The Wisconsin Badgers were looking for answers when it came to their football team, and Paul Chryst certainly wasn't it. So the Badgers thought they would look elsewhere and found Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell, who had just led the Bearcats to a College Football Playoff appearance, becoming he first Group of Five team to make it to the playoff.
Fickell seemed to be the coach on the rise, and Wisconsin wanted to be the team to take advantage of his rise. So the Badgers hired Fickell back in November of 2022, and his first season came in 2023 when he went 7-6 on the season with a bowl game loss, then 5-7 in his second season, ending Wisconsin's 2-decade long streak of the Badgers never having a season under .500 and not being bowl-eligible.
It seems as though the Luke Fickell experiment isn't working out too well at Wisconsin, and his success was better at the Group of Five level. However, he is only two years into his contract at Wisconsin, and he still has some time to turn it around, but he is trending in the wrong direction right now.
Fickell really needs to prove something in year three at Wisconsin, or his time could run out in Madison. His biggest problem has been the quarterback position. Fickell hasn't been able to find a quarterback who was able to effectively lead the offense or the team to a win.
At this point, Fickell is on a short leash, and if he doesn't figure something out very soon, he may be on the market looking for a new job.
What is Luke Fickell's buyout at Wisconsin, and is Wisconsin willing to pay it?
Wisconsin surprised fans by signing Fickell to a one-year extension through the 2031 season back in February, extending his original seven-year agreement, especially with his performance in the last two seasons. This was a puzzling move by the Badgers, and many thought it might have been a prank on the fans, but alas, it was not, and the Badgers have tied themselves to the former Group of Five champion for even longer.
So if Fickell were to be let go, his buyout right now would be $40.1 million, the 13th highest buyout in college football. That is a large buyout for a coach who has regressed from season to season and just got a contract extension. It makes sense why Badger fans are scratching their heads, wondering what is going on in Madison.
Obviously, that number decreases with each season that goes by, but if the Badgers decide to cut ties after this next season or even during the season with Fickell in 2025, they will have to pay a pretty penny.