$27.4 million college football coach fails to reach bowl game for second straight season

Eugene, Oregon, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning, left, and Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell talk while watching players warm up before a game at Autzen Stadium. | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

In a snowy, low-scoring Border Battle on Saturday, Minnesota’s defense shut down the Badgers, and Paul Bunyan’s Axe stayed in Minneapolis as Minnesota beat Wisconsin 17–7, dropping the Badgers to 4-8 and officially eliminating them from bowl consideration for a second straight year. 

Wisconsin’s offense managed one touchdown, and the season closed amid boos and renewed fan calls for change.

A former Ohio State player and long-time assistant (including a 2011 interim head-coach stint), Luke Fickell rebuilt Cincinnati into a national factor from 2017-22, putting together multiple 11-win seasons, two AAC titles, and Cincinnati’s first College Football Playoff berth in 2021, before Wisconsin hired him in late 2022. 

Those Cincinnati credentials were the reason Wisconsin made the hire and paid top dollar to bring him to Madison, with Fickell signing a multi-year deal that extends through 2032 with a buyout of around $27.4 million.

Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell looks on during the first half against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Huntington Bank Stadium. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Unfortunately, Fickell's overall tenure in Wisconsin, so far, has been underwhelming. 

Fickell’s Badgers finished 7-6 in his first full season (2023), regressed to 5-7 in 2024, and closed 2025 at 4–8, giving Fickell a 17-21 record at Wisconsin through the end of the 2025 season and marking consecutive losing campaigns for the first time in decades for the program. 

The 2025 season saw two quality upsets (over No. 24 Washington and No. 21 Illinois), but a porous offense, multiple shutout losses, and a six-game losing skid slowed any optimism.

Administrators have publicly sided with Fickell this fall, as athletic director Chris McIntosh told ESPN in early November that Fickell would return in 2026 and that the department intends to increase investment in roster resources and staff as part of a longer-term plan to compete in the Big Ten. 

Still, if the program doesn’t show measurable progress next year, the financial cushion protecting Fickell’s job will make a mid-season or immediately post-season change more likely, but costly. 

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