What we learned from Luke Fickell before Wisconsin football takes on Miami (OH)
Wisconsin football opens the 2025 season vs. Miami (OH). Here’s what we learned from Luke Fickell on injuries, depth chart moves, and QB2 plans.
Game week has finally arrived in Madison. Wisconsin football will officially open the 2025 season under the lights at Camp Randall on Thursday night against Miami (OH), but the real story isn’t just who’s on the other sideline. It’s where this program is coming from.
The Badgers are fresh off a 5–7 campaign that ended with no bowl trip for the first time since 2001. The collapse was as brutal: a five-game losing skid punctuated by losses to rivals Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota. And the Badgers didn’t just lose, they got outmuscled and threw in the towel.
That’s the backdrop for Year 3 under Luke Fickell, a head coach hired with expectations of raising the ceiling of a program, who sits at 12–13 in his first 25 games, still searching for a true signature win. If it feels like the collective frustration among the fanbase is setting in, it’s because it is.
The pressure is real, and the fixes had to be too.
Fickell responded with sweeping changes. Offensively, he moved on from Phil Longo and brought in Jeff Grimes, a play-caller who trades the Air Raid for a scheme rooted in running the ball and physicality. On defense, the staff has invested heavily in size and depth along the interior, trying to plug the run-game leaks that stood out like a sore thumb all season.
It won’t be an easy mountain to climb. Wisconsin’s schedule is unforgiving, with six of its opponents already ranked in the preseason AP Top 25, plus three other teams that earned votes. Adversity is a guarantee. But if Wisconsin wants to restore belief in a program that’s lost its identity, this is the kind of mountain it has to face head-on.
"Every coach sits up there on Week 1 and says, we're in a good place," Fickell said. "The team has embraced one another, and I think they're tighter. They're more together. They understand the challenges and the battles that lie in front of us, whether that's Thursday night or even down the road. But I know this, we've got a group in that locker room that believes in one another, and I think they are just tied a little bit deeper than I've felt since I've been here."
With that in mind, here’s what we learned from coach Fickell ahead of Thursday’s Week 1 matchup against Miami (OH).
Injury Updates on Key Starters
Wisconsin will be without a familiar face at tight end to start the season.
Junior starter Tucker Ashcraft has been ruled out for Week 1 after injuring his left leg in practice during fall camp. He left the field on crutches that day and later appeared at the team’s open scrimmage using a scooter to keep weight off his leg, with an immobilization boot on his left foot.
Ashcraft had already battled through a high-ankle sprain during the spring, and this latest setback forced the staff to shuffle things at the position. Missouri State transfer Lance Mason will step into the top spot, and Jeff Grimes noted at the end of camp that the Badgers may use fewer multi-tight end sets in favor of using a guy like Chris Brooks, who is among the team's best blockers, until Ashcraft is back in the mix.
“Tucker will not make it,” Fickell said when asked about Ashcraft. “I don’t know if we officially know how long he’ll be out for.”
The update was more encouraging at center. Jake Renfro, who has dealt with his own string of injuries during his college career, practiced in full during the final week of camp and is expected to start Thursday night.
“Jake should be good. He’s practiced the last four or five days,” Fickell said. “So, he looks good, looks healthy. So I feel like we’re in a good place there. He’s probably taking most of every rep. So, hopefully he stays on pace and should be good with Jake.”
Fickell went a step further in describing why Renfro’s presence on the Wisconsin Badgers' offensive line is so critical.
“Well, the center, anything down the middle of your offense and defense is so critical,” Fickell said. “And everybody talks about the quarterback, but I mean, it starts right there in the middle. There’s a reason that Jake represented us and went with us to Vegas to the Big Ten media days. It has a lot to do with just leadership. It has a lot to do with his ability to communicate, but also with this play as well. And so having him back the last four or five days has been a boost.”
The extended absence during camp also had a ripple effect. Fickell noted it forced other veterans like Joe Brunner and Riley Mahlman to take on greater leadership responsibilities, which he believes will strengthen the unit long term. “I think it’s helped us in a lot of ways, playing together,” Fickell said. “Maybe they’ve missed a little bit, but I know this: there’s a pick me up, just going and having that group of guys back there.”
So while the Badgers are missing a key starter in Ashcraft, having Renfro back in the middle offers some stability for an offensive line that's limited in its playable depth and will be tasked with setting the tone in Week 1.
Badgers choosing not to name captains
One of the more interesting notes coming out of the press conference was coach Fickell’s decision not to name permanent captains for the 2025 season. Instead, Wisconsin will go with weekly game captains.
For Fickell, the decision is less about avoiding commitment to a handful of players and more about reinforcing the idea that leadership should be spread across the roster.
“We feel like you got a leadership group,” Fickell said. “This is a group led by more than just specifically saying who’s going to put a C on their chest. By the end of the year, I would definitely say you would look back and say, ‘Hey, these are the guys that represented us the way we’d expect.’ But for now, I think this group is led by a bunch of guys.”
He pointed to Wisconsin’s 14-man leadership group as evidence that the strength of the program needs to come from the collective. “To me, the challenge to those guys is there’s a consistency to leadership that, myself included, we haven’t shown enough of the past two years,” Fickell said. “And just knowing what kind of battles we have and what kind of mountain we have to climb, we have to show consistency within our own program.”
The idea is to move away from anything that elevates individuals over the group. Fickell even noted that naming captains can sometimes unintentionally shrink the perceived role of others. “Our roles will continue to grow the more we do things together,” Fickell said.
So for now, the Badgers will rotate game captains each week, with the understanding that the players who rise up consistently over the course of the year will reveal themselves as the true leaders by season’s end. And in today’s era, where rosters churn year after year because of the transfer portal, finding that kind of collective bond is easier said than done. Sometimes, a newcomer with only a month in the building can bring better intentions than a veteran with years invested in the program. It’s an unconventional approach, but one that Wisconsin hopes can create the kind of togetherness that was missing down the stretch a season ago.
Kicking Competition
The Badgers finally have some clarity at kicker. After months of competition stretching from spring practice into fall camp, Fickell announced that Nathanial Vakos has won the starting job over Gavin Lahm heading into Thursday night’s opener against Miami (OH).
“It’s been a battle,” Fickell said. “Those guys battled through the spring. I think in the long run, we’ll still see. I mean, the great thing about college is that you still have some of those flexibilities with games to be able to play. But we know this, both of them are really, really good. And as you continue to always plan and look for the future, to be able to have one back was something that was going to be important to us. So right now, Vakos is the kicker. He'll start off playing the game, but we'll still continue to push both those guys and give them opportunities."
Lahm, the in-state product and kickoff specialist last season, pushed Vakos all the way in what turned into a neck-and-neck race through spring and fall camp. The staff likes his long-term upside and has been impressed with his leg strength. Right now, the plan is to redshirt Lahm this fall so he can step into the full-time role next season.
Vakos, meanwhile, came to Madison as part of Fickell’s first group of portal additions in late 2022 from Ohio. His first season, Vakos connected on 15-of-19 attempts with a long of 52 yards. But he followed that up with an inconsistent 2024 campaign, hitting just 12-of-19 field goals, including a troubling 6-of-13 from 30–49 yards. Notably, Vakos went 3-for-3 on kicks of 50+ yards and converted all 31 extra point attempts.
If the Badgers are going to take a step forward in close games this year, his consistency from all ranges of the field is going to matter a lot.
Danny O’Neil wins backup QB job
The quarterback depth chart behind Billy Edwards Jr. is now set.
Danny O’Neil, a sophomore transfer from San Diego State, has officially claimed the backup job over Hunter Simmons, who arrived from Southern Illinois as a much-needed depth piece from the spring transfer portal.
O’Neil brings meaningful experience into the role. He started 11 games for the Aztecs last fall, completing 63.3% of his passes for 2,181 yards, 12 touchdowns, and six interceptions, while also adding 93 rushing yards and a score. His arrival at Wisconsin was viewed as a stabilizing move for a room that needed proven depth after a turbulent 2024 season.
Fickell said O’Neil’s early enrollment gave him an edge in the competition.
“It’s hard. I think as we went through camp, it was trying to figure out, how do you get the reps to the number two quarterback?," Fickell explained. "Because we knew going into it that Billy was going to get the 1's, and he needed another amount of reps, just a new offense and things like that. So obviously, Danny, being here in the spring, gave us a little bit better opportunity to see how he does in some live action. And I think by the end of the camp, it’s just the consistency, the ability to make plays, and a little bit more familiarity with the offense.
"But I do feel like we’ve got to be able to keep guys locked in, as we saw the past couple of years, that room can get thin quick. But I think Danny has done a really good job. He’s a smart football player that I think truly will outplay his just normal ability of looking at what they do.”
For Wisconsin, O’Neil’s earning the job means the Badgers finally have a clear-cut QB2, and that’s no small thing. This staff has had brutal luck with injuries at quarterback in its first two seasons, and they understood the importance of having a capable backup, something they didn’t really have in Braedyn Locke. Most teams in the Power Four are going to be in trouble if the starter goes down, but Wisconsin feels good about what it has in O’Neil.
The hope is not only that O’Neil can step in if needed this fall, but also that he sticks around long enough to develop into someone who can push for the job down the road and end this cycle of one-year rentals.
Emptying the Clip
A few final notes from Wisconsin’s Week 1 depth chart before the season opener:
Five true freshmen cracked the two-deep: wide receiver Eugene Hilton Jr., linebackers Cooper Catalano and Mason Posa, and cornerbacks Jai’mier Scott and Cairo Skanes. For context, only two freshmen made it this far last year (Kevin Heywood and Xavier Lucas). That’s a strong early return on the staff’s evaluations.
The “OR” designation is everywhere. 13 spots on this two-deep carry one, more than double the number from last season. It’s a reflection of how this staff views itself: multiple, flexible, and willing to mix personnel based on matchups. That’s true on both sides of the ball, from the distinct tight end roles on offense to how they’ll rotate outside linebackers and defensive linemen situationally.
At wide receiver, Chris Brooks Jr. is listed as a starter on the outside. After years of battling injuries, he’s finally healthy enough to earn a role, and his blocking is among the best on the roster.
Running back will be a committee approach. Dilin Jones is the lead option of course, but Darrion Dupree and Cade Yacamelli are both expected to see meaningful touches and have roles as well.
In the secondary, Nyzier Fourqurean’s eligibility battle remains unresolved. Until there’s clarity, it’ll be Omillio Agard and D’Yoni Hill handling that outside corner spot opposite Ricardo Hallman.
All told, this depth chart reads like a coaching staff that knows flexibility, keeping guys fresh, and putting guys in their best positions to succeed is its best shot at winning games. They’ve been open-minded when it comes to the roles on both sides of the ball, trusted some young players to step in and play right away, and put an emphasis on having options.
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