NFL News NFL News, Reports and Updates
Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell was a center of focus at Big Ten media days this week in Indianapolis, Indiana.
He still carries the air as one of the top up-and-coming coaches in college football. He also currently leads a brand in Wisconsin that has been a staple toward the top of the Big Ten for the last 30 years, though has slipped significantly in recent seasons. Fickell and the Badgers’ trajectory entering 2024 is a significant discussion point around Big Ten circles as the conference expands to 18 members.
Related: The 6 most likely scenarios for Wisconsin’s 2024 football season
The decorated head coach joined Big Ten radio on SiriusXM during media days earlier this week and reflected on his first year with the Badgers — a 7-6 season that fell short of every expectation.
“In year one you think you know. And I was reminded when I got into Week 3, 4, 5 that you really don’t know,” Fickell said. “I don’t know that I could’ve done a whole lot of things different. To create adversity to find out what you really have to see how guys within your program handle things, it’s unique. If there was one think I’d go back on, we didn’t go live nearly as much last year. So I didn’t know some of the deficiencies maybe we had athletically, tackling-wise defensively. Otherwise, all of the things that came out were because of adversity.”
Fickell’s reflection comes after Wisconsin remade its entire linebacker room via the transfer portal this offseason. New additions ILB Jaheim Thomas (Arkansas), ILB Tackett Curtis (USC), ILB Sebastian Cheeks (North Carolina), OLB John Pius (William & Mary) and OLB Leon Lowery (Syracuse) are expected to provide major contributions beside returning starters ILB Jake Chaney, OLB Darryl Peterson and others.
The new-look room expects to be a significant improvement upon…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/wisconsin-hc-luke-fickell-reflects-120011899.html
Author : Badgers Wire
Publish date : 2024-07-26 12:00:11
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
