad start, but worse, going forward, there doesn't seem to be much hope left in the air to do better under Fickell. To quote an Athlon article covering last Saturday's home loss to Bama: "...it’s becoming clear that Wisconsin is further away from being a legitimate contender than anyone could have expected."

In watching (via game replays) Wisconsin show poorly against what should be weaklings in W. Michigan and S. Dakota, before getting throttled by Alabama, the worst takeaway has to be Wisconsin losing grip of their dependable trademarks: Strong OL & ground game complemented by sturdy, disciplined defenses. Wisconsin's characteristic play incorporated players built from the ground up with redshirts and in weight rooms to fit into the Badgers gridiron culture of “physicality and execution.” For over 30 years, across four coaching tenures from Alvarez to Paul Chryst, Wisconsin always looked like Wisconsin. The Badgers more often lacked the skill players that put Ohio State or Oklahoma over the top, but they always had a roster that could pound away and dependably beat equal-or-lesser opponents. They were rarely overrun by better rosters from Columbus or Ann Arbor, and by and large seasons never went off the rails.

Meanwhile, I look at Boston College under Bill O'Brien this season - leaning on strong lines and disciplined defense to 'upset' Florida State and hang tough against a Top 10 Missouri team, both games on the road - and think that's what Wisconsin should look like even if losses to Bama, USC, Penn State, and Oregon are probable. Even through a down year, Wisconsin looking like Wisconsin would inspire enough hope to buy Fickell more time.

This is where I take back what I said a year ago regarding the support for hiring Leonhard:

OK, good news for the Badger faithful. A contingent of Madison diehards were demanding Leonhard or else! Good on the AD for ignoring the feelgood hometown story.

[847badgerfan]

Leonhard did not like to recruit and play the NIL game. That's why he is working for the Broncos now.

Fickell was a home run hire at the time. The man turned down Notre Dame, USC, LSU and many others. I couldn't believe Wisconsin got him. I was shocked, and elated.

Fickell's choice for his OC was/is a disaster. I'm glad he fired Longo's OL coach after last season, against Longo's wishes. OL play is MUCH better this season.

Before the Bama game, Longo went on record saying he's only in Madison "to please Luke Fickell". There is massive friction right now - and it's Fickell's fault for hiring a guy who didn't fit his vision (which I thought was changing, but it hasn't) for offense. Now he's dealing with it.

AND

He wanted to fire Longo after last season, but the AD wouldn't do the buyout.

This is not gonna end well, in my opinion.

[bayareabadger]

Leonhard did not like to recruit and play the NIL game. That's why he is working for the Broncos now.

Fickell was a home run hire at the time. The man turned down Notre Dame, USC, LSU and many others. I couldn't believe Wisconsin got him. I was shocked, and elated.

Fickell's choice for his OC was/is a disaster. I'm glad he fired Longo's OL coach after last season, against Longo's wishes. OL play is MUCH better this season.

Before the Bama game, Longo went on record saying he's only in Madison "to please Luke Fickell". There is massive friction right now - and it's Fickell's fault for hiring a guy who didn't fit his vision (which I thought was changing, but it hasn't) for offense. Now he's dealing with it.

AND

He wanted to fire Longo after last season, but the AD wouldn't do the buyout.

This is not gonna end well, in my opinion.

I understand the thought process with the OC, and at the time we knew there were some flags and monitor. But the offense simply is not good, which mildly surprises me. But that’s where we are.

From the outside, it certainly seemed like a somewhat sound process, give or take easy to see risk. But they definitely caught the bust outcome of that hand.

[FearlessF]

The offense struggling because of the QB situation is not a big deal.   Can b fixed.

The culture issue regarding big tough guys in the trenches and leaning on them is a big deal. 

[847badgerfan]

They are not wrong.

Opinion from Yahoo! sports:

Wisconsin

The current state of Wisconsin football can be seen in a key fourth down in USC territory in the third quarter. Needing a yard, the Badgers lined up in shotgun, ran into the line of scrimmage and came up short. Ahead 21-17 at that moment, Wisconsin wouldn’t score again. This team is not physical, not athletic, not explosive, not tough and not built in any way that resembles the identity that defined the program for decades. Instead, this looks like a program in clear decline with no obvious path back to relevancy.

[847badgerfan]

Win
Loss
Tossup
Loss
Loss
Loss
Loss
Tossup


Heads roll.

[MrNubbz]

Opinion from Yahoo! sports:

Wisconsin
 Instead, this looks like a program in clear decline with no obvious path back to relevancy.

They are called Yahoo for a reason. NIL just might make this sport unwatchable,hope that is inaccurate

[847badgerfan]

They are called Yahoo for a reason. NIL just might make this sport unwatchable,hope that is inaccurate

I'm getting there.

As I see it today, only OSU, Michigan, PSU, USC, and Oregon can sniff the playoff. They have the money to buy talent.

Maybe Nebraska down the road.

[CatsbyAZ]

Wisconsin

The current state of Wisconsin football…

Instead, this looks like a program in clear decline with no obvious path back to relevancy.

This is the hardest statement to read, and yes - blame the NIL, but the transfer portal and conference realignment are also to blame, all at once hitting college football with too much change.

This is something I was talking in depth about with my Auburn friends yesterday.

Though college football’s helmet schools always had a grip on the sport there was always strong resistance mounted against their throne from the more second tier ranks. Which, when the times were right, made room at the top for schools like Florida and Miami to have truly dominate runs for several years. Or Wisconsin’s persistence would pay off with Rose Bowls. Or Auburn landing the right player could result in a national championship season lead by Cam Newton.

In this new era it’s like those options for the 2nd tier ranks are more limited due to:

1) NIL keeping up with the Helmet schools in the NIL era.

2) Transfer Portal giving helmet schools the chance to pry away solid players from 2nd tier schools. Image Ohio State and Michigan cherry picking experienced, well developed lineman from Wisconsin or Iowa using the NIL. Now coaches have to re-recruit their best players every season.

3) The conference realignment has made schedules more dense. Meaning a 10-2 team is 9-3 or 8-4, which means the 2nd tier is knocked out of conference contention earlier. This point might be more debatable. Auburn and Wisconsin collapsing in the second half yesterday is worse than it otherwise would be because, given their “realigned” schedules, they might not even win enough to make a bowl. This wouldn’t be the case with their older schedules.

Now I wonder if this second tier is disappearing in terms of opportunity like a middle class that disappears while the upper echelon is solidified.

Someone (ELA?) was saying something like too much of the sport’s upper half (2nd tier) of the sport is built to go 8-4. That 8-4 is the 2nd tier being left in the dust by the locked in Helmets.

[847badgerfan]

Wisconsin had to DL leave in the portal, and they could really use them right now.

One starts at LSU
One starts at aTm

$$$$$$$$

Badgers couldn't match.

[Mdot21]

Fickell is a legit coach. The problem at Wisconsin is he doesn’t have a QB (TVD stunk at Miami- even if he was healthy he still sucks imo) and he’s got a bad co-ordinator or two. 

NOTHING will sink a head coach and a program faster than QB issues + bad co-ordinators. Fickell didn’t forget how to coach. He just doesn’t have a QB and he made a bad hire at OC. 

Sherrone Moore will be in this same exact situation Fickell finds himself in if he doesn’t fire his co-ordinators at the end of the year and get a couple QB’s in the porthole and get another ‘25 QB commit.

Fickell’s issues are fixable. Send the OC on a rocket ship headed straight for the sun and just go balls to the wall in the porthole for multiple QBs. 

[FearlessF]

a mediocre coach can't overcome poor QB play

it's not NIL, not adding teams to the conference, not the portal

it's the coach

as it's always been

[Mdot21]

a mediocre coach can't overcome poor QB play

even a great coach can't overcome that.

have you seen Bill Belichik before and after Tom Brady?

[Hawkinole]

Image Ohio State and Michigan cherry picking experienced, well developed lineman from Wisconsin or Iowa using the NIL. Now coaches have to re-recruit their best players every season.

Wisconsin's issues don't have much to do with NIL, unless it has to do with NIL management.
Wisconsin's population is 5.9 million. It is the only FBS school in the state; there are no FCS schools in Wisconsin. Camp Randall seats 76,000 fans. Wisconsin is not Iowa, or Indiana. Wisconsin has advantages that neither of the two Indiana state schools, or Iowa, has, plus Madison is a beautiful town. 
Iowa's population is 3.2 million, but there are two FBS schools, and two FCS schools (one is nonscholarship similar to the Ivies), and Kinnick Stadium seats 69,250.
It is coaching, and recruiting, unless they are not on top of NIL. I presume if Fickell manages to go 6-6 they will bring him back next year. The third year is pivotal.