The college football world watched three head coaches get fired over the weekend, but none of them were named Luke Fickell. Vegas odds have had him as one of the favorites to be fired, but other coaches further down the list keep passing him in line to get the boot. What's the holdup? Why isn't Wisconsin showing some self-respect and removing the coach of the currently worst team in the Big Ten?
One theory floated around the internet makes some surprising sense. Wisconsin will wait for one more beatdown before it pulls the trigger.
I'd assume the reason Luke Fickell is still Wisconsin's head coach is because they play Ohio State next weekend.
— Ian Kenyon (@ikenyonFB) October 13, 2025
They'll use the 56-7 home loss as the final nail in the coffin.
Putting an interim head coach in to lose like that in their first game helps no one.
Iowa loss finished the job but the eventual Ohio State loss will seal the deal
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Ian Kenyon's theory is that putting an interim coach in right before taking on the No. 1 team in the nation isn't as smart as just letting your deadbeat coach take one more punch. He may be right, but there is a problem with the theory.
The first is that after Ohio State, it's Oregon. Is that a good time to try an interim coach? Isn't the same reasoning true for the Ducks? Following Oregon, it's Washington that has a good chance of being ranked if it beats Michigan this weekend. Will that be a good time?
The theory does make sense, though, because UCLA fired DeShaun Foster ahead of Northwestern. Yet, it took the Penn State game to get the first win for interim coach Tim Skipper. Penn State did it ahead of Iowa, with Ohio State looming after. Oregon State did it ahead of the Beavers' best chance to win, Lafayette.
There's some sense to letting Luke Fickell fall on his face for another week or two and then pull the rip cord, even though there's also no time like the present to start righting the wayward ship.