Luke Fickell Says This Year's Badgers are Different — Here's Why

There's one big change Fickell kept referencing at Big Ten Media Days.

Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Luke Fickell knew what was coming when he took the podium at the Hilton Chicago for Big Ten Media Days.

Coming off an abhorrent 4-8 campaign, the worst season of Wisconsin football since 1990 and tying the worst season of Fickell's coaching career, when he posted the same record at Cincinnati in 2017, the skipper knew he would have to face the music.

What should give Badgers fans hope? Why will this year be any different? Wisconsin has steadily trended downwards since Fickell arrived. What's going to change in 2026?

To Fickell, there's one clear difference with the 2026 Badgers than with his prior teams in Madison: the leadership.

Leadership, especially from the team's young nucleus such as linebackers Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano, has been touched on all offseason. But at the Podium in Chicago, Fickell doubled down.

"What we are much different in is our leadership," he said. "About nine months ago midway through the season, there were some things that started to happen. We could have gone one direction or another. We were in a tough situation. There was some youth in our program that really started to grow and took over in a way that was really, really healthy for us. We had a group of veteran leaders that understood what was happening and embraced it as well."

Cooper Catalano (left), Mason Posa (center) and Tuf Borland (right). | Christian Borman.

Fickell notes that the leadership core on his team is a combination of some of the aforementioned young players as well as some elder statesmen, like the ones he brought to Chicago with him (outside linebacker Sebastian Cheeks, safety Matt Jung and wideout Chris Brooks Jr.).

"I'm standing here in a different place than I was in the last three years. I really mean that," he continued.

"These guys, coupled with some youth of this program and team, have really changed the trajectory. I'll be honest with you, it laid some roots within our program that puts us in a much different place right now."

Say what you will about why it took so long for legitimate leadership to form within Fickell's program in Madison — it's clearly reinvigorated him and his staff.

"Over the last nine months, there's been a hell of a lot of changes. To the naked eye, to the fan, I don't know that you could see them all," Fickell continued. "But to the people from within the program, meaning the players, the coaches, the people that are really close to this team, have seen and felt a difference throughout this entire program."

The Badgers still have their work cut out for them to climb out of the hole they've dug themselves in with back-to-back losing seasons. The climb back to relevancy in a stacked Big Ten will undoubtably be perilous. But you can't do it without direction, without accountability, without hope. If the "leaders" on Fickell's squad can provide that, Wisconsin has a shot at respectability once again.