After a disappointing season, which saw several streaks end, an empty trophy case, and the first losing season in over two decades, Badger fans were not happy with the state of the program. At the center of the disenchantment is head coach Luke Fickell, who has posted a 12-13 record since taking over the reigns at Wisconsin. Many now want the coach fired this year, but is it actually possible?
Technically yes, but there is one enormous hurdle that Wisconsin may not be willing to jump over: Fickell's buyout. If he were to be fired today, the Badgers would owe the coach $40.1 million. Ouch.
Fickell was the 18th highest paid coach in college football this season with a salary of $7.7 million. His $40.1 million buyout is also the 13th highest in the country. It's safe to say that as much as fans, and maybe even Wisconsin Athletic Director Chris McIntosh, would like to move on from Fickell, the cost is simply too great to do it this year.
When Fickell was hired in 2022, he was tasked to make the Badgers championship contenders. if anything, they are further now that they were two years ago, but due to the cost of the buyout, it makes no financial sense for Wisconsin to try and move on right now.
So despite having one of the worst Badger seasons in decades, Luke Fickell's job is most likely safe for another year. He'll have another strong recruiting class in 2025, and will employ a new offensive coordinator to hopefully take the team to the next level. And although next season's schedule is debatably even harder than this year's, anything is possible. And winning fixes everything.