Wisconsin AD says Luke Fickell ‘best positioned program for long-term success’

Wisconsin officially introduced Luke Fickell as its new head football coach Monday, with a welcome event followed by a news conference featuring the former Cincinnati coach and Badgers athletic director Chris McIntosh. Here’s what you need to know:

McIntosh said Fickell agreed to a seven-year contract that begins at $7.5 million and averages $7.8 million.
McIntosh said he met with interim coach Jim Leonhard last Monday to discuss his vision for the program and then fully evaluated candidates who were in consideration before deciding on Fickell, who was announced as coach on Sunday.
Fickell said he is open to keeping Leonhard on staff. He said they met Sunday and will continue to pick Leonhard’s brain.
Fickell said he plans to be involved with the team in the lead-up to a bowl game “in some way, shape or form.”

AD Chris McIntosh: "It’s easy to believe that games are won on Saturdays. The reality is games are won by dedication to preparation on a daily basis. And what struck me most about Coach Fickell is his dedication to a proven process, one that has demonstrated results and success."

— Jesse Temple (@jessetemple) November 28, 2022

Backstory

Wisconsin fired Paul Chryst on Oct. 2 after a 2-3 start to his eighth season as head coach. Leonhard, the defensive coordinator, took over as interim coach and went 4-3 in his seven-game audition, extending the Badgers’ bowl streak to 21 years before losing the finale to rival Minnesota.

Though Leonhard was viewed by many as having a strong chance to earn the full-time job, McIntosh said from the beginning that he owed it to the program to conduct a full coaching search.

Fickell, a former Ohio State player and longtime assistant who was the Buckeyes’ interim coach in 2011, spent the past six seasons compiling a 57-18 record at Cincinnati with two top-10 finishes and a College Football Playoff bid in 2021.

GO DEEPER

Wisconsin balances bold hire of Luke Fickell, appreciation for Jim Leonhard

Why McIntosh picked Fickell over Leonhard

McIntosh described Leonhard, a three-time All-American safety at Wisconsin, as “part of the DNA of this program” and said he gave the interim coach “very strong consideration” for the full-time position.

“There’s been a lot spoken about wins and losses, and I just want to be clear that that’s not at all what it was about,” McIntosh said. “Jim’s ability to step into the program after an incredibly difficult transition and inspire this team to play with passion and with heart the way they did throughout the season was incredible. And we owe him for that.”

However, McIntosh said that as he got to know Fickell through the search process, “it became clear that we see the world in a very similar way.” He added that they have the same expectations, which he termed “championship-level expectations.”

“It became evident that Luke and his experience and his belief system and his approach and his process — which was proven — does align with what we believe here was the way I felt that we should go,” McIntosh said. “And was the way that I felt best positioned our program for long-term success.”

McIntosh said that he acknowledged to the Wisconsin team the difficulty of dealing with the coaching search during the season, calling it “the hardest part for me.”

Fickell said that focusing on the strength program and the recruiting department will be two top priorities and that he already has two recruiting staffers on the way. He said he met with the team Sunday and spent several hours Monday meeting with as many players as possible.

“I told the team yesterday that change is inevitable,” Fickell said. “There’s change in all of our lives. Growth is what’s optional. We have to choose to grow.”

Required reading

(Photo: Morry Gash / AP)