Top 3 Candidates to Replace Luke Fickell if Wisconsin Football Pulls the Plug

Wisconsin football is at a crossroads.

At times, it's looked different this season, like the stunning comeback on the road at then-No. 13 Penn State or the dominant performance at home against then-No. 16 USC.

But it's also been more of the same; the blowout loss to Iowa and the unfathomable loss to Maryland.

At this point, it would appear that head coach Luke Fickell is out of chances to prove he's the man for the job. The two remaining games against Purdue and Minnesota don't offer chances for a signature, tenure-saving win. He's now 23-25 in Madison with two games remaining in year four. It's pretty clear this isn't working.

I've already made my position clear; Fickell has overstayed his welcome. It now appears abundantly clear that change is on the horizon. Whether it comes in the wake of the Maryland game or after the Minnesota game, it's time to start looking towards the future.

Jason Eck

Eck is squarely in the top tier of candidates, along with the next name on this list. The current head coach of the New Mexico Lobos will be one of the hottest names on the coaching carousel regardless, but Eck to Madison makes too much sense.

The Wisconsin native and former Badgers offensive lineman under Barry Alvarez in the 1990s, he helped bring a Big Ten title to Wisconsin in 1998 on a team that also won the rose bowl. After his playing career with the Badgers, his first coaching gig was as a graduate assistant under Alvarez from 1990-2001.

Eck's first head coaching gig was in Moscow, Idaho. He immediately breathed life into the Vandals, a historically awful program. After previous head coach Paul Petrino went 34-66 over nine seasons, Eck went 26-13 over three years and took the Vandals to the FCS playoffs in each season of his tenure, the first time they'd reached the postseason since 1995.

That earned him the head coaching gig at New Mexico, where he went 9-4 his first season and took the Lobos to their first bowl game since 2015. This fall, he has New Mexico sitting at 8-2, and he got the Lobos into the AP Poll for the first time in program history.

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Eck is a proven winner at multiple levels and multiple stops. He's energetic, charismatic and he has deep ties to Wisconsin; Eck should be near or at the top of the Badgers' coaching board.

Jake Dickert

Dickert is another name that makes a whole lot of sense given his ties to Wisconsin. The Oconto, Wisconsin native played at UW-Stevens Point as a wide receiver, and got his first coaching gig as a graduate assistant with the Pointers in 2007.

Dickert, who has a defensive background and previous stops coaching linebackers, safeties and as a defensive coordinator at the D-II level, got his first shot at a head coaching job in 2022 with Washington State. He had the Cougars ranked inside the top 20 of the AP Poll in his second and third seasons in Pullman before getting poached by Wake Forest.

In Winston-Salem, Dickert's stock has skyrocketed. After the Demon Deacons suffered two straight 4-8 seasons in the final years of the Dave Clawson era, Dickert immediately turned things around. In year one, he went 9-4 with a Duke's Mayo Bowl win. This season, he has Wake Forest perched at 9-1 and currently ranked No. 13 in the College Football Playoff ranking. The Demon Deacons have a real shot to crash the 12-team field, especially after an utterly dominating 49-7 win over a good SMU team in Week 11.

One obstacle to bringing Dickert to Madison? He recently re-signed with Wake Forest, meaning his buyout would be hefty and would be another significant expense on top of buying out Fickell.

Still, his Wisconsin ties and proven ability to build winners at non-traditional football powers are both quite enticing. Dickert could also likely bring a handful of capable Power Four players with him from Winston-Salem.

Jim Leonhard

This one is more of a long-shot, and is far less realistic. But it's certainly a name that's worth considering. Remember, Leonhard auditioned for the job in 2022 after Wisconsin axed Paul Chryst. The players wanted him, and he seemed like a very legitimate candidate. Then, athletic director Chris McIntosh went with the splashy hire and brought in Luke Fickell, one year removed from taking then-G6 Cincinnati to the College Football Playoffs.

Leonhard is now the defensive coordinator with the Buffalo Bills, who are 7-1 and chasing a Super Bowl title. A return to the college ranks might not be in the cards. Leonhard was also spurned by Wisconsin when he didn't get the job back in 2022. Still, there was different leadership in the athletic department at the time. He's worth a phone call at the very least.

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