Head coach Luke Fickell continues to have problems, and is just 13-13 since being hired.
When it rains, it pours for the Wisconsin Badgers.
The Badgers used to be a dominant Big Ten football program that demanded respect around the country. Wisconsin regularly won major games, competed for Big Ten titles and appeared in major bowl games.
However, things went off the rails starting in 2020. Former coach Paul Chryst was fired in 2022 and Luke Fickell was hired to turn the ship around.
He absolutely hasn’t. The team is just 13-13 since he arrived in Madison, and things are now getting worse.
Wisconsin football coach Luke Fickell has been a massive disappointment since being hired by the Badgers. He’s 13-13 with the team. (Photo by Ross Harried/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Wisconsin hit with significant punishment after recruiting violations.
Wisconsin is now on probation for a year, and has been fined $25,000 for recruiting violations during spring 2023, according to BadgerExtra.
Nine members of Fickell’s staff committed Level II infractions when 139 phone calls were made to 48 recruits that violated recruiting rules, according to the report.
Fickell was determined to have made nine of the calls, and as a punishment, will no longer be able to contact recruits until June 21st.
Former Wisconsin assistant Greg Scruggs, who is now a coach with the 49ers, was hit with a one-year show-cause and will be suspended for a game if he returns to college. Fortunately for Scruggs, it seems very unlikely he’d leave the NFL for a college job.
Wisconsin’s football program is on probation for recruiting violations that occurred during spring 2023. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)
While a one-year probation and a $25,000 fine isn’t going to sink the program, it’s just the latest sign that it’s a dumpster fire in Madison.
Fickell’s seat is warming up, Wisconsin has arguably the toughest schedule in America in 2025, there are still QB questions looming with Billy Edwards under center and the team is now dealing with sanctions.
It seems like absolutely nothing has gone correctly for Wisconsin the past few years, and there’s no reason to believe there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.
The Badgers get rocked on the field during the season and in trouble off of it during the offseason. Welcome to the current state of Wisconsin football.
Nobody would have believed this back in 2019, which feels like a lifetime ago.
Will Luke Fickell ever be able to figure it out in Madison? (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)
Wisconsin opens the season August 28th against Miami (OH). Things could get interesting very quickly depending on what start to the season the Badgers have. Let me know your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.
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