Wisconsin Football: Badgers finalizing deal to hire Luke Fickell

According to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, and multiple other outlets, Wisconsin is planning to hire current/former Cinncinatti Head Coach Luke Fickell to be the next Head Coach at Wisconsin. Rittenberg added that Fickell has already informed players at Cincinnati of his decision to leave for Wisconsin.

Rittenberg states that the Wisconsin Board of Regents will enter a closed session to discuss the hiring and compensation for Fickell and that a deal will likely be finalized in the next 24 hours. According to Jeff Potrykus of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, UW officials stated that Wisconsin would be willing to pay at least 6 million a year for their next Head Coach.

Fickell is in his sixth year coaching at Cincinnati. During his tenure, Fickell led the Bearcats to a college football playoff birth, the only G5 team to do so, and a 57-18 record. Previously, Fickell was the interim coach at Ohio State where he went 6-7 in his lone season as Head Coach before taking the job at Cincinnati.

Overall, it seems as though many are shocked by this development as it seemed like interim Head Coach Jim Leonhard could be named the next Head Coach early this upcoming week. Leonhard stated he hoped he would be the next man for the job after the loss to Minnesota, but it appears Wisconsin has flipped the script and hired Fickell to be the next Head Coach at Wisconsin. Obviously, we’ll have more to add and our reaction to the hiring when all is officially finalized.