Update 6:00 p.m. Luke Fickell is the new head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers. A good blow-by-blow of how it happened is here from The Athletic.
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) November 27, 2022
Welcome @CoachFick ! pic.twitter.com/ybE9U3b3nu
Update 1:40 p.m. They move quickly in Madison apparently. The Board of Regents will meet behind closed doors to approve the contract for Luke Fickell this afternoon.
Things are moving quickly in Madison pic.twitter.com/LZFiC9j7lz
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) November 27, 2022
Update 12:48 p.m. It appears Fickell is moving on, as a team meeting has been called for 1 p.m.
#Cincinnati has a team meeting set for 1 p.m., according to sources. Likely the chance for Luke Fickell to say goodbye to the Bearcats players.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) November 27, 2022
The Wisconsin Badgers are after Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Luke Fickell, according to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel. And that would make sense, as Fickell has had plenty of success at UC during his six-year tenure in the Queen City.
Wisconsin was thought to be actively pursuing Kansas head coach Lance Leipold, who won multiple national championships at Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater and is a native of the state. But Leipold just signed an extension to stay in Lawrence, and in the newly-flush Big Ten, the need to keep up with the competition means ‘Sconny AD Chris McIntosh will have the resources he needs to get a splashy name with a track record of success.
Fickell is 57-18 at Cinci, and was the head man of the first Group of 5 team to play for the national championship in the College Football Playoff era in 2021. The Ohio State grad and former OSU interim head coach was one of the hottest names in the job market last offseason, but decided to run it back after signing a lucrative extension that pays him about $5 million a year, by far the best deal in the G5.
But Wisconsin can dwarf those dollars if they choose, and apparently they’re going to make Fickell say no.