It turned out that Luke Fickell had no reason to worry.

The University of Wisconsin head coach was hopeful that the results on the field wouldn’t cause members of his highly ranked third recruiting class to start rethinking their commitment or, worse yet, reopen their decision-making process entirely.

From the time the Badgers’ 2024 season ended without a bowl game for the first time in 23 years to the first day of the early signing period, Wisconsin's staff only saw one prospect de-commit. Twenty-three kids signed paperwork to join Fickell’s program, a class that ranks 20th in the Rivals.com rankings with 10 four-star recruits from eight different states.

“To see guys not waver,” Fickell said. “That faith and belief that the games and what you see on Saturday isn’t everything. For those guys to hold with us and believe in us … relationships, trust, and belief in this process still win out.”

Adding depth to the outside linebacker position, we sat down with Palatine (Ill.) edge Jaylen Williams to dive into his commitment to Wisconsin.

“I was basically locked into Michigan, and then Wisconsin hit me up during my season. We were chatting a little bit, they were asking if I was still committed. I was like, ‘yeah, I’m still committed.’ Coach (Matt) Mitchell pulled up to my round one playoff game to check me out, and it really started there. He just stayed on me every week, communicating with me, checking up on me even though I was still committed and everything, and it was great. He was educating me about the program and everything, because I’d been on the campus before but it had been a while. He was introducing me to the new outside linebacker position, because they originally recruited me as a d-linemen, d-tackle type thing when coach (Greg) Scruggs was there. I see myself personally, I see my game more on the edge less than the interior. I love the edge, basically. Coach Mitchell, his pitch to me was just perfect, and that’s why I’m a Badger now.”