Fickell to Wiscy?!

Yeah bc he stayed on at that school when other schools called for him to be their defensive coordinator. I mean I get it with hiring Luke, but Jim has been at that school since 2017. He was in the exact situation MJ got put in and did his best with what staff he had.  Yes college football is a business but one can only hope that schools that ask the coaches to take over during the season get treated with respect and class after the season. There is a right way and a wrong way and you just hope we handled it the right way that's all.

 
I saw this today, too. The reaction in Wisconsin has been... not great. Pretty mixed. I've seen a lot of current/former players disgusted at how the AD handled this situation.

Which, ultimately, IDK how much it's going to matter. What's done is done. Transfers and decommits are inevitable just about any time there's a coaching change. But things are not rosy is Wisky land today.

 
Enhance said:
I saw this today, too. The reaction in Wisconsin has been... not great. Pretty mixed. I've seen a lot of current/former players disgusted at how the AD handled this situation.

Which, ultimately, IDK how much it's going to matter. What's done is done. Transfers and decommits are inevitable just about any time there's a coaching change. But things are not rosy is Wisky land today.
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What I'm going to find interesting is that for a very very long time, Wisconsin has had continuity in their coaching hires.  Alvarez built the program, and coaches ever since have had some tie back to the program and the culture.  Now, Alvarez is gone and this seems to the first hire that has stepped away from that....and people aren't happy.

When that happened at Nebraska, the program fell farther from where the fans expected it to be.  So, it will be interesting to see if this helps or hurts Wisconsin program.

 
Allen has been vocal in his support of Chryst and Leonhard and did answer the rumors with something along the lines of "as long as Leonhard is at Wisconsin I'll be there too," so wouldn't shock me. But he's also a Wisconsin kid so I would bet on him sticking around once things have cooled down and he gets to talk to the new staff. They didn't make the decision to fire Chryst or not hire Leonhard, and he'll have to decide whether sticking it to the AD is worth the fans turning on him.

Pretty sure he'll at least check out the portal though, and some opportunity might be too good to pass up.

 
BigRedBuster said:
What I'm going to find interesting is that for a very very long time, Wisconsin has had continuity in their coaching hires.  Alvarez built the program, and coaches ever since have had some tie back to the program and the culture.  Now, Alvarez is gone and this seems to the first hire that has stepped away from that....and people aren't happy.

When that happened at Nebraska, the program fell farther from where the fans expected it to be.  So, it will be interesting to see if this helps or hurts Wisconsin program.
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This is undoubtedly my biggest question mark about Wisconsin moving forward, too. How does Fickell maintain the tradition and culture of 'Wisconsin football' while also staying true to the principles and philosophies that have made him successful? Where's the breaking point that will mean success or failure? I think that's the risk you take when you hire 'outside the family,' so to speak.

It also doesn't help that Wisconsin has a bit of a simmering situation on their hands. I don't necessarily think it will boil over. Most of the fan base appears to be pleased with the Fickell hire. But, there are a lot of players, recruits, and fans who have expressed frustration at the process and Jim Leonhard not being hired.

 
Leonhard staying. Allen had said he would leave if JL wasn't on staff. This could be a scary team for years to come. JL-led defense on a Fickell-coached team, yikes. We may never beat them again.

 
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