ESPN: Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell 'must deliver' improvement in 2025
The tier was a subsection of Adam Rittenberg's larger 'Impatience Index,' which listed every coach under pressure to perform in 2025. In some cases, like with Florida's Billy Napier or USC's Lincoln Riley, that pressure is to break through to the College Football Playoff. In others, like with Penn State's James Franklin, that reality comes with national title expectations.
Fickell, Florida State's Mike Norvell, Auburn's Hugh Freeze and Alabama's Kalen DeBoer were Rittenberg's four coaches who enter 2025 needing to deliver on the expectations that surrounded their respective hires.
Badgers fans should understand the placement for their third-year head coach. The program is just 12-13 in two years under his leadership, including a 5-7 finish to the 2024 season that saw it miss its first bowl game in 23 years. A failed transition to the air raid offense headlines those struggles. While the Badgers enter 2025 set to return to their pro-style roots, a collective impatience likely resulted from that failed shift.
Rittenberg reflects that sentiment in his explanation for Fickell's position
"[Fickell] was hired with a clear purpose -- to get a somewhat stale program under Paul Chryst into the expanded CFP, which [he] had reached with Cincinnati in 2021," Rittenberg wrote. "His hire represented a detour from the Wisconsin way, which Bret Bielema continued after Alvarez and Chryst built upon. If Fickell could elevate Wisconsin, even with a different style and philosophy, most Badgers fans were willing to go along with him...The problem is that Wisconsin has gotten worse under Fickell, and last fall missed the postseason for the first time since 2001...[He] might not face immediate hot-seat pressure this fall, especially since athletic director Chris McIntosh hired him. But he needs better results on the field and also must show a product that better connects with the Wisconsin tradition."
Rittenberg also noted an under-the-radar storyline surrounding the placement of Fickell's program. In line with his program's departure from the school's previous regimes, Fickell's recruiting radius is spanning further outside the state of Wisconsin. We highlighted this dynamic back in March, as that theme was persisting through the 2026 cycle.
"Wisconsin signed the No. 25 recruiting class in 2024 and the No. 31 class earlier this year, but it has largely looked farther away for prospects," Rittenberg continued. "Three of the top four in-state prospects for 2024 signed with Penn State, and the top two in-state prospects in 2025 signed with Notre Dame."
While minor, that example highlights the program's departure from its previous regimes. Given Wisconsin's success over the past 30 years, that from sticking to a classic identity and approach, the impatience surrounding Fickell's regime is only heightened by increased moves away from that tradition.
The Badgers enter the 2025 season near the middle of the pack of the Big Ten power rankings. The team would need a substantial improvement upon its 2024 form to take a leap forward and return to bowl eligibility. That is due to the nation's top-ranked schedule, which includes games against projected top 25 teams Alabama, Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan, Washington, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana.
As a result, 'delivering' for Fickell in 2025 might just be making a bowl game and building momentum for 2026. Rittenberg's sentiment, which is shared by many, implies that a further regression would increase the temperature of Fickell's seat.
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