Wisconsin football: Updates on Luke Fickell's coaching staff
The Wisconsin Badgers shocked many across college football by officially hiring Luke Fickell to be their next head coach last Sunday.
The move signaled a changing of the guard at Wisconsin under Chris McIntosh and left the status of the former coaching staff up in the air, namely Jim Leonhard, who many assumed would earn the head coaching role.
Luke Fickell and the athletic department quickly posted several staff openings on Monday, in an attempt to get things up and running as soon as possible. With applications due by December 5 at 11:55 p.m. CST, the expectation is that Fickell will announce the majority of new hires on December 6 to further kick-start recruiting and the strength program.
While Wisconsin is still taking applications, there have been plenty of developments over the past week that shed light on what the staff may look like.
Here is a look at what we know so far.
Brady Collins will oversee the strength program
One area where Luke Fickell and Cincinnati were great was player development. A big reason for that was the work of Brady Collins, who was the Director of Sports Performance at UC. He will come with Fickell to Madison and bring with him multiple assistants as well. That move is just awaiting an official announcement per several reports, as Collins will take over as the Director of Football Strength and Conditioning.
Collins took over as the Director of Sports Performance under Fickell in 2017 after working as a strength coach at Ohio State and Mississippi State. He helped guide the Bearcats to sending nine players to the 2022 NFL Draft, the third most of any program in the country behind only Georgia and LSU.
Collins succeeds Shaun Snee, who was the strength coach at Wisconsin for the past two seasons.
Recruiting department has new leadership
Luke Fickell spent a good chunk of his introductory press conference discussing the importance of recruiting. He also mentioned that two key recruiting staffers are following him to Madison.
According to multiple reports, Pat Lambert and Max Stienecker are in Madison and already getting to work under Fickell. Lambert was previously the Director of Recruiting at Cincinnati, while Max Stienecker was the Director of Recruiting Strategy. Those two assistants played an integral role in improving Cincinnati's recruiting over the past few years and will now be tasked to do the same at Wisconsin.
Luke Fickell understands the importance of a recruiting department, and I would expect more staff members to join that team too. Fickell said that the 2023 recruiting class is the "No. 1 priority" given how close early signing day is. Lambert and Stienecker are likely working overtime right now with coaches on the road and multiple tight ends coming to campus this weekend.
The majority of Wisconsin's offensive staff will be gone
This should not come as a huge surprise after the offense has underperformed the past three seasons, and the group was assembled by former head coach Paul Chryst and consisted of a lot of 'his guys.'
Former offensive line coach Bob Bostad has already accepted a position at Indiana to become their run-game coordinator and offensive line coach, meaning that Fickell will bring in new blood in that area.
The expectation is that Fickell will likely do the same everywhere else on the offense as well.
It has been reported by multiple outlets that Fickell's passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach, Mike Brown, will follow him. Brown played three years in the NFL and has been the wide receivers coach under Fickell since 2019 after beginning his career as a running backs coach at Liberty. He helped develop 2021 second-round pick Alec Pierce of the Indianapolis Colts. It is not yet known if Brown will still hold the title of passing game coordinator at Wisconsin, but that will likely depend on how things shake out with the rest of the offensive staff.
It is unlikely that Fickell brings over many others from his offensive staff at Cincinnati following some turnover on the staff based on their success in 2021, but the name to watch is offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli. The former Cincinnati quarterback has risen through the ranks at Central Michigan and Cincinnati. He has experience coaching both quarterbacks and running backs in the past. He is also a strong recruiter, and it will be interesting to see if he joins Fickell. Guidugli is a candidate for the head coaching job at Cincinnati, but if he doesn't get the job he could be Madison bound in some capacity.
Beyond Mike Brown and potentially Gio Guidugli, I would expect Fickell to hire from outside, but we shall see.
Defensive staff still very fluid
Defensive assistants Mike Tressel and Colin Hitschler are already on the road recruiting for Wisconsin, signifying that they will probably be two of the coaches made official early next week.
Tressel was recently named the 2022 AFCA Assistant Coach of the Year for his work at Cincinnati as a co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. A long-time assistant at Michigan State, Tressel has extensive recruiting ties in the Midwest and has held a variety of roles.
This past season was Hitschler's first as a co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach after multiple seasons as a safeties coach under Fickell. Hitschler has spent several years in the NFL in different capacities and also spent some time at South Alabama before joining Fickell in Cincinnati in 2018.
While both coaches have strong resumes, the biggest question remaining is, what about Jim Leonhard?
From all accounts, Leonhard has every opportunity to stay at Wisconsin as defensive coordinator. Fickell said he is "definitely" interested in retaining Leonhard on his staff, but it is now up to Leonhard. There are reports that Leonhard is likely to return, but until it is official, you never know.
It has been widely covered how important the University of Wisconsin is to the former All-American safety, and his family also would like to stay. At this point, it is a waiting game, and until Leonhard makes an official decision any roles on Wisconsin's defense staff remain fluid.
For example, Tressell has been a special teams coordinator and linebackers coach far longer than he has been a defensive coordinator. Luke Fickell could make the titles and money work to keep him and Leonhard, assuming Fickell has a larger salary pool, as expected.
Hitschler could also slide into a different role as well based on his experience, so right now, exact job titles on the defense remain up in the air, and are frankly something that Fickell can make work based on how things shake out with Leonhard.
Another interesting component to watch with the defensive staff is the status of Wisconsin defensive line coach Ross Kolodziej and outside linebackers coach Bobby April. Of the current assistants, beyond Jim Leonhard, those two have the best odds of possibly staying in Madison. Kolodziej is a Wisconsin guy and has done a great job with the defensive line the past two seasons after several years as a strength coach. The fact that he has ties in the state could also make him an important person to help with in-state recruiting. April, on the other hand, is widely regarded as one of Wisconsin's top assistants and a strong recruiter. If Leonhard were to stay, retaining April becomes more plausible, though I would expect April to garner significant outside interest from the college and NFL ranks.
Cornerbacks coach Hank Poteat is another possibility, but there are rarely too many holdovers when a new head coach comes in.
Related links:
- Wisconsin safety John Torchio earns Big Ten Honors for sportsmanship
- Examining Luke Fickell's recruiting philosophy
- 10 potential targets for Luke Fickell in the 2023 recruiting class at Wisconsin
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