Luke Fickell has a hefty task in front of him to win over UW locker room

Published Dec 1, 2022

Raul Vazquez • BadgerBlitz

Staff Writer

MADISON - Athletic director Chris McIntosh and new head coach Luke Fickell weren’t shy in laying out their goals for Wisconsin and its football program. The vision for the two is to be competing for - and ultimately be playing at - a championship level.

Before Fickell can start rolling out a grand plan when it comes to recruiting, schematic changes or any staff decisions, he’ll have to address the current roster. A group in which most, if not all, were fully behind Jim Leonhard being the Badgers next head coach.

“That’s my greatest objective right now,” Fickell said in his opening statement during his introductory press conference Monday afternoon. “I have spent four or five hours today visiting with as many kids on the team as I could and that’s what I’ll continue to do. Got a lot of work to do and I’m excited about it.”

Just this past weekend following the team’s loss to Minnesota to close a rocky regular season, senior safety John Torchio, one of the leaders on the team, said it would be a stupid move to name anyone but Leonhard the next head coach.

The statement capped what had been a vocal outpouring of support for Leonhard in the past six weeks.

When answering questions about rumors linking him to other schools, running back Braelon Allen responded by saying that he’d be at Wisconsin as long as Leonhard was around. When asked about the potential of next year's defense, Keeanu Benton indicated a belief in the growth, partly because he thought that Leonhard would be leading the group.

“Coach Leonhard is not going to let them drift off, and I say that because I believe he should get the head coaching job,” Benton said.

Benton and Torchio have already indicated they wouldn't use their extra year of eligibility. The new head coaching change, however, certainly leaves a cloud of uncertainty around Allen's future.

Fickell will have to win over the current group in the very near future for a bowl game to be played in late December. In the long term, he'll also have to get a young roster on board with his plan.

“You got to be yourself," Fickell said. "You have to be authentic. Got to be real and it takes time.

“I think that what we do understand is while kids are emotional, young men are emotional, they also are resilient, and I have the utmost respect for however things continue to move forward. Whatever is best for them, I know that building a relationship is a big deal.”

Fickell flew back to Cincinnati to take care of some final business Tuesday before truly getting to work in Madison this week. That aspect of relationship building will be right at the top of his to-do list.

While speaking in front of a crowd that included 20-30 current members of the roster, along with key members of the UW administration in a crowd that was invite only, Fickell said the program will have to grow through a change that isn’t particularly easy. That was his message to the players.

“It’s not trying to overtake someone else’s relationship, which I’m not trying to do," Fickell said. "But even that relationship with Jim or whoever it is that’s been here, those are all things that make it difficult.

"That’s what life is. Life is about continuing to grow. So that’s the message I’ve had for these guys. I’m not trying to overtake somebody else’s relationship with them, but I’m here to grow a relationship with them as well.”

When prompted about the upcoming bowl game, Fickell said he’d be coaching in some way, shape or form and joked that he’d be open to coaching the lineman or punters or whatever role in order to be around the guys.

“It’s trust, respect and love," Fickell said. "Just from visiting with these guys, I know that’s what this locker room was built on and now you’ve got a new guy that’s walking in, that’s completely different and they don’t know me. So there are things that have to be done to build those bonds.

“They aren’t done overnight, they’re done with authenticity, they’re done with repeated actions. If I am not around while they’re practicing, in bowl practices, I’m losing an opportunity to really help develop that relationship because how much we can push these guys and get them to grow is a direct correlation of the kind of relationship we have with them."