Badgers Football - 2025 Season

[MVP2110]

Sounds like rather than firing Fickell that Wisconsin might go down the GM route similar to what Stanford is doing with Andrew Luck. To hire someone to oversee the football program that isn't Mac and give that person all the power to make decisions going forward

Sounds like after the Chryst buyout and all the new athletic facilities that the boosters and donors don't have a huge appetite to pay a $25 mil buyout

[MickeyDavis]

I don't see McIntosh wanting to give up that power but maybe it's forced on him. Does he report to one person or some committee?

[humanrefutation]

Read on Twitter

I'm 100% expecting Fickell to take a reduced buyout and get on the market sooner than later.

I don't think Fickell has the juice to be in the conversation for any openings at schools bigger than UW. If he wants out now, he's going to have to do damage control and rebuild his reputation. Probably looking at a DC job at a playoff program, or taking another middle-tier job like Cincy and rebuilding his resume. I'm not sure that's more attractive than just staying here and hoping for the best starting next season.

[MVP2110]

I don't see McIntosh wanting to give up that power but maybe it's forced on him. Does he report to one person or some committee?

Not sure it'll be Mac's choice if he wants to remain AD. Sounds like they know changes need to be made, but are also trying to balance the financials with it. Currently Mac reports to the Chancellor & Board of regents and if they go the GM route then that person would report to the same people, not to Mac

[MickeyDavis]

I don't see McIntosh wanting to give up that power but maybe it's forced on him. Does he report to one person or some committee?

Not sure it'll be Mac's choice if he wants to remain AD. Sounds like they know changes need to be made, but are also trying to balance the financials with it. Currently Mac reports to the Chancellor & Board of regents and if they go the GM route then that person would report to the same people, not to Mac

I imagine most schools work that way. Board of Regents making football decisions isn't great. But a lot of schools are going the GM route so maybe we follow. Then the issue is finding the right person in a job that is very new to college sports.

But I think this is the most likely outcome rather than a huge buyout or doing nothing.

[Kerb Hohl]

I guess I wouldn't entirely rule out a team that hasn't been great for a while that just fired their coach (UCLA?) finding it a best of both worlds to lure Fickell away for a reduced buyout. You get a post-hype star coach for $3M/year let's say and the Badgers "only" pay him $10-15 million to buy him out instead of $25 (totally making this up).

Realistically, though, he just stays around and is happy either way. Either he gets fired in the next year and gets a massive buyout or he turns it around next year and has his name back in the mix for desirable vacancies or just another fat contract extension at UW.

[Kerb Hohl]

Sounds like rather than firing Fickell that Wisconsin might go down the GM route similar to what Stanford is doing with Andrew Luck. To hire someone to oversee the football program that isn't Mac and give that person all the power to make decisions going forward

Sounds like after the Chryst buyout and all the new athletic facilities that the boosters and donors don't have a huge appetite to pay a $25 mil buyout

This is the best possible news - though I'm probably somebody that's against the current that doesn't put much blame on Mac. I think we're in an unwinnable situation unless he's just been bad at fundraising. I think his biggest mistake may be miscalculating big name coach vs. just having more budget for players.

But it makes no sense to me to fire a guy for $25 million if you're basically the sole purveyor of buying big-name players. The next guy will have zero chance to succeed with cash-strapped donors as if they don't already.

[midranger]

I’ve heard that Greg Gard raises $2 million more per year in NIL than Luke Fickell.

All the “guys” I know are coming out of the woodwork with knives drawn.

I think it’s a bad situation.

[MVP2110]

I’ve heard that Greg Gard raises $2 million more per year in NIL than Luke Fickell.

All the “guys” I know are coming out of the woodwork with knives drawn.

I think it’s a bad situation.

I think it's undoubtedly true that Gard has a better relationship with donors than Fickell does. It's not hard to hear stories of Wisconsin boosters being turned off by Fickell almost immediately in his tenure with all the changes he made

[Kerb Hohl]

I’ve heard that Greg Gard raises $2 million more per year in NIL than Luke Fickell.

All the “guys” I know are coming out of the woodwork with knives drawn.

I think it’s a bad situation.

Is that because Fickell is just lazy? I feel like this could be the obvious current state of things, but it also sounds like donors/guys that know donors are doing a hindsight 20/20 sort of thing on it - as Fickell definitely had buzz right away. "Yeah, I never trusted him."

The only thing I guess I still think is that it's kind of annoying that some people wielding the power probably don't get the current state of the world. I have railed on the "schedule/QB luck" stuff a lot, but if you're going to stop giving money because they lost to OSU with their backup QB and ran short yardage out of the shotgun, the program is still probably better off if you just give your money. Eventually, I'd trust Fickell with good players vs. withholding money because we can't reach the heights of 1992-2021 in the new era. That said, I'm not one of those rich people and they just need to be appeased.

Either way, if true, I guess it does put me back in the "I don't care" camp if they fire him. If you can find somebody that can fire up the donors again, that's all that matters...as long as they are able to give on top of what they just paid to buy him out.

[MickeyDavis]

If I had that kind of money I don't know that I'd want to sink it into college sports right now. I get that boosters are big fans of the team/program and most are alumni but I might wait until things settle down and some concrete rules and/or some kind of cap is put into place. And that could take some time.

[DingleJerry]

I’ve heard that Greg Gard raises $2 million more per year in NIL than Luke Fickell.

All the “guys” I know are coming out of the woodwork with knives drawn.

I think it’s a bad situation.

I think it's undoubtedly true that Gard has a better relationship with donors than Fickell does. It's not hard to hear stories of Wisconsin boosters being turned off by Fickell almost immediately in his tenure with all the changes he made

I think we hit on this a bit in an AD related discussion in the basketball discussion thread. But this lines up with what I've heard living in the city and knowing people around and in the program, that it is shockingly bad behind the scenes on the football side (that is now showing on field too so far this year). One would think donors at that kind of level are very aware of that and would rather put their money into hoops right now rather than a sunk cost.

Generally speaking, with that buyout and the schedule this year the logical thing is to give him another year and hope for step in the right direction next year. But, if the catastrophe season happens combined with what I mentioned you might be staring at "clearly lost the locker room type thing" by the end of the year. Hopefully next week is a step in the right direction, obviously very unlikely to win or even be within 10 pts, but just don't look like a high school team out there please. That's enough progress for me next week.

[ReasonablySober]

Here's the important thing for the next Badgers head coach and AD to remember.

VIRGINIA. Proud owners of a 46-38 Friday night upset of previously undefeated Florida State. No one self-cannibalizes like the ACC, who took a nibble off itself this week by throwing the previously spotless Seminoles into a ditch at the hands of a wildly game Cavaliers squad.

It turns out the one thing Tony Elliott needed to succeed at Virginia was the same thing everyone else needs in the transfer portal era: A transfer quarterback who will keep throwing with the confidence of a coked up harvest god. Chandler Morris threw some devastating interceptions to put UVA behind at the half. He also threw them back into the game in the second half, and threw the game-winning score in overtime.

The lesson here is clear: If you are a coach of a struggling Big Four team, and you see a dude going off in an FCS game or throwing for five zillion yards in the Sun Belt, send an assistant with a fast car and a sack of cash after them immediately. Commit crimes if necessary. If you’re somehow 2-0 in conference in the ACC at UVA a month into the season, someone at Mister Jefferson’s university will be happy to defend you pro bono.

[Kerb Hohl]

Also important: QB does not **** his knee or finger up for most/all of the season.

I get it - value the FCS stalwarts (Brosmer also comes to mind) over Power 4 retreads...but I'd love to see us have any of the QBs we've grabbed.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

If I had that kind of money I don't know that I'd want to sink it into college sports right now. I get that boosters are big fans of the team/program and most are alumni but I might wait until things settle down and some concrete rules and/or some kind of cap is put into place. And that could take some time.

Some of the college message boards are just insanely gross. Half the time the alumni arent even watching other games and have their university as the greatest place on Earth. Constant monitoring of 15-17 year old twitter accounts and bashing them because they choose a different school, etc. All under the guise of scholastic achievement and amateur athletes.

[midranger]

If I had that kind of money I don't know that I'd want to sink it into college sports right now. I get that boosters are big fans of the team/program and most are alumni but I might wait until things settle down and some concrete rules and/or some kind of cap is put into place. And that could take some time.

Some of the college message boards are just insanely gross. Half the time the alumni arent even watching other games and have their university as the greatest place on Earth. Constant monitoring of 15-17 year old twitter accounts and bashing them because they choose a different school, etc. All under the guise of scholastic achievement and amateur athletes.

The largest Badger message board is a complete cesspool of ass old dudes who band wagon’ed in to the program in 1993. It’s a real shame, as no differing opinions are heard, let alone analyzed. They think badgers should be good by birthright, and anyone slightly differing in that opinion are worthy of derision including myself and Kerb (I’m sure yall can figure out who we are).

[MikeIsGood]

If I had that kind of money I don't know that I'd want to sink it into college sports right now. I get that boosters are big fans of the team/program and most are alumni but I might wait until things settle down and some concrete rules and/or some kind of cap is put into place. And that could take some time.

Some of the college message boards are just insanely gross. Half the time the alumni arent even watching other games and have their university as the greatest place on Earth. Constant monitoring of 15-17 year old twitter accounts and bashing them because they choose a different school, etc. All under the guise of scholastic achievement and amateur athletes.

The largest Badger message board is a complete cesspool of ass old dudes who band wagon’ed in to the program in 1993. It’s a real shame, as no differing opinions are heard, let alone analyzed. They think badgers should be good by birthright, and anyone slightly differing in that opinion are worthy of derision including myself and Kerb (I’m sure yall can figure out who we are).

I'm so glad I detatched myself from those places a decade ago (at the time - BV, Rivals, and Badger Nation). Not sure if I admire or pity you for still putting up with ETR and his cronies.

[Kerb Hohl]

Yeah, there's opposite ends of the spectrum. I barely perused the recruiting sort of boards but it seemed like a bunch of recruit harassing/obsession and overreaction based on said recruits/transfers and their decisions. Due to the somewhat boring nature of the old days of these sports, I feel like they tended to hate Gard, Chryst, etc.

Then the old dogs one where they fell in love with the old days, don't understand why we're no longer in them, and if you don't fall in line with the State Message that the new guy is bad and that's the only reason for struggles, the old guard will harass you and the **** mod will force you out.