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Luke Fickell denies allegations of Wisconsin not letting NFL scouts watch Badgers practices

Luke Fickell is steering clear of his own Bill Belichick-style controversy with the Wisconsin Badgers and NFL scouts at practice.
Lorin Cox|
Oct 18, 2025; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell looks on in the second half against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Camp Randall Stadium.
Oct 18, 2025; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell looks on in the second half against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Camp Randall Stadium. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

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Wisconsin Badgers

Luke Fickell is steering clear of his own Bill Belichick-style controversy with the Wisconsin Badgers.

Before the game against Ohio State, NFL Draft analyst Dane Brugler from The Athletic posted on X (formely Twitter) a report about NFL scouts not being allowed to come to Wisconsin practices.

He claimed that has brought more scouts to Badgers games, because of their lack of access to practice.

Eight different NFL teams had scouts present for the Badgers 34-0 loss to the Buckeyes.

After the game, Fickell was asked about the report and denied it thoroughly.

"No, we have NFL scouts there almost every single day," he said. "Maybe they can't watch the whole practice on a Wednesday, but my goodness, we don't even have much of a restriction."

The head coach said the team had one particular week where he didn't want a whole slew of scouts at practice on a particular Wednesday, but that was the only limitation he's had on scouts at practice.

He even mentioned Belichick by name in trying to downplay the controversy.

"We've got other things to worry about," Fickell said. "I don't want to get into some Bill Belichick type of scouting situation."

Related: 'Fire Fickell' chants return to Camp Randall on Badgers' first drive vs Ohio State

The reference is to North Carolina's head coach not allowing New England Patriots scouts into the facility over hard feelings from Belichick's former team.

Scouts had been present during Wisconsin's fall and spring practices, so the report from Brugler came as a surprise to the beat reporters covering the Badgers.

Brugler is well connected in the NFL scouting community. Perhaps this was just a miscommunication over an isolated week of practice where Fickell wanted to tone things down.

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Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the managing editor of Wisconsin Badgers on SI. He has been covering Badgers sports since 2014, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin. He previously wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today Sports Media Group, and he is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus.

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