By David Hookstead
Copyright outkick
Luke Fickell continues to face the wrath of Wisconsin fans. The embattled Badgers coach is in about as bad of a position as the face of a program can be. He entered the season 13-13 during his time in Madison, and I wouldn’t say the 2025 campaign is off to a hot start. Wisconsin lost starting QB Billy Edwards in the first half of week one against Miami (OH), beat a bad MTSU team and then proceeded to get train rushed by Alabama 38-14 in Tuscaloosa. The score actually made it look less lopsided than the reality on the field. It could have easily ended up being much worse. It turns out when one team is loaded with NFL players and the other isn’t, it quickly turns into a massacre. RELATED: Wisconsin Fans Should Be Livid With Head Coach As Seat Gets Scorching Hot Wisconsin fans roast Luke Fickell. Now, you’d think Luke Fickell would just keep his head down and focus on figuring out a way to save what appears to be the Titanic of a program. Not so fast, my friends. “It’s not that we’re going to wash this thing away and forget about it, but we have to move on. Let’s correct this thing and let’s move forward, because the league starts and the season starts now,” Fickell said a few days ago when addressing the loss to the Crimson Tide. Now, to be fair, I kind of understand the point Fickell was *ATTEMPTING* to make, but man, he couldn’t have worded it worse. The season started when the team walked onto the field against Miami (OH). The fact there’s a Big Ten opponent this weekend – Maryland – doesn’t magically mean the season is getting a fresh start. Are all the problems the team has magically fixed? Absolutely not. Fans rushed to Reddit Tuesday night and absolutely flayed Fickell for the comment: I was speaking with a Wisconsin diehard the other night who has way more money, power and influence in this world than I do. He told me Fickell simply talks and looks like a man who is completely defeated. I couldn’t disagree with his assessment. The program as a whole feels defeated. Remember when Wisconsin used to win 10+ games a year and play in the Rose Bowl? That happened back in 2019. Not that long ago. A blip on the total timeline has passed, and Wisconsin has fallen off a cliff. Is it all Fickell’s fault? No, but at the end of the day, someone is going to be left holding the bag. Wisconsin enters the matchup against Maryland as a 10.5 point favorite. Madison is going to riot if Fickell fails to get the job done, and it might hyper-accelerate his exit. Let me know your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.
