Wisconsin football 2026

[OldSchoolSnapper]

There's an indisputable correlation with NIL money and wins, and it raises the floor of your program tremendously. You will always be able to find exceptions scouring 140 teams, and you can't just expect to win every game because you outspent the opponent. I don't think anyone thinks that. But o/u $20mm is a median win increase of 2 and a mean of 2.5.

Wisconsin got caught with its pants down. It was not in any way prepared for NIL, thought they would continue winning 8-9 games a year because predecessors made it look easy, and paid no mind to their eroding program that many fans could see after Bielema. I know what Bielema is to many people, but it's hard to argue that things didn't start to decline once he left. 

 

 

[JosephC]

1 hour ago, homer said:

https://nil-ncaa.com/big10/

NIL money doesn't guarantee success (PSU) nor does an average amount mean you will suck (Iowa). 

That can't be right.  We've heard over and over and over that the Badgers are in the top third of the Big 10 in NIL spending.

[Samurai Bucky]

5 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

This program is dead in the water until there's massive reform in college football. 

There's a lot of bickering about Fickell but I really don't think anyone would have UW cruising in this environment. They were not financially positioned to compete and it shows. The truth is they've been in a decline since Bielema left. They got by for a little bit on old recruiting/image from years of winning but once there were a few hiccups things really went South, and the in-state talent pool seems to have fallen off a cliff.

I think they would have done better.  Recall -- Gary Andersen tried to revamp the offense and see where that got him?  They went back to being tough up front only to go away from it when Fickell came back.

[homer]

2 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

There's an indisputable correlation with NIL money and wins, and it raises the floor of your program tremendously. You will always be able to find exceptions scouring 140 teams, and you can't just expect to win every game because you outspent the opponent. I don't think anyone thinks that. But o/u $20mm is a median win increase of 2 and a mean of 2.5.

Wisconsin got caught with its pants down. It was not in any way prepared for NIL, thought they would continue winning 8-9 games a year because predecessors made it look easy, and paid no mind to their eroding program that many fans could see after Bielema. I know what Bielema is to many people, but it's hard to argue that things didn't start to decline once he left. 

 

 

Iowa. I would settle for Iowa levels of success.

NIL money isn't forcing Fickell to take a timeout to avoid a 5 yard penalty on the opponents 37 yard line only to punt and get a touchback. NIL money isn't forcing Fickell to punt on the opponent's 49-yard line on 4th and 7 with over 8 minutes left in the game and down 21 points. 

Iowa's records since 2015:

Maybe things would be different had Fickell not hired Longo as OC but he did and that is squarely on him.

[homer]

Hey they may turn things around and have a 7 win season. They looked decent in the 1st half yesterday. But every close game will be an opportunity for Fickell to botch game management in the 4th quarter. That hasn't improved during his tenure, and there is no reason to believe it will change going forward.

[Jim French Stepstool]

Going by NIL money alone is awfully simplistic (although it's obviously a factor). I think the transfer portal & allowing people to leave every year w/no repercussions is huge. For over 35 years this has been a developmental program. Now it pretty much can't be. There are exceptions, but in large part any skill improvement you accomplish is just as apt to help the next program the guy jumps to as your own. I think that's affected UW more than others. Of course I'm talking big picture here; not for one second do I believe we have a bunch of 'coach 'em up, make everyone better' coaches on this staff.

And along with the many years of winning, a lot of fans particularly enjoyed that aspect of the program, how kids develop, wait their turn, maybe show something on special teams & after 4-5 years you look back & found that you experienced something that you really enjoyed seeing unfold & being emotionally invested in (not to mention financially through season tix, bowl game trips, etc). Barring a miracle that isn't coming back. And it's created a rather large contingent of fans who are much more apathetic.

[Jim French Stepstool]

43 minutes ago, Samurai Bucky said:

 They went back to being tough up front only to go away from it when Fickell came back.

Big, big, big time.

[Jim French Stepstool]

7 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

 Fickell may go down as the worst head coach in this program's history, and that's saying a lot considering the pre-Alvarez years.

I'm nowhere close to being a Fickell supporter. But IMO Don Morton was much, much worse.

[yourout]

38 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I'm nowhere close to being a Fickell supporter. But IMO Don Morton was much, much worse.

Morton is the lowest bar in the bad coaching limbo contest. Few if any have been worse in college football history.

[LouisEly]

1 hour ago, homer said:

NIL money isn't forcing Fickell to take a timeout to avoid a 5 yard penalty on the opponents 37 yard line only to punt and get a touchback. NIL money isn't forcing Fickell to punt on the opponent's 49-yard line on 4th and 7 with over 8 minutes left in the game and down 21 points. 

And none of those things made a damn bit of difference in the outcome of the game.

Mountains vs molehills.

[LouisEly]

1 hour ago, Samurai Bucky said:

I think they would have done better.  Recall -- Gary Andersen tried to revamp the offense and see where that got him?  They went back to being tough up front only to go away from it when Fickell came back.

They still would have needed to go to the portal for those tough OL, and DL.  Chryst left them nothing at those two positions.  Hardly any recruits at those positions in his last 3 years.  3 scholarship DL in Chryst's last 3 recruiting classes, two of whom weren't good enough to see the field (Jarvis, Howard).  6 scholarship OL in Chryst's last 3 years, 3 of whom never or hardly ever saw the field (Benzschawel, Nelson, Durand).  And if they're not putting a lot into the portal, like they weren't... those tough OL/DL weren't coming here.

Nevermind, still needing a QB.  Cole LaCrue, Myles Burkett, and Marshall Howe weren't going to lead them to many wins.

I think there's a bit of revisionist history with Longo.  They were 5-4 in conference in 2023 when they had a somewhat healthy QB1, but that 5-4 included going 1-3 in games where Locke started or played most of the game.  Longo was by no means great, but if I'm ranking worst OCs post-Morton, I have Joe Rudolph and Bobby Engram ahead of him.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

2 hours ago, LouisEly said:

And none of those things made a damn bit of difference in the outcome of the game.

Mountains vs molehills.

Yeah, I mean, that's kinda what I was going to say. I don't have a strong opinion on Fickell, or UW as a whole. But I think he's suffering big time from timing. His predecessors had benefits from the legacy of the 25 years or so before them. It takes a while for the shine to fade. It was gone by the time Fickell got there, and now they're trying to rebuild it. That's incredibly hard to do without a regime change, in the midst of the NIL/transfer portal chaos that the program was just not prepared for at all. I think his fate is being fired soon, just not sure he had a real chance. The group that comes in after him will have more realistic expectations. I don't think UW is set up to succeed for a couple of years at least.

I just have a tough time believing that a guy with the experience Fickell had, as well regarded by very big names in coaching as he was, is really that bad of a coach.

[JosephC]

16 minutes ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Yeah, I mean, that's kinda what I was going to say. I don't have a strong opinion on Fickell, or UW as a whole. But I think he's suffering big time from timing. His predecessors had benefits from the legacy of the 25 years or so before them. It takes a while for the shine to fade. It was gone by the time Fickell got there, and now they're trying to rebuild it. That's incredibly hard to do without a regime change, in the midst of the NIL/transfer portal chaos that the program was just not prepared for at all. I think his fate is being fired soon, just not sure he had a real chance. The group that comes in after him will have more realistic expectations. I don't think UW is set up to succeed for a couple of years at least.

I just have a tough time believing that a guy with the experience Fickell had, as well regarded by very big names in coaching as he was, is really that bad of a coach.

Fickell is not a big conference head coach.

2009 Ohio State = 11-2

2010 Ohio State = 12-1

2011 Ohio State = 6-7 (Fickell is head coach)

2012 Ohio State = 12-0

2013 Ohio State 12-2

Guy can't even with 50% of his games with Ohio State talent.

 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

37 minutes ago, JosephC said:

Fickell is not a big conference head coach.

2009 Ohio State = 11-2

2010 Ohio State = 12-1

2011 Ohio State = 6-7 (Fickell is head coach)

2012 Ohio State = 12-0

2013 Ohio State 12-2

Guy can't even with 50% of his games with Ohio State talent.

 

Oh come on, lol. We both know this is just a LITTLE disingenuous. 

[JosephC]

1 hour ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Oh come on, lol. We both know this is just a LITTLE disingenuous. 

Anything disingenuous about-

Record as an American Conference head coach = 57-18

Record as a Big 10 head coach = 23-29

Fickell is not a big conference head coach.

If you would rather blame Chris McIntosh, be my guest.  He is really the idiot to blame for the program's downfall.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

1 hour ago, JosephC said:

Anything disingenuous about-

Record as an American Conference head coach = 57-18

Record as a Big 10 head coach = 23-29

Fickell is not a big conference head coach.

If you would rather blame Chris McIntosh, be my guest.  He is really the idiot to blame for the program's downfall.

Fickell might be the worst coach in the B1G. I honestly don't follow it anywhere near closely enough to know. But his random scandal year in a depleted and suspended OSU shouldn't count for anything. I personally think his timing at UW could not have been worse: in-state talent pool decaying, reinventing the offense when the portals became a complete mess, underfunded NIL.

 

I don't think he has really had a great shake of things trying to be a HC. Wisconsin was fading before he took the job.