Wisconsin Football 2022- The Jim Leonhard Show ends, the Luke Fickell era begins

[UpandIn]

22 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Someone mentioned finding a TE in the portal. Cundiff is more than good enough. He got hurt. Cam Large is an intriguing prospect. He also got hurt. Most of the game-minutes return on the O-line, plus some younger guys who have barely or never seen the field yet. They likely won't say no to an experienced lineman who wants to transfer, but I think anyone looking for them to completely overhaul rather than develop is going to be disappointed. Give Bostad December & next spring with this group.

 

Amazing how poorly this OL has played given how highly touted it was coming in. They don't seem to have much of an edge. 

And it's not like they had dominant OL's the whole time Gordon or Taylor were there, but they could take it to the house when they did get a seem. That's really not in Allen's game. 

But if they get the OL play back to it's typical level, this team should be back in the B1G Championship game next year(mostly due to their pretty weak schedule). 

If not, this team is going to remain an average team. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

11 minutes ago, UpandIn said:

 

I would like to see Burkett get at least some snaps at the...Mayo Bowl or the Pinstripes Bowl, wherever they end up. 

You almost always see someone who hadn't played a lot emerge in a bowl game because of the extra practices, I wouldn't be surprised if they put together a package for him. I believe there's some similarity btwn him & Cole Lacrue.

[UpandIn]

6 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

You almost always see someone who hadn't played a lot emerge in a bowl game because of the extra practices, I wouldn't be surprised if they put together a package for him. I believe there's some similarity btwn him & Cole Lacrue.

I've stopped guessing. I watched Burkett a little bit at Franklin and wasn't overly impressed...which can only mean he's going to be a standout QB at the next level.

It could certainly be a BIG help to get QBs who can gain some yards with their feet. Maybe just the threat of a QB who can pull it down and run with it on an RPO would do...something. 

Mertz has an NFL body and arm, but too much of the rest is missing. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

10 minutes ago, UpandIn said:

Amazing how poorly this OL has played given how highly touted it was coming in. They don't seem to have much of an edge. 

And it's not like they had dominant OL's the whole time Gordon or Taylor were there, but they could take it to the house when they did get a seem. That's really not in Allen's game. 

But if they get the OL play back to it's typical level, this team should be back in the B1G Championship game next year(mostly due to their pretty weak schedule). 

If not, this team is going to remain an average team. 

Pretty much agree with this. What people need to remember is the capacity to improve (hopefully) with development. If the room to get better is there, three of the line regulars are sophomores, including your LT. Another is a redshirt freshman who recently came back to action. If all of them have reached their ceiling you're right; average line. But I know of no coach who feels that way about guys with two or three years left to play. And competition works. Joe Brunner, JP Benzschawel & Nolan Rucci are taking a redshirt. If they can't push the people now ahead of them then a lot of coaches were wrong about them when they were being wooed.

And you're right about Allen. He runs with abandon when healthy. If he doesn't get much of a seam he'll take a beating.

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 minute ago, UpandIn said:

I've stopped guessing. I watched Burkett a little bit at Franklin and wasn't overly impressed...which can only mean he's going to be a standout QB at the next level.

It could certainly be a BIG help to get QBs who can gain some yards with their feet. Maybe just the threat of a QB who can pull it down and run with it on an RPO would do...something. 

Mertz has an NFL body and arm, but too much of the rest is missing. 

If what they say about LaCrue is accurate he can do some damage with his feet. We'll see.

Mertz' inconsistencies are obvious, and he needs a consistent group around him to help hide that. But a team that runs the ball intermittently well, lost its' TE, is average--not bad, but average--at WR and has a Jeckyl & Hyde OL isn't a good match for him. I wonder sometimes if Sorgi, Tolzien or Stave, who had similar skill sets, would've fared any better with this group.

[yourout]

So much of college football offense is having play makers that can turn 5 yard gains into touchdowns and right now the Badgers don't have any.

Even when Allen was healthy he is not going to routinely make 30 yard house calls like JT did.

Until they get some difference makers on offense it's going to be a struggle.

[LouisEly]

They overschemed to stop Ibrahim and subsequently gave up too much in the passing game on overplaying the run on RPOs.

UW had some success earlier in the season using those similar RPOs, but haven't been using that the last few weeks.  The RPO is one of the best things you can do for a struggling OL because you get 3 yards before OL are called for being illegally downfield in college (versus one yard in the pros).  That goes back to the OC.

The 3rd quarter yesterday was perhaps the best play calling I've seen all year.  It was the first time in weeks and the first time all game that they put two WRs on the same side when there were only two WRs on the field.  I think that helped scheme to get the WRs open for the big pass plays in the 3rd quarter.  But then that went away in the 4th quarter.  That goes back to the OC.

What happened to the jet sweep?  Yes, Melvin Gordon was special but he isn't faster than Isaac Guerendo.  Why weren't they running it with Guerendo?  What happened to the TE screen?  What happened to the "bunch" formation that was successful in the past in scheming to get WRs open?  What happened to the "hippo" short yardage formation?  The "barge"? 

If I'm Leonhard I'm assigning a couple of grad assistants to study the hell out of the 2009-2010 offenses and figure out how to run (or fake) the jet sweep, execute a TE/WR screen, and run/pass block.  Tolzien was better than what the average fan gives him credit for, but he's the type of QB that UW can get.  Why were they the #5 offense in the country in 2010 (before Russell Wilson and Melvin Gordon got there)?  Why were they the #25 offense in 2009?

[patrickgpe]

Espn reporting that they are targeting Luke Fickel, which is surprising. Leonard deserves a shot and there will be a lot of transfers if he isn’t the guy. He is also someone who will move on if he has success at Wisconsin. Should be an interesting 48 hours in Madison. 

[yourout]

7 minutes ago, patrickgpe said:

Espn reporting that they are targeting Luke Fickel, which is surprising. Leonard deserves a shot and there will be a lot of transfers if he isn’t the guy. He is also someone who will move on if he has success at Wisconsin. Should be an interesting 48 hours in Madison. 

Crank up the circus music.

[owbc]

Oh no, how will they ever survive without all of the talent on this roster???

[DuWayne Steurer]

Leonhard is out whether they get Fickell or not. He's figure out by now he's not "the guy", and that's fine. UW needs a massive change in identity, and as much as I'm sure most Badger fans like Jim, he's not the identity change the program probably needs.

[patrickgpe]

16 minutes ago, owbc said:

Oh no, how will they ever survive without all of the talent on this roster???

Well you would loose Braylon Allen

[nate82]

Whoever the HC will be they will be stepping into a bad recruiting class and will need at least 2-3 years before you can even judge the HC.  PC really left this team in a bad spot.

[HarryDoyle]

I'm sorry, it really doesn't matter who will be head coach. This program will always be a second tier team at best, and I suspect they won't even be that for the foreseeable future. It's not like Leonhard has proven himself with the resume he's built up during his short tenure as head coach. he only coach they could bring in that would be a recruiting landmine is Deion Sanders, and that's certainly not happening.

[yourout]

18 minutes ago, nate82 said:

Whoever the HC will be they will be stepping into a bad recruiting class and will need at least 2-3 years before you can even judge the HC.  PC really left this team in a bad spot.

The one thing in Fickells favor would be he would probably be able to bring in more immediate portal talent than JL.

[yourout]

30 minutes ago, patrickgpe said:

Well you would loose Braylon Allen

Would it suck....yes.

But he is not exactly once in a generation talent. Good college player but not a sure fire top 10 draft pick.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Looks like it will be announced later today.  Fickell it is

[DuWayne Steurer]

Just a thought....

Anyone think that the absolute cluster meltdown turd-show in the last 45 seconds made this decision happen?

I'm not saying it did (or didn't), but I'm asking the question. I've never seen a more disorganized football team in organized sport, and that includes an entire season of watching my little brother's middle-school football team.

[LouisEly]

16 minutes ago, yourout said:

The one thing in Fickells favor would be he would probably be able to bring in more immediate portal talent than JL.

What they don't need is another Gary Anderson situation where a guy comes in from the outside and then finds out that the University isn't willing to admit the players that he wants to bring in.

[yourout]

2 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

What they don't need is another Gary Anderson situation where a guy comes in from the outside and then finds out that the University isn't willing to admit the players that he wants to bring in.

I'm assuming Fickell understands that.

[patrickgpe]

3 minutes ago, DuWayne Steurer said:

Just a thought....

Anyone think that the absolute cluster meltdown turd-show in the last 45 seconds made this decision happen?

I'm not saying it did (or didn't), but I'm asking the question. I've never seen a more disorganized football team in organized sport, and that includes an entire season of watching my little brother's middle-school football team.

Possibly, but they did have their backup in. I think this was the plan all along, it just didn’t get out until the season was over. 

[DuWayne Steurer]

2 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

What they don't need is another Gary Anderson situation where a guy comes in from the outside and then finds out that the University isn't willing to admit the players that he wants to bring in.

I feel like UW is doing any incoming coach a massive disservice if they don't make this well known up front.

Also, Fickell is a Big10 guy. He has to be at least peripherally aware of UW's admission situation. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

2 hours ago, LouisEly said:

They overschemed to stop Ibrahim and subsequently gave up too much in the passing game on overplaying the run on RPOs.

 

What happened to the jet sweep?  Yes, Melvin Gordon was special but he isn't faster than Isaac Guerendo.  Why weren't they running it with Guerendo?  What happened to the TE screen?  What happened to the "bunch" formation that was successful in the past in scheming to get WRs open?  What happened to the "hippo" short yardage formation?  The "barge"? 

 

The first sentence is spot-on. Whether it was a run blitz or pressuring the QB, Njongmeta spent an awful lot of time at the line of scrimmage or in the backfield. The slants for the final Minn TD killed them. In their defense Kalikimaka McManus (or whatever his name is) threw the ball better than they expected, probably better than they SHOULD have expected.

I think the ability to run successfully between the tackles is what made the jet sweep so deadly years ago. Not so this season. Could they at least have dialed it up here & there? Sure. 

I seem to remember a few times they tried the TE screen over the course of the season & it just looked really ugly so they canned it. It just seems they really kept it simple this year for the O-line, which is understandable given the mistakes. Beating the dead horse again, but Bostad never should have left this group.

I suspect the OC will be someone not named Engram next year.

[homer]

35 minutes ago, DuWayne Steurer said:

Looks like it will be announced later today.  Fickell it is

I'm shocked it's not Leonhard but also....this means maybe Leonard can be Packers D Coord? If so...nice.

[homer]

I am really sad for Leonhard but part of me is excited to get some new blood in there.  This won't go over well with ex-players I'm sure.