What Luke Fickell is learning about Wisconsin football during fall camp
Luke Fickell discussed Wisconsin’s developing identity, Eugene Hilton Jr.’s emergence, and where the Badgers still need answers in fall camp.
The University of Wisconsin football program has reached the portion of fall camp Luke Fickell considers particularly revealing.
The initial excitement has worn off. Players are dealing with bumps and bruises. Practices are beginning to stack up, and Wisconsin still isn’t close enough to the opener for game preparation to provide a change of pace.
For Fickell, that’s exactly the point.
“This is the grind,” Fickell told reporters. “And I think this is when everybody keeps asking, ‘What’s your identity?’ Well, this is what we’re figuring out, right? This is where we have to continue to push.”
Eight practices into training camp, Fickell believes some answers are beginning to emerge. The Badgers have established players performing consistently, several position battles creating honest competition, and some newcomers beginning to separate themselves. But there’s still plenty Fickell needs to learn about his football team before Week 1.
Here were the biggest takeaways from Fickell’s latest fall camp check-in.
Wisconsin’s next tier of players has become the focus
Fickell seems relatively comfortable with what he’s seeing from the top of Wisconsin’s roster. His concern is what happens after that.
“I think the higher-end guys right now are doing a really good job,” Fickell said. “There are some guys out there that are making plays and being consistent in what we’re doing. It’s that next tier that we’ve got to find out a lot about.”
That distinction matters because Wisconsin has learned repeatedly during Fickell’s tenure how quickly injuries can expose a roster.
The Badgers aren’t preparing to survive a Big Ten season with 11 offensive starters and a handful of defensive contributors. Fickell wants 22 to 24 players on each side of the ball whom the coaching staff can trust.
They don’t all need identical skill sets or experience. The expectation, however, of doing their job doesn’t change when they enter the game.
“You better have a solid 22, 24 guys on both sides of the ball that you can count on and trust,” Fickell said. “I didn’t say they all can do the same things. They don’t all have the same experiences, but we’ve got the same expectations for them that they can execute the things we need them to do when they go in there.”
That evaluation is happening everywhere.
Injuries along the offensive line have created opportunities for Eric Mateos to develop Wisconsin’s depth earlier than anticipated. With Kevin Heywood and Emerson Mandell sidelined by injuries, Lucas Simmons, Blake Cherry and Stylz Blackmon have all received opportunities they otherwise might not have gotten. Those three now appear to be part of Wisconsin’s top eight offensive linemen, in no particular order, as Mateos gets an earlier-than-expected opportunity to develop his rotation.
Nate Palmer, who has gotten some opportunities as of late, has thrown his hat into the mix for work at running back in a room that already features Abu Sama alongside Darrion Dupree and Bryan Jackson.
At cornerback, Fickell said the competition between Eric Fletcher and Jai’Mier Scott continues to go back and forth, while Cai Bates gives Wisconsin another intriguing option it can feel good about on the outside. Younger players are also being tested in larger special teams roles.
Fickell isn’t necessarily looking for stars from that second group to emerge because he’s feeling good about the higher-end guys. He’s looking for players Wisconsin can trust when it inevitably needs them.
Eugene Hilton Jr. is emerging at wide receiver
Few players have generated more consistent praise during Wisconsin’s first week and change of camp than Eugene Hilton Jr.
The sophomore wideout from Zionsville (Ind.)showed flashes during spring practice after appearing in all 12 games last season, catching eight passes for 91 yards across 158 offensive snaps. According to Pro Football Focus, he finished with a 59.3 overall offensive grade.
But Fickell believes something has changed since then.
“I don’t know that I would say I’ve seen the consistency in the spring, but we saw some flashes that were really, really good,” Fickell said. “Through this fall camp, we’ve seen a hell of a lot more consistency.”
Hilton’s development didn’t begin in August.
Fickell traced the progress back to winter conditioning, when the 6-foot-2 receiver began making changes to how he approached his development. His strength and speed have improved, and the physical tools that made him an intriguing addition have started translating more consistently on the field.
Thus far, Hilton has arguably been Wisconsin’s most consistent playmaker.
“If there’s one guy that I could point to in the first seven or so practices that you say, ‘Hey, he has made plays every single day,’ it has been Gene,” Fickell said.
That’s meaningful for Ari Confessor’s wide receiver room that remains wide open entering the season. Chris Brooks Jr., Tyrell Henry, Jaylon Domingeaux and Malachi Coleman have all had their moments and figure to mix into the rotation. However, Wisconsin is still sorting through exactly how those pieces fit together.
Hilton still has another step to take. Fickell noted that he was limited after getting “a little bit dinged up,” and staying available will be part of proving he can sustain what he’s shown. But through the first portion of fall camp, Hilton has done more than flash. He’s beginning to establish himself.
Fickell feels better about Wisconsin’s competitive spirit, but the real test hasn’t arrived
Fickell has spent much of the offseason talking about identity and leadership. Fall camp has given him reasons to feel better about both.
There have been plenty of physical practices. There has been competition. There have even been moments of conflict, including a brief skirmish Fickell found himself stepping into during practice.
He doesn’t necessarily view that as a negative.
“If we don’t have conflict, if we don’t have those moments, then I do wonder,” Fickell said candidly. “But do we also have the discipline to be able to handle those moments and move on?”
That’s where Fickell sees a difference.
He believes this team can compete aggressively on the field without allowing those moments to become problems once practice ends. There’s a stronger internal leadership presence and, in Fickell’s view, less willingness to accept things that don’t meet the program’s expectations.
“That’s where we’re in a different place,” Fickell said. “There isn’t a concern that when they walk off this field, based on what happened on the field, that there’s an issue. Because there’s a difference of some things in there that guys are not going to allow the culture of acceptance in whatever it is that we’re doing.”
Still, Fickell isn’t declaring that Wisconsin has solved its problems. He can’t, not coming off a 4-8 season and back-to-back losing campaigns.
“When the lights come on, that’s when we find out,” Fickell said.
That’s the tension surrounding Wisconsin at this point in camp.
Fickell feels better about the competitive spirit. The running game is showing more consistency. Hilton is emerging at receiver. Competition has created more depth at several positions, and the coaching staff is learning which players it can trust beyond the established starters.
But after a rough start to the Fickell era, August progress only means so much. Wisconsin is still figuring out what it has. But the real answer won’t come until the Badgers’ Week 1 matchup with Notre Dame.
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