As the list of fired coaches with exorbitant buyouts gets longer and longer, Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh intends to zig while others zag.
According to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Wisconsin plans to bring back head football coach Luke Fickell for the 2026 season. Wisconsin, in its third season under Fickell, is just 2-6 overall and 0-5 in Big Ten play.
Had Wisconsin made the decision to fire him, Fickell would have been owed upwards of $27 million, according to the USA Today salary database.
“Chancellor [Jennifer] Mnookin and I are aligned on significantly elevating investment in our program to compete at (the) highest level,” McIntosh told ESPN. “We are willing to make an investment in infrastructure and staff. As important is our ability to retain and recruit players in a revenue share and NIL era.”
There had been rampant speculation about Fickell’s future following back-to-back shutout losses to Iowa and Ohio State. The Badgers at least put up a fight against Oregon on Oct. 25, losing 21-7. That game was a one-possession ballgame at the halftime break.
Still, Wisconsin is enduring a historically poor season. The 37-0 loss to Iowa in Madison earlier this season marked the first time the Badgers had been shut out at home since 1980. The 34-0 loss to Ohio State a week later marked the first time since 1977 UW was shut out in consecutive games.
Heading into a matchup with No. 23 Washington, Wisconsin is riding an 11-game losing streak against power conference competition.
One more defeat would give the Badgers 6 conference losses in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1990-91. Wisconsin went 3-6 in Big Ten play last year.
Thamel’s report makes mention of rotten injury luck for the Badgers, particularly at quarterback. According to ESPN, Wisconsin has had its intended first-string quarterback healthy and available for just 11 of 34 games under Fickell. The Badgers were without 8 projected starters against Oregon.
Though that injury misfortune wasn’t quoted by McIntosh, the Wisconsin AD did say he still believes Fickell can be the coach Wisconsin hired him to be.
“He has the vision and fire to do it,” McIntosh said. “The same things that made Luke Fickell a unanimously great hire in 2022 remain. He’s a winner, program builder and developer of talent, and he understands the Big Ten.”
McIntosh went on to say that Fickell’s first 3 years have fallen “short of expectations,” but the Badgers have identified “the ways in which we need to be successful” and have a plan to return the program to prominence.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
