Where Luke Fickell Ranks Among Big Ten Head Coaches

Where does the Badgers' skipper rank in the Big Ten?

Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning, left, and Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell. | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

Just three seasons ago, Luke Fickell was one of the most coveted names in coaching after he led Cincinnati to untold glory the likes of which the Bearcats probably never even thought possible: a playoff bid in the four-team CFP as a non-power conference team.

Flash forward to 2026, and Fickell was showered with boos from fed-up Wisconsin fans calling for his job as the Badgers limped to a dismal 4-8 season, their worst since 1990.

It's been quite the fall from grace for Fickell, and given more resources ahead of his fourth season at the helm, 2026 feels like his last stand in Madison.

But given his whirlwind of a career, it's hard to truly gauge Fickell as a coach. Did he simply benefit from an excellent staff of coordinators and an unusually talented Cincinnati roster? Or should he be given slack for his horrific injury luck at quarterback and the lack of financial investment from Wisconsin?

Both sides to that argument have merit, but college football is a what have you done for me lately business. And lately, Fickell has produced some of the most atrocious football we've seen in Madison in quite some time.

Thus, it's unsurprising that in a new ranking of Big Ten coaches by On3's Ari Wasserman, Fickell checks in at No. 14 in the conference.

Given his recent track record in Madison, it wouldn't've shocked me if he was ranked even lower. But after perusing Wasserman's list, here's a few prevailing thoughts about how Fickell should be ranked amongst his Big Ten peers.

Fickell one spot below UCLA's Bob Chesney

Bruins coach Bob Chesney. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

This is an intriguing one to me — Chesney was ranked at No. 13, one spot ahead of Fickell. But Chesney is essentially what Fickell was three years ago; a hot commodity Group of Six coach who took his team to the College Football Playoff and proceeded to land a Big Ten job.

There's a lot of excitement coming out of Westwood as the Chesney era begins, and the Bruins signed a sprawling transfer portal class that, if even half of it hits, could make UCLA dangerous immediately. But we have yet to see Chesney at the Big Ten level.

Of course, we have seen Fickell at the Big Ten level, and it hasn't been pretty thus far. It'll be interesting to see if Chesney needs some time to adjust to the Big Ten, as Fickell clearly did, or if he hits the ground running with the Bruins.

Fickell could leapfrog several coaches on this list in 2026

Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

That is, if he turns things around for the Badgers, which of course isn't a guarantee but is certainly a distinct possibility this fall. Matt Rhule, I'm looking at you.

Wasserman has Rhule at No. 10. That's still the bottom half of the conference, but I'm not sure I've been watching the same Nebraska team. Rhule had a five-star quarterback for two seasons (albeit an injured second one) and tons of funding from Nebraska and still hasn't mustered better than a 7-6 season.

The Huskers returned to consecutive bowl games for the first time since 2015-2016, but they've still be painfully mediocre under his tutelage. If Nebraska stays the course this season or regresses, and Wisconsin flips the script, I'd easily rank Fickell over Rhule.