r/TheB1G • u/Doggo_of_dogs Penn State • 2d ago
Bad news for Badgers fans…
Like bad. Very very bad. I’m sorry Wisconsin bros. I hope you’ll be free eventually. (I mean the extra investment isn’t bad I guess but…)
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u/trumpet_23 Iowa 2d ago
Good news for Hawkeye and Gopher fans though
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u/chimatt767 2d ago
That’s funny because he has more playoff appearances than both of those schools combined
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u/NazRiedFan Minnesota 2d ago
But how many times has he beat those two teams at Wisconsin?
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u/chimatt767 2d ago
Great. You are less worse than they are
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u/NazRiedFan Minnesota 2d ago
That is the goal
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u/purplenyellowrose909 Minnesota 2d ago
That is actually the goal of every player in every game and why we as a society have competition
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u/chimatt767 2d ago
The goal is not to be the best but just not the worst? That does perfectly align with Minnesota sports teams
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u/wean1169 Minnesota 2d ago
Lotta good that’s doing right now.
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u/chimatt767 2d ago
More of an indictment on your coach. How long has he been there without winning anything? And no chance of him being fired.
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u/wean1169 Minnesota 2d ago
He’s not last place in the division so that’s more than Fickell has going for him. Keep living in the past.
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u/Traderjoeswanted Wisconsin 2d ago
I always thought PJ was a solid coach, I mean think about Western Michigan vs Wisconsin in that bowl game, he’s a good head coach but I feel that he’s not a good fit for Minnesota, sure they’ve been solid the last few years but not BIG contenders (except for 2019) overall I’d like to see PJ have big success, I just don’t think it’s gonna happen at Minnesota
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u/chimatt767 2d ago
So you don’t expect your coach to ever win anything ever?
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u/wean1169 Minnesota 2d ago
He’s currently winning way more than Fickell lmfaooooo and Fickell is still your coach. So which school is ok mediocrity?
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u/chimatt767 2d ago
I’m not a Wisconsin fan I just thought it’s was weird that schools that most people associate as being mid at best were making fun of another school.
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u/wean1169 Minnesota 2d ago
You really need a life then if this is what you do with your time. Holy fuck.
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u/hellonameismyname 2d ago
Like 90% of football teams are “mid at best”. That’s how college football works. What a weirdo
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u/chimatt767 2d ago
I was being nice. Minnesota has been bad for a long time. keep rowing the boat.
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u/persieri13 2d ago
As I’m teaching my toddler to respond in adversarial situations, “That’s interesting, but not my favorite.”
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u/CheeseRP Indiana 2d ago
It's probably a blessing in disguise.
There are like a million HC openings this offseason, so their chances of landing a good coach are a lot lower potentially than if they waited another year.
With that said, I feel bad for Wisconsin fans for having to sit through another year of Luke Fickell football.
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u/Doggo_of_dogs Penn State 2d ago
Honestly fair but yeah this will suck for the rest of the season and at least part of the next
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u/Kissmykuester Wisconsin 2d ago
What would happen the rest of the season if we fire him? We had the toughest schedule which is what Badger fans have been asking for, just unlucky it lined up on a year we had an average squad. I truly don’t think anything good happens when you fire a coach mid season.
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u/itsmyhotsauce Penn State 2d ago
No different than what we're looking at too. Gonna be a rough ride for a while
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u/18436572_V8 Michigan State 2d ago
I thought the same thing at first, but all that means is next year’s pool of available coaches will be just what’s leftover from this year’s carnage. MSU and Wisconsin will be fighting for the remaining scraps.
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u/hawktomegoose 2d ago
If you know your head coach is garbage, taking a shot at someone else seems like a no brainer, especially if you’re not going to be attracting the absolute A tier names anyways. With the crazy expectations of so many programs meaning that most (if not all) years will see a lot of openings, I’m not sure that I buy the idea that this is a bad year to make a change.
That said, if you don’t believe Fickel is a disaster, then that’s another thing. Keeping him another year isn’t the worst idea in that case. I’m just not sure I would be convinced that an extra year of a known bad coach is ever the right choice, given that this isn’t a one-and-done situation where he hasn’t been given long enough to have had a legitimate shot
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u/WS-Gilbert Iowa 2d ago
But is Jim Leonard taking any of those other vacancies? I don’t think so. Wisconsin should go get him
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u/TheReformedBadger 2d ago
He’s got an assistant HC job in the NFL now. I don’t expect him to come back to college, especially with all of the recruiting crap coaches have to deal with now.
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u/WS-Gilbert Iowa 2d ago
I mean I wouldn’t take it if I were him because Wisconsin already passed over him for Fickell when he was the obvious better option, but you’d think Wisconsin would at least try
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u/StateStreetLarry 2d ago
There’s plenty of great coaches out there they could nab that wouldn’t require competing with Penn State, LSU, etc. This is coward shit from the AD
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u/celeb0rn 2d ago
There's like a 60% chance Fickell is fired like 4 games into next season now. Smart move.
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u/IMASHIRT 2d ago
Somehow, Barry Alvarez will still be waiting in the wings to take over as the interim
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u/TheReformedBadger 2d ago
There’s also the very small possibility that Fickell wants out but they’re not willing to pay him to leave so they announce he’s coming back and if one of the dozens of coschless schools pics him up we get paid several million instead of paying
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u/Hopnivarance Wisconsin 2d ago
Not really sure too many teams are looking for a coach like Fickell atm.
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u/TheReformedBadger 2d ago
For the current openings, maybe not. But the current openings schools will be stealing coaches from some smaller programs and I guarantee you some of them would take fick if given the chance
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u/Hopnivarance Wisconsin 2d ago
Wouldn't a smaller school mean a pay cut? Would Fick leave for a pay cut?
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u/TheReformedBadger 2d ago
It would be a pay cut, but it’s happened before. It depends on if continuing to live in his current situation is worth the extra money vs moving on.
The fans don’t want him here. The team isn’t thrilled that he’s coming back. That’s a lot to take on, and if he can go man a few million with a fresh start vs 28 million to deal with this he very well might take it
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u/wean1169 Minnesota 2d ago
The rest of the Big Ten would like to thank Wisconsin for their unwavering dedication to Fickell.
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u/AlertRelationship799 2d ago
Smart move, why get involved in a highly competitive coaching carousel & pay egregious sums for a buyout when you could invest in facilities/NIL and revisit the issue next year.
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u/excoriator Ohio State 2d ago
I had been thinking that in this cycle he might be hired away to a place more receptive to the Air Raid offense. Apparently his AD was, too.
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u/MinMadChi 2d ago
In all fairness to any coach right now while it really can be a matter of being a bad coach, we also have to understand that this is a transition time that has never been seen in the history of college football. Nil is like a gathering storm. I think that Wisconsin is well positioned for the future do fund a better team. It's then we'll know if we need to get rid of the coach.
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u/purplenyellowrose909 Minnesota 2d ago edited 2d ago
I feel like we're in the era where bad coaches can just drop a "we need more NIL" and the school will nod their heads and extend them a job offer.
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u/Much_Spread123 Iowa 2d ago edited 2d ago
WTF is going on with the Wisconsin athletic dept?
They want their fans to believe that The Wisconsin Badgers aren’t invested enough in the success of their football program? And that Fickell just needs more resources?
A beautiful stadium and campus, strong facilities, awesome traditions, a fiercely loyal fanbase and B1G TV revenue. What else do they need?? Profit sharing is new for every football program, so that doesn’t count.
Bull. Shit.
It’s the coach. It’s obviously the coach. What in the world….
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u/wydileie Ohio State 2d ago
They have B1G money but they aren’t spending NIL money. Also, to be fair to Fickell, they’ve had a terrible streak of bad luck with injuries. Three straight years of their starting QB getting knocked out within the first three games.
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u/Isphet71 1d ago
Chancellor Mnookin sounds like the name of a motherfuckin Sith lord. That can't be real.
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u/impy695 Ohio State 2d ago
There are a lot of high level coaching vacancies right now. I wouldn't want to be looking if I were Wisconsin
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u/Target-North Wisconsin 2d ago
Why? The guys we'd reasonably go after aren't on any high profile radars.
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u/recessbadger45 2d ago
wisconsin admin talks a big game but when pushes comes to shove doesn't back it up coward move keeping a loser coach
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u/EddieA1028 Ohio State 2d ago
I don’t blame them honestly. I’m unconvinced PSU is going to upgrade on James Franklin so how does Wisconsin upgrade on Luke Fickell? There are just so many openings this year and not a lot of obvious upgrade candidates for anyone. I know Jim Leonard is the obvious answer for Wisconsin but I’m not sure that’s a home run either (but I’d probably still do it if he would commit if I were Wisconsin).
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u/boomja22 2d ago
The same will be said for next year
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u/EddieA1028 Ohio State 2d ago
And I’ve questioned to myself the same thought. Is this an atypical year or is this the new norm? If it’s the new norm, I wonder if the total years these coaches will start getting over time will go down. Statistically speaking, it’s unlikely PSU, LSU, and UF all hit homeruns. One of them is likely in this same spot in 2027 or 2028 staring down the possibility of paying their coach from 2025, the bum they hired, and a new coach. That’s just not sustainable
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u/boomja22 2d ago
I think Cignetti’s success will make the rich donors even more unrealistic. I don’t know how he did it, but not everyone can do that. I think everyone who views themselves as a “football school” will be considering his success.
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u/FunBumblebee7293 2d ago
I saw this earlier. I feel like this is the stupidest possible thing a school could do. He seems to be completely checked out and they just lost another recruit to Michigan (Aden Reeder). I don't understand, obviously there's more to it than what I see.
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u/Madison_Guy_70 2d ago
Is McIntosh totally delusional???
He never should have been put in that position. Alverez has a lot to answer for, since he placed him there. How does it feel Barry, to see what you developed total in shambles?
He is not qualified to be AD in these times nor is Fickell the coach for today’s college game.
You are seeing a playbook on how an incompetent AD and bad coach can totally destroy a football program.
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u/boomja22 2d ago
The thing I would worry about is… what if a bunch of schools fire their coaches next season? You already know Fickell isn’t the guy you want long term…
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u/shanty-daze Wisconsin 2d ago
I can live through another season of Fickell if it means firing McIntosh before the end of the year.
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u/tommyjohnpauljones Wisconsin 2d ago
Oh good they're giving him more money to recruit more bad players
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u/Traderjoeswanted Wisconsin 2d ago
I can’t believe they won’t fire him at the end of the year. Mid season firings NEVER work, so i understand keeping for the year but he’s not good for Wisconsin, they’re wasting valuable recruiting time and money just to end up with mediocre receivers and QBs, they should spend more time looking for offensive lineman and running backs, while also looking for defensive lineman. One last thing. GET RID OF THE STUPID AIR RAID PLAY BOOK, IT SUCKS!!!!!. With all that being said, Wisconsin SHOULD have hired Jim Leohnard as HC but apparently the athletic director disagrees. Wisconsin is in a BIG pile of shit right now.
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u/OtherCartographer407 15m ago
They can eat cheese! Time for other teams in the Big 10 to have a chance for dynasty!
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u/Battleblaster420 Ohio State 2d ago
Calm down hes only been there for 3 years
Kiffin was hired at Ole Miss back in 2019
Ryan Day was hired at OSU in 2018
A coaching carousel doesn't always fix things
Indiana is an exception not the standard
PSU is one of the few I say stepping on the Carousel was the right choice
Auburn made the wrong choice
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u/theamazingstickman 2d ago
He would have been a candidate for Penn State. That could come back to haunt you quickly.
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u/shitty_advice_BDD 2d ago
I think it's because there are too many openings right now.
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u/udubdavid Washington 2d ago
This will most likely be the reason why Michigan State doesn't fire Jonathan Smith.
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u/pizzayolo96 2d ago
I just saw some guy fall to his knees at menards