Wisconsin football considering a change at kicker amid ongoing struggles
Wisconsin football is considering a change at kicker as Nathanial Vakos continues to struggle. Here’s what Luke Fickell said and what comes next.
The University of Wisconsin football team (3–7, 1–6 Big Ten) is entertaining the idea of making a change at kicker, and the path to this point has been anything but straightforward.
When Nathanial Vakos hit the transfer portal in late 2022, Wisconsin’s coaching staff moved quickly. He was one of the most sought-after specialists available after putting together a strong freshman season at Ohio. Vakos looked like a proven option with a big leg and someone that the staff believed could bring stability to a position group for several years.
For a minute, it looked like they got that evaluation right.
Vakos’ first season with the Badgers was more or less what Wisconsin’s staff hoped for. Vakos went 15-for-19, hit all 34 of his extra points, and drilled 14-of-15 kicks inside 50 yards. He brought confidence from a long distance, and he looked the part of a multi-year solution at placekicker.
Fast-forward to the present, and that early projection hasn’t aged well.
To this point during the 2025 season, Wisconsin’s offense, which is averaging just 246.8 yards per game and sits second-to-last nationally, hasn’t created many scoring opportunities. And when it has, the field goal unit hasn’t exactly inspired confidence that they’ll walk away with points.
Vakos is 5-for-9 on field goal attempts this season, including 2-for-5 from 40 yards and beyond, while going a perfect 15-for-15 on extra points. But this coaching staff needs some dependability when the offense gets them into a reasonable scoring range, and they just haven’t gotten it.
That inconsistency has opened the door for changes.
“That’s something this week that very well could be an option,” head coach Luke Fickell said when asked about the kicking job. “Last week, going into it, just knowing that by nature Gavin [Lahm] has a little bit more pop in his leg, and if we were put in a situation where we needed something that was outside of Vakos’ reach, that he would be an option.”
Fickell’s plan entering the year was simple: Vakos handles kicks for Wisconsin, Gavin Lahm redshirts, and returns in 2026 as the next man up. But the season rarely goes according to the offseason script.
Lahm handled kickoff duties last season and was expected to be an option to reclaim that role down the stretch. That said, Vakos has actually been strong in that facet this year, sending 25-of-29 kickoffs for touchbacks, which only complicates things more as the staff still feels compelled to reopen the position battle that ultimately began during the offseason.
As Fickell put it, “we’ll be able to create a little bit more competition and see what we need to do” heading into the games against Illinois and Minnesota.
Vakos has the leg. Nobody questions that. Last season, the Ohio native went 3-for-3 from 50-plus yards and became Wisconsin’s all-time leader in career made field goals of 50+ (4), and was perfect on extra points (31-for-31).
But the mid-range accuracy has been suspect.
Over the past two seasons at Wisconsin, he’s gone 9-for-14 from 30–39 yards and just 2-for-7 from 40–49. Simply put, Vakos hasn’t been dependable. And in a season where Jeff Grimes’ offense has been hamstrung by injuries and the margin for error is razor-thin, those misses add up.
Meanwhile, Lahm, a senior from Kaukauna with a stronger leg, is eligible to redshirt and still return in 2026, even if he kicks in the final two games. Vakos is a senior, and there is no guarantee that he’ll be granted another year of eligibility should he pursue it and still want to return to Wisconsin. The staff has to weigh that reality as they evaluate the future of the room.
Notably, punter Sean West was also a field-goal kicker in high school, but he didn’t train as a placekicker this offseason, focusing exclusively on punting. West isn’t viewed as an option for 2025, though he’s a name to keep in mind for next season if Wisconsin wants to add more competition.
So Wisconsin is at a crossroads:
Do you stick with the veteran who once appeared to be the long-term answer, or do you pivot now in hopes of stabilizing a part of the special teams operation that’s slipped into uncertainty?
Either way, the message this week is pretty clear: the kicking job is back up for grabs. With two games left, someone has a real shot to claim it now and potentially make their case for the future.
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