Notes: Luke Fickell on facing adversity, building a culture

MADISON — Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell met with the media Monday as the Badgers get set for a final stretch that features two trophy games: Nebraska for the Freedom Trophy, and Minnesota for the Axe.

BadgerBlitz.com has once again complied the key takeaways from Fickell's presser:

Fickell has experience turning around programs, and has experience doing it after unsuccessful debut seasons. In Fickell's first season with the Bearcats, Cincinnati went 4-8. The following season, they flipped the script and finished 11-2.

"I would tell you that this is much more difficult. Not because I think I know more...every place you go to, things are new and different. Maybe it's the expectations we walked into, maybe it's what I truly had envisioned, the things I thought we could be as we grew. There's some situations that have caused us, injuries and things like that, that have put us in a different mode. But in general, I think I have an expectation for myself and the things that we do, and they're far greater now than they were seven years ago. This is, and continues to be, a hell of a lot more challenging."

Adversity is to be expected in year one of a brand new coaching staff. Now, the adversity is bordering on utter failure. Still, it's a rare moment of perspective from a coach who says himself he rarely does much reflecting.

Nebraska's defense has been very strong this season. The Huskers boast the third-best total rushing defense in the entire nation, as well as a top-20 unit in terms of both total defense and scoring defense.

"They've settled in a little bit more as to what they are. I think early in the year, they were still bouncing around a little defensively as to what they were gonna be. But you've seen the consistency, you've seen them grow, you've seen them play physical and fast. The thing that you can watch from game one to game 10. There's a growth, there's a physicality that you can watch from the get-go, but there's a lot more consistency in everything that they've done defensively in the last four and five weeks in particular."

Wisconsin's putrid offense will have its hands full against a stingy Huskers defense come Saturday night.

After two consecutive low point, rock bottom losses, it becomes fair game to question the culture of the program. Fickell was asked if it's more difficult to build and sustain a culture in the newfangled era of NIL and the transfer portal.

"We're getting into the eras where you're seeing how these things affect your program and your team and your environment, not to mention your culture. I don't know if it's any more difficult, it's just a little trickier. Do you look for a quick fix? Do you look for the things that you believe are sustainable and last? You can get misled, you can get misguided or you can get antsy trying to do it the way you might not think is the best way possible. But, it's just another thing that you have to be able to navigate."

This offseason, Wisconsin brought in an influx of transfers at a clip like this program has never seen, even after Fickell said he prefers to build his program through high school recruiting. It'll be fascinating to see what approach the staff uses this offseason.

After three straight losses, two of them downright embarrassing, it can be a challenge to get a team to collectively move on. Fickell addressed the need to rally his troops and get players to turn the page as the team faces a critical stretch run.

"We, as coaches, have to be an example of turn the page too. We've gotta walk in here on Sunday and put the thing to rest and move forward and not dwell upon it...I don't think there's any one thing. Social media has been around for a long time, and opinions have been around forever. But it's the ability to lock in. It's the ability to not let those things take you to a place you don't want to be. And you gotta be able to control the things that go into your head."

For the Badgers right now, it's all about them. The national spotlight is off. The expectations are shattered. It's truly about if this team can buckle down and find the inner strength to finish strong. It's not easy to turn the page, but Wisconsin has no choice if it wants to keep its bowl game streak alive and win a trophy game or two.

Wisconsin's defense has fallen off a cliff since the incredibly encouraging performance against Ohio State. Over the past five games, the Badgers have collected three turnovers. Inexplicably, all of those turnovers came against Ohio State, the best team Wisconsin has played by a mile. The lack of complimentary football is killing Wisconsin, and the defense desperately needs to find a way to generate sudden change scenarios for an offense that's stuck in the mud.

"It got later in the game, and you saw some guys doing the things that we work every week, stripping at balls. Balls that go in the air, balls that are tipped, balls that are overthrown or underthrown, you've gotta be able to make those plays," Fickell said. "We're not putting people into situations where they have to be a little more aggressive. And when you're not doing that, you're not getting as many chances, as many opportunities. Now, there's always an opportunity when a guy's carrying the ball, but punching a ball out just doesn't happen all that often. It's more the pressure on quarterbacks, it's more forcing them to do things they don't wanna do. Making them have to be aggressive...when you're not putting pressure on people, it's hard to find a way to create those turnovers."

The Badgers' turnover situation has been incredibly streaky this season. They've come in bunches, and not necessarily in a good way. Creating turnovers will be crucial in the final stretch.

Wisconsin will hold its senior day in Camp Randall when Nebraska comes to town on Saturday night. Fickell was asked what his message was for his senior class, a group he's only known for a year but one that has been through plenty of peaks and valleys.

"I don't know that there's any. This is a part of life. There's ups and there's downs. Ultimately, what I've always kind of said to them is, when you walk away, you wanna be able to look back. Your leadership is not just gonna be evaluated on how the year goes, to be honest with you. To me, your leadership is evaluated on what it's like when you leave. What happens beyond this year, when you walk away, did you set an example?"

It's no secret how abysmal the Badgers' running game has been in recent weeks. Now, a lot of that has to do with a lack of Braelon Allen. Nonetheless, the offensive line has struggled to open up running lanes and the backup halfbacks have offered little in the way of production.

"There's a combination of those things. The hard part is when you lose a little bit of confidence in it. We all know that when you pound the rock, when you pound the rock, when you pound the rock, at some point in time the rock doesn't split on the first pound. When you don't have the utmost confidence in your depth, or if you can consistently do that, it makes it a little more difficult. Sometimes you have a plan going in to be able to do that, and unfortunately last week the situation of games didn't allow us to do that...We can't allow ourselves to get into a situation where we're dictated on what we wanna do based on the personnel."

Wisconsin is still searching for how to operate a successful run game with the pieces it has right now. It doesn't sound like Fickell is exactly overflowing with answers. Sometimes, it's as simple as the fact that the ground game is in a really tough spot with injuries and overall confidence, and there's no easy fixes.

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