Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.com came out with his "Way Too Early 2025 college football coaching hot seat tiers." It will come as no shock to Wisconsin Badgers fans to find head coach Luke Fickell's name on that list. Badgers fans are frustrated after a couple of seasons of mediocre football, especially after putting up a losing record this season. They are now 13-13 overall in Fickell's tenure, and fans have been calling for his job. The only thing keeping him employed, it seems, is that $40+ million Wisconsin buyout.
In the article, Rittenberg came out with seven categories of coaches he expects to be on the hot seat for next season: "Don't do that again", "We want this to work", "It'll cost us", "Need progress", "Don't backslide", "Retirement watch", and "Group of 5."
Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell is clearly on the hot seat and will need a good 2025 to get off.
He placed Fickell in a special category: "We want this to work." Rittenberg says, "Athletic director Chris McIntosh hired Fickell and will give him every realistic chance to get things on track." He expresses the intent of hiring Fickell was to get a team into the College Football Playoff, but that has obviously yet to be seen, and as many Badgers fans can tell you, they are further than closer to that goal. Or at least it feels that way.
Day 12 of posting Fire Luke Fickell until he is
— Uncle Buck (@GregSECtheman) January 7, 2025
It will be interesting to see how Wisconsin handles a 2025 season if things don't improve on the field. If Fickell starts to falter again, how far will Chris McIntosh and Wisconsin brass allow things to fall? Wisconsin fans are already fed up, and while they understand why he has been given another chance ($$), they are frustrated and wish $40 million dollars would show up overnight at the athletic office so the Badgers can move on from Fickell.