One by one, one notable Power Four head coach is biting the dust after another this soon into the 2025-26 college football season. Through the first eight weeks of the campaign, six Power Four teams have fired their head coach, as well as three Group of Six teams. Keep in mind that Kent State and Stanford are riding it out this season with interims after moves made very late into the offseason.
So after seeing DeShaun Foster, Brent Pry, Mike Gundy, Sam Pittman, James Franklin and now Billy Napier be relieved of their duties before Halloween, what is to say Luke Fickell is not next up on the list? There may be more pressure on Hugh Freeze at Auburn right now to win a game, but Fickell is on a shortlist with him, Mike Norvell, Bill O'Brien and Jonathan Smith, among others. This has to end...
Rather than trying to predict when Fickell will be fired, let's instead take a look at the best of what's around. Could Dave Matthews do a better job of coaching this team? His press conferences would be eerily as nonsensical as Fickell's, so at least we could be looking forward to that. At roughly the halfway point of the season, Wisconsin has far better options out there to court than ride with Fickell.
Let's start with one of their own, the same man Wisconsin unbelievably chose Fickell over in 2023...
7. Denver Broncos assistant head coach/defensive pass game coordinator Jim Leonhard
In hindsight, the Badgers were better off removing the interim tag from their former defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard and going with him instead. Leonhard starred at Wisconsin and played in the NFL for 10 years. Although never the most talented player, he was the ultimate glue guy on defense during his playing career. His football savvy helped him earn the respect of his teammates.
When Paul Chryst was fired midway through the 2022 season, there was some wonky test that Leonhard needed to pass to get the job full-time. He apparently failed, which in turn set the Badgers up for even more failure. Could Leonhard return to his alma mater? Potentially, but one would have to believe how he was passed over for this steaming pile of crap may have him still very bitter about it.
Leonhard might be one of their own, but there is at least one "better" candidate with Badgers' ties.
6. Penn State Nittany Lions offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki
Admittedly, this has disaster written all over it, but beggars cannot be choosers. What if Wisconsin strikes out on its top-three choices, whomever that may be? With James Franklin having been let go at Penn State, there are no guarantees that Andy Kotelnicki will be retained on the new staff taking over in State College next year. Kotelnicki has not lived up to the hype there, so he may need a reset.
While he is a native Wisconsinite, one who coached under Lance Leipold at Wisconsin-Whitewater before following him to Buffalo and then to Kansas before leaving on his own accord for Penn State, it is imperative that he builds the right staff around him. If he could get either Leipold to leave Kansas to call plays for him, or empower Franklin as his offensive coordinator, then maybe? That is a huge ask...
Just like his former head coach Franklin, Kotelnicki's stock has taken a hit after this college season.
5. New Mexico Lobos head coach Jason Eck
While there is an outside chance that Dave Aranda may leave Baylor to come back to Madison, the most likely candidate for Wisconsin to land one of their own this cycle would have to be Jason Eck. Although this may be his first season at New Mexico, he has the Lobos only two games away from achieving bowl eligibility. He already has a huge non-conference win under his belt by beating UCLA.
Eck played along the offensive line for the iconic Barry Alvarez. Clearly, he would be able to re-establish some of the football culture that Fickell has unfortunately doctored with and tainted of late. Sadly, hiring Eck feels like little more than just a feel-good story. If any and all of the Badgers' top candidates tell them no, then go with him. It is like the Atlanta Falcons hiring Raheem Morris in 2024.
There might be a lot of growth from under Eck as a man who cares, but there will be growing pains.
4. Kansas Jayhawks head coach Lance Leipold
Only a few weeks ago, Lance Leipold might have been a better fit for Wisconsin than he is right now. As is the case with his mentee Andy Kotelnicki, he hails from the state. But even if he has sentimental ties to the region, he can keep on doing what he does at Kansas and be paid handsomely for it until he retires. He has the Jayhawks regularly getting to bowl games after being Wisconsin bad before.
The only way he leaves KU for Wisconsin is if he gets the bag and Kotelnicki comes with him. That reunion could be enticing. That being said, Kotelnicki is not the hotstot coordinator he was even two years ago. Furthermore, have you seen how bad the Badgers' offense has become under Jeff Grimes this year? He is not Phil Longo, but he is not long for Madison either. Grimes last coached at Kansas.
Leipold can be what he is for Kansas and what Willie Fritz did for Tulane and is doing now at Houston.
3. South Florida Bulls head coach Alex Golesh
We have arrived at what should be Wisconsin's top three choices at this time, should the Badgers decide to move on from Fickell at the end of the season. South Florida Bulls head coach Alex Golesh is about to make himself some life-changing money leading the favorite to not only win The American, but come out of the Group of Five. Josh Heupel's greatest disciple is about to cash in, man!
Golesh is one of the few head-coaching candidates who could conceivably work in any conference. He may have more success right away going to an ACC or Big 12 team, but he does have SEC ties from his time at Tennessee, as well as ones to the Big Ten from having gone to Ohio State. Along with Jon Sumrall at Tulane and Ryan Silverfield at Memphis, Golesh is among the best in the Group of Five.
While there is a chance Golesh could do better, he may leave Tampa for Wisconsin at the right price.
2. Former Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin
For as good as Golesh could be at Wisconsin, there are two bigger rockstar candidates out there. The first we will touch on is the recently unemployed James Franklin. For as much flack as he got down the stretch at Penn State, he did have the Nittany Lions playing at a consistent 10-2 level up until late. Wisconsin might go 2-10 this season... He is a schmoozer and a panderer, but he is not Luke Fickell.
Franklin has won at a high level in the Big Ten before. He also did great things at Vanderbilt over a decade ago before departing for Penn State. Franklin can assemble a great staff, on paper. The big concern with him is impacting a game that is hanging in the balances on the sidelines. Hiring Franklin would get Wisconsin back to its Paul Chryst ceiling, but maybe that is as good as it gets for them?
In a way, Franklin might be the top candidate for the job at Wisconsin, and that he would take the gig.
1. Iowa State Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell
Finally, the best coaching candidate out there to semi-realistically lead Wisconsin is Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell. Had Lincoln Riley struggled out of the gate, he would have been the perfect candidate to take over at USC. Despite raising Iowa State's ceiling in the Big 12, Campbell courses Big Ten energy through his veins. He would thrive at places like USC, Wisconsin, and even at Penn State...
That right there is why Campbell needs to be at the top of Wisconsin's list should it decide to move on from Fickell. Gamesmanship. Can Wisconsin really afford to let an ascending head coach the caliber of Campbell go to Penn State? Not to say he would be a package deal with Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard, but together they would be a huge upgrade over Fickell and Chris McIntosh.
Campbell could use the latest round of firings as leverage to make more, or cash in his chip and leave.