Luke Fickell fires 1st Wisconsin coach in offseason move that needed to be done

There is one position unit that may have been the death knell to Wisconsin football this season, and it wasn't the quarterback. It was the offensive line. It has to get better for the Badgers next year, by leaps and bounds, and the overhaul starts at the top. According to multiple reports, AJ Blazek is out as Wisconsin's offensive line coach.

It's not just that the offensive line underperformed this season; there are about three more reasons why he was showing that he's not the answer for that position coach.

AJ Blazek has reportedly been fired by Luke Fickell and a new coach is already in place

Related: Wisconsin football transfer portal tracker: Who's out, in, and the speculation

The main reason for Luke Fickell to move on from AJ Blazek was that his unit underperformed on the field. That's a huge reason. However, there are three others who had to weigh in on this big switch. The first is that the recruiting wasn't there. He had a decent class lined up and lost almost all of them. He was able to get a flip toward the end from a Boston College commit, but the offensive linemen coming in as a whole are pretty underwhelming.

The second reason is that the development doesn't seem to be happening. The linemen aren't getting much better, and while this could be due to the fact that Luke Fickell keeps having to change this coach, it still wasn't great this season.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, is that Jeff Grimes wanted to hire his own coach, which was reportedly part of this big deal. He's got his guy, according to a few different places. Wisconsin has hired former Arkansas/Baylor OL Coach Eric Mateos, who worked with Grimes in the past.

There will be another post to follow to talk about Mateos, but for now, Fickell is working on his third offensive line coach since he's been here. He can't seem to get that hire right, and it's literally killing the Badgers on the field.