Wisconsin football head coach Luke Fickell, again, has no answers
To the third-year Wisconsin Badgers head coach's credit, he has been admitting as much for years
A 37-0 loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes is the newest candidate for the rock bottom of the post-Don Morton era Wisconsin football program.
After head coach Luke Fickell spent an entire offseason using the 42 points scored by the Wisconsin Badgers’ Heartland Trophy rivals last season as his team’s rallying cry, the Iowa Hawkeyes waltzed in and out of Camp Randall Stadium. Iowa delivered a beating of the Badgers in Madison more formidable than at any other point in a rivalry dating back to 1894.
“That’s as low as it can be,” were Fickell’s first words to the media after the shellacking, inspiring hope in a Wisconsin Badgers fanbase that has been asking whether or not things can get worse ever since Fickell arrived on campus. If it is, in fact, “as low as it can be,” Wisconsin is finally on the ascent. Just how Fickell and Athletic Director Chris McIntosh drew it up.
To Fickell’s credit, he “apologized to our guys,” after the game. “To not be ready, to not have them ready, I’m dumbfounded in a lot of ways – but that’s my job.”
For now, at least, it is his job. One Fickell has been publicly admitting for years that he is not up to the task.
Luke Fickell has lacked answers for years
As Wisconsin fell to 2-4 Saturday night, Fickell admitted his “messages haven’t changed. Maybe that could be an issue.”
It is not just an issue. It is revealing.
“Is it going the other direction? No. I just think that it’s not growing. And I think that’s where, you know, I think all of us get a little bit frustrated, and you want to see things continue to grow. Right now, we keep shooting ourself in the foot with some of the similar situations, and we’re just not able to overcome those situations right now,” Fickell said after a 2023 loss at the Indiana Hoosiers. Wisconsin put itself in a 10-0 hole to IU in the first half. The Badgers ended up fumbling the ball away on a potential game-winning drive.