Fickell: I haven't done a 'good enough job' leading Wisconsin

Head coach Luke Fickell is taking responsibility for Wisconsin's struggles during the first two years of his tenure, saying his teams have been delusional under his leadership.

"I felt like I hadn't done a good enough job as a leader of being really honest," Fickell told The Athletic's Jesse Temple. "Sometimes, honesty is very difficult. And sometimes, honesty can be a demotivator for some. Through that process, that's what I mean by I think we were delusional, and I wasn't honest enough with us to say, 'Look guys, we're not better than so-and-so.'

"Honesty comes with being self-reflective to say, 'OK, where are we? Let's embrace the idea of where we really are and don't think we're someplace we're not.' If we can't be honest with each other, then it's really difficult to move forward."

Fickell also believes his teams have been arrogant, admitting that he and the rest of the program thought the Badgers were the best team in the former Big Ten West solely because of their prior success.

"It's that idea of let's just humble ourselves and let's go and work our way back and figure out how (ex-head coach Barry) Alvarez and them took this place to become the best in the West," he said.

Fickell has struggled to replicate the success he had during his six-season stint with Cincinnati, which he helped become the first Group of 5 program to qualify for the College Football Playoff. The Badgers finished 7-6 in 2023 and 5-7 in 2024, the first season after the Big Ten eliminated the East and West divisions. Wisconsin also had its 22-year bowl streak snapped last campaign.

Fickell knows these struggles will result in increased scrutiny, especially after he signed a one-year extension last week that pushes his contract through 2032. However, he's putting the onus for the team to improve on himself.

"People are disappointed. I can promise you that I'm a hell of a lot more disappointed," he said.

In addition to Fickell's assessment of his team, Wisconsin has struggled with injuries to multiple quarterbacks over the past two seasons. The Badgers also replaced offensive coordinator Phil Longo with Jeff Grimes after finishing 108th in the country in scoring (22.6) and 99th in total offense (350.3) in 2024.

Wisconsin will open the season against Miami (OH) on Aug. 30.