Wisconsin Football 2025

[nate82]

7 hours ago, BrewerFan said:

After you figure out your HC, pony up and bring in Bostad back. If there was ONE time when things started to wobble at UW from the perennial top 25 program and just showing cracks, it's when you brought him back and had him coaching somewhere OTHER than the OL. 

That was a 100% PC decision to bring him on the defensive side.  

 

7 hours ago, BrewerFan said:

And why would he want to come to a program that is now in need of a COMPLETE rebuild. From the bottom up. Not just the roster, but you've lost so much ground in your own home state, you've lost ground in Minnesota where you used to go in and steal some talent, Illinois, you have no Jersey Pipeline. 

There is a good QB that is coming in with the 2025 recruiting class in Carter Smith along with WR Eugene Hilton.  The 2026 class also has Petit, Bah Gaad and Latimer.  A lot of Fickell's good recruiting is only recently.  So no they don't need to focus more on Wisconsin.  The players above for 2026 have all been poached from SEC school territory.  

[Samurai Bucky]

Franklin out at Penn State…

https://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/2025/10/penn-state-fires-coach-james-franklin-after-3-3-start-to-2025-season.html?outputType=amp

[JosephC]

I can't stand Franklin, but that's a totally low-class move by Penn State.  That program was still reeling from the scandal and then he followed Bill O'Brien's less than stellar performance.  .698 winning percentage at school and 6-6 record in bowl games (and most of those games were in high-profile bowls).  Firing guys like this mid-season, no class.  Wouldn't be a bit upset to see them go down the same road Wisconsin has following McIntosh's colossal blunder

[BrewerFan]

2 hours ago, nate82 said:

That was a 100% PC decision to bring him on the defensive side.  

 

There is a good QB that is coming in with the 2025 recruiting class in Carter Smith along with WR Eugene Hilton.  The 2026 class also has Petit, Bah Gaad and Latimer.  A lot of Fickell's good recruiting is only recently.  So no they don't need to focus more on Wisconsin.  The players above for 2026 have all been poached from SEC school territory.  

This the silly type of arrogance that has us back to the same level we were in the 80s.

 

Nah, you're right. It's a brilliant idea to completely abandon the most basic principal that made you a perennial top 20-25 program...

No need to recruit your home state because in his 4th year, it he'll have a QB from the SEC! 

You certainly can't do both! That's a rule that... someone... apparently made up. 

[BrewerFan]

37 minutes ago, JosephC said:

I can't stand Franklin, but that's a totally low-class move by Penn State.  That program was still reeling from the scandal and then he followed Bill O'Brien's less than stellar performance.  .698 winning percentage at school and 6-6 record in bowl games (and most of those games were in high-profile bowls).  Firing guys like this mid-season, no class.  Wouldn't be a bit upset to see them go down the same road Wisconsin has following McIntosh's colossal blunder

He's getting almost 60 Million, they'll be getting a head start on the coaching search. 

I don't think it's a class thing, I don't think there's any point in prolonging it after you've made your decision. 

[LouisEly]

38 minutes ago, JosephC said:

I can't stand Franklin, but that's a totally low-class move by Penn State.  That program was still reeling from the scandal and then he followed Bill O'Brien's less than stellar performance.  .698 winning percentage at school and 6-6 record in bowl games (and most of those games were in high-profile bowls).  Firing guys like this mid-season, no class.  Wouldn't be a bit upset to see them go down the same road Wisconsin has following McIntosh's colossal blunder

4-21 against top 10-teams

1-18 against Big Ten top-10 teams

My guess is that they'll purge the whole staff and hire externally... making UW-River Falls alum Andy Kotelnicki available.

If you want a guy who knows the state of WI, Kotelnicki fits the bill.  Interesting nugget about him:

Over the last 10 seasons as an offensive coordinator in the FBS, offenses led by Kotelnicki rank first nationally in lowest sack percentage (3.9), lowest tackle for loss percentage (7.9) and margin of error percentage (9.7), which factors in sacks, tackles for loss, interceptions and fumbles. 

[nate82]

11 minutes ago, BrewerFan said:

Nah, you're right. It's a brilliant idea to completely abandon

Where did I say abandon.  There you go again making things up.

[LouisEly]

The thing with hiring head coaches now is that the game has evolved where the head coach needs to be more like a CEO and between NIL/transfer portal/recruiting your own players to stay they just don't have the capacity to also have OC/DC duties.

It's about who the coach can bring with them as far as coordinators.

[BrewerFan]

1 minute ago, nate82 said:

Where did I say abandon.  There you go again making things up.

Yeah, I'm not making ANYTHING up. The first thing Barry talked about as a coach at UW was building a wall around Wisconsin. That at least gives you a reliable base. 

 

YOU saying, 

2 hours ago, nate82 said:

So no they don't need to focus more on Wisconsin.

That's not abandoning those principles?

They have ONE of the top 20 players coming out of Wisconsin next year... in a good class.

But no, they don't need to focus on Wisconsin more! We got a couple players from SEC country! Which... we've pretty much always done... in ADDITION to taking the top players from Wisconsin. 

 

[homer]

6 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

The thing with hiring head coaches now is that the game has evolved where the head coach needs to be more like a CEO and between NIL/transfer portal/recruiting your own players to stay they just don't have the capacity to also have OC/DC duties.

It's about who the coach can bring with them as far as coordinators.

schools should hire general managers

[nate82]

10 minutes ago, BrewerFan said:

That's not abandoning those principles?

[BrewerFan]

10 minutes ago, nate82 said:

1 player out of the top 20 in next years class.

Several players going to other B1G, SEC programs.

But... no, we DON'T need focus more on Wisconsin.

 

Really kinda feels like that's antithetical to what has been the Badgers core. But if you say 'nuh-uh,' then... I mean, I guess I can't argue!

 

[LouisEly]

40 minutes ago, BrewerFan said:

They have ONE of the top 20 players coming out of Wisconsin next year... in a good class.

24/7 does not have it as a good class.  Nobody outside of their top 5 has committed to a P4 program except for Wenzel who committed to UW, their #2 might have to go to JUCO, and UW has better WRs than their #4.

Meier is really the only one they may have missed on, but he might not have wanted to come to a situation where he is behind 9 OL recruits in the two classes ahead of them.

 

[LouisEly]

41 minutes ago, homer said:

schools should hire general managers

https://uwbadgers.com/sports/football/roster/staff/marcus-sedberry/983

[Jim French Stepstool]

10 hours ago, BrewerFan said:

He's definitely not leaving Ole' Miss for Wisconsin. He's talked extensively about how coaching at Ole Miss he's been able to spend more time with his family and... how it's been good for him. 

And why would he want to come to a program that is now in need of a COMPLETE rebuild. From the bottom up. Not just the roster, but you've lost so much ground in your own home state, you've lost ground in Minnesota where you used to go in and steal some talent, Illinois, you have no Jersey Pipeline. 

 

You need someone who knows the state and I don't care if they're boring. The Badgers hung their hat on being "boring" for the entire resurgence when they were routinely winning 9+ games over an almost 30 year period. 

Leonhard or Leipold. You'd have to go back, hat in hand to the prior... and you'd need to fill out the staff with a really good recruiting coordinator, but at LEAST you could start to get back to at least getting Wisconsin kids(remember when that was "the problem," our 10-3 teams were largely Wisconsin OL/DL/LB without enough skill position to QUITE get over the hump when you were 6 points away from playing in the CFB Playoffs and going 14-0 in the regular season under Chryst). 

 

Or Leipold. I remember hearing a few guys on his staff back at WW and a couple kids who played for him and they all loved him. His coaches knew he'd end up as a big time D1 coach and he got the most out of the playoffs. 

Maybe he's the guy to try and scratch back some of the ground we lost. 

 

 

I'm not blaming anyone for the Fickell hire. Hindsight is 20/20 and I thought it was a great signing. I REALLY did think he was going to stick with the main identify of the team offensively and just ADD to that, thinking again, similar to when Chryst was the OC... and I thought he may be able to pluck a few elite recruits her or there and find a Lamar, Sauce type talent now and again. 

Instead, it's been an unmitigated disaster and waiting longer is going to cost the program more in the long run. 

I'm in the middle with Leonhard. I think the folks who dismiss him as a HC candidate are remiss in doing so, but I see little evidence he'd be a slam dunk hire either. IMO a large part of his appeal would be the possibility of him attracting a solid, talented staff based on whatever contacts he's made at the different levels of his FB career. At either rate, I see VERY little if any chance he'd consider UW as long as Macintosh is still in place.

I like Leipold. I just think the age might work against him at this time, with the program looking more & more to be heading into a total rebuild.

And yeah, "boring" is in the eye of the beholder. I saw nothing boring about this program, or their identity in recent decades. And most, if not all of the successful programs have a strong element of running the ball & controlling the line of scrimmage in their profile. It's just that you don't see those elements highlighted on Sportscenter.

[nate82]

11 minutes ago, BrewerFan said:

1 player out of the top 20 in next years class.

Several players going to other B1G, SEC programs.

But... no, we DON'T need focus more on Wisconsin.

 

Really kinda feels like that's antithetical to what has been the Badgers core. But if you say 'nuh-uh,' then... I mean, I guess I can't argue!

 

You really don't know what the word abandon means?  Seriously?  

Here is the definition in case you forgot or you don't know:

Not focusing on it more is not abandoning it.  So yes you made something up yet again.  Also they haven't abandoned it and the 2026 HS class for WI is severely lacking in talent.  Sometimes it is just best to skip a year which WI has done in the past in recruiting from WI.  

5 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

24/7 does not have it as a good class.  Nobody outside of their top 5 has committed to a P4 program except for Wenzel who committed to UW, their #2 might have to go to JUCO, and UW has better WRs than their #4.

Meier is really the only one they may have missed on, but he might not have wanted to come to a situation where he is behind 9 OL recruits in the two classes ahead of them.

 

Not to mention Cole Reiter who has committed to the Badgers in the 2027 class and is a top 20 OT in that class is a better recruit than Meier is who is ranked 44th in the 2026 class.  So not only would he be behind the other recruits but he would also be behind the recruits coming in after him.  There are also only so many scholarships available and I doubt Meier would want to be a walk on when he has scholarship offers from others.  No one is going to walk on when there are other B1G schools and other larger colleges giving you a free ride no matter how loyal the person is to Wisconsin football at that stage you would be an absolute moron to turn a scholarship down just to walk on at wherever.  

[Jim French Stepstool]

10 hours ago, BrewerFan said:

It'll cost more to keep him. 

The Athletic Department is going to bring in ~200M this year. 

The longer you wait, the bigger the hole you dig. 

The money has to be paid either way and another year and then part of a year after isn't going to do anything but push us further down, burn a couple more classes and... you're paying him the same. 

The revenue our AD department generates is among the top 20 in the Country. 

 

After you figure out your HC, pony up and bring in Bostad back. If there was ONE time when things started to wobble at UW from the perennial top 25 program and just showing cracks, it's when you brought him back and had him coaching somewhere OTHER than the OL. 

 

 

The thing is, in a buyout you're talking about coming up with & spending the money right now. Not to mention you're paying a guy not to coach, along with whoever the replacement is. I'd love to see them be able to cut ties immediately but I think it would take quite a bit of contribution from the well-heeled alums & boosters & I don't see UW being able to roust up that kind of coin like an OSU or a Michigan could. Or apparently PSU.

Of course you'd have to let a new coach decide on his staff, but Bostad as an OL guy sounds good to me. And I agree his assignment when here should've been OL, period.

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, LouisEly said:

4-21 against top 10-teams

1-18 against Big Ten top-10 teams

My guess is that they'll purge the whole staff and hire externally... making UW-River Falls alum Andy Kotelnicki available.

If you want a guy who knows the state of WI, Kotelnicki fits the bill.  Interesting nugget about him:

Over the last 10 seasons as an offensive coordinator in the FBS, offenses led by Kotelnicki rank first nationally in lowest sack percentage (3.9), lowest tackle for loss percentage (7.9) and margin of error percentage (9.7), which factors in sacks, tackles for loss, interceptions and fumbles. 

Yeah, for Kotelnicki to UW fans the PSU decision isn't good news. But PSU deciding he's their #1 isn't a slam dunk either. Stay tuned.

[LouisEly]

7 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

The thing is, in a buyout you're talking about coming up with & spending the money right now.

Not really.  The buyout is paid monthly through March of 2032 at about $330K/mo or a little over $4M/year.

That will be offset by any salary he earns at the FBS or NFL level.  So, assume he gets a MAC-level HC job (like a Toledo or Central Michigan), those pay a little over $1M/year so the buyout would be reduced to about $3M/year.  They're getting $70M/year from the TV contract, so they can move some budget items around to find $4M/year.

[Jim French Stepstool]

8 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

Not really.  The buyout is paid monthly through March of 2032 at about $330K/mo or a little over $4M/year.

That will be offset by any salary he earns at the FBS or NFL level.  So, assume he gets a MAC-level HC job (like a Toledo or Central Michigan), those pay a little over $1M/year so the buyout would be reduced to about $3M/year.

Yeah, the "right now" paints an inaccurate picture. Still, this university doesn't have a storied history of wanting to pay large sums to a BB or FB guy to not coach while having to pony up for someone else. I see donors having to step up.

With the nosedive we've experienced, I'd be real interested in seeing what schools might want to look his way.

[BrewerFan]

50 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

The thing is, in a buyout you're talking about coming up with & spending the money right now. Not to mention you're paying a guy not to coach, along with whoever the replacement is. I'd love to see them be able to cut ties immediately but I think it would take quite a bit of contribution from the well-heeled alums & boosters & I don't see UW being able to roust up that kind of coin like an OSU or a Michigan could. Or apparently PSU.

Of course you'd have to let a new coach decide on his staff, but Bostad as an OL guy sounds good to me. And I agree his assignment when here should've been OL, period.

The Athletic Department can afford it.

But ultimately, I think the bigger you dig the whole, the more it'll cost you in the long run.

 

We're looking at a string of 3-4 win seasons right now. Again, the Badgers athletic departments generates a LOT of revenue. They don't have the support OSU, Michigan or PSU have, but they're top 20. 

You keep losing momentum, you're keep losing money from boosters and you go from an angry fan base to something much worse. An indifferent one. 

[yourout]

6 hours ago, nate82 said:

That was a 100% PC decision to bring him on the defensive side.  

 

There is a good QB that is coming in with the 2025 recruiting class in Carter Smith along with WR Eugene Hilton.  The 2026 class also has Petit, Bah Gaad and Latimer.  A lot of Fickell's good recruiting is only recently.  So no they don't need to focus more on Wisconsin.  The players above for 2026 have all been poached from SEC school territory.  

+1 on one of PC first biggest mistakes being not immediately handing the keys to the OLine back to Bostad the second he became available

[homer]

3 hours ago, LouisEly said:

https://uwbadgers.com/sports/football/roster/staff/marcus-sedberry/983

there you go but I wish GM was his full time job.  Maybe it is and the other stuff on his job description is just for show.

[JosephC]

Chryst derangement syndrome is back.

Bostad was the inside linebacker coach for 5 years, 2017-2021.  In those 5 years, the Badgers were 44-17 (.721), 30-12 in the Big 10 (.714) and 4-1 in bowl games (.800).

Hope you enjoy this 2-10 season.

[Jim French Stepstool]

3 hours ago, homer said:

there you go but I wish GM was his full time job.  Maybe it is and the other stuff on his job description is just for show.

I think at this point in time, colleges are a bit gun shy about flat out calling someone a GM, maybe because of the suggestion of professionalism (even though the professional aspect of it is now obvious). 

The UW basketball program also has someone performing GM duties.