Luke Fickell ushers in new era of Badger football: On Sunday, Wisconsin’s Director of Athletics Chris McIntosh made public the appointment of Luke Fickell as the team’s new football coach. The unanimous 2021 National Coach of the Year takes over as the program’s 31st head coach.
Luke Fickell ushers in new era of Badger football
I am beyond thrilled to welcome Luke Fickell and his family to Madison as our next head football coach, McIntosh said. Luke is one of the top football instructors in the country. He has a track record of success in winning and developing players.
What’s more, he adheres to our principles. Coach Luke Fickell is aware of the shifting nature of collegiate athletics and is committed to provide our student-athletes with the finest chances.
“He will uphold and honour the current foundation, I have no doubt in that.
After leading the University of Cincinnati football programme to remarkable success during his six seasons as head coach, Fickell ushers in a new era for Badger football.
He was hired by the Bearcats on December 10, 2016, and he guided them to consecutive 11-win seasons in 2018 and 2019, as well as an undefeated regular season that resulted in a Peach Bowl appearance in 2020.
Luke Fickell then led the Bearcats to their most successful season in school history in 2021, guiding them to their first-ever 13-0 regular-season record and a trip to the College Football Playoff Semifinals in the Cotton Bowl.
UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin remarked, “I am happy with our hiring of Luke Fickell as the head football coach of the Badgers.
He is an important complement to our plan.
Along with the accomplishments he has already achieved, such as being named the National Coach of the Year in 2021 and leading a team to the College Football Playoff, “He recognizes the significance of the college experience for our student-athletes and shares our beliefs.
She observed, “I’m eager to see him help us build on our already solid base and to even greater heights.
Cincinnati football is now considered to be an elite school capable of consistently challenging for championships thanks to Luke Fickell, who has become one of the nation’s top coaches in just six years.
Fickell played for UC for six seasons, with a 57-18 (.760) record. Before the three 11-win seasons the Bearcats had under Fickell, the programme had only achieved the feat twice (2008 and 2009). In 2022, Fickell achieved his 54th victory, making him the most successful coach in Cincinnati history.
At Cincinnati, Fickell oversaw a 53-10 record over the course of the last five years after the team went 4-8 in its inaugural season. Only Alabama (36) and Georgia (34) have more victories than Cincinnati over the past three seasons (31).
Fickell declared, “My family and I are overjoyed to join the Wisconsin family. “This is a wonderful job at a programme that I have long admired from a distance. I completely concur with Chris McIntosh’s plan for this initiative. This is a fantastic foundation, and I can’t wait to build on it.
I am excited to be a member of this world-class university’s tremendous commitment to achievement, as well as that of its athletic department and its fervently devoted fan base.”
Fickell won eight national coaching awards in 2021 after leading Cincinnati to new heights and the program’s first-ever appearance in the College Football Playoff.
As well as recognition from the AFCA, Walter Camp Foundation, Sporting News, and The Home Depot National Coach of the Year, Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year, the Stallings Award, the Eddie Robinson Award, and the Dodd Trophy were among these honours.
Early in the fall, Fickell’s UC team earned the No. 2 spot in the Associated Press poll, which was a school record. Cincinnati earned their first-ever road victory against a Top 10 team by defeating No. 9 Notre Dame, 24-13, in South Bend, Indiana.
With a 35-20 victory over No. 16 Houston, the Bearcats won the AAC title for the second time in a row.
Since arriving in Cincinnati in 2017, Fickell has overseen the selection of 16 Bearcats in the NFL Draft, including a school-record nine picks in 2022. He has also won three AAC Coach of the Year awards (2018, 2020, 2021).
Off the field, under Fickell’s leadership, Cincinnati’s four-year student-athletes have earned a 100% graduation rate.
At Ohio State, Fickell’s coaching career got its start. Following a year on the injured reserve list with the New Orleans Saints, his college coach, John Cooper, hired him in 1999 as a graduate assistant at OSU.
Fickell, a Columbus, Ohio, native, played for the Buckeyes from 1992 to 1996, redshirting his freshman season before starting the following four at nose guard. Between 1993 and 1996, he started a then-school-record 50 straight games.
