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Luke Fickell has to fire Jeff Grimes and the Maryland loss revealed it clearly

Jeff Grimes tenure in Wisconsin has ran far too long and todays loss against Maryland should make Luke Fickell's decision crystal clear
ByOwen Jury
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Wisconsin offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes is shown during practice Thursday, August 13, 2026 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.
Wisconsin offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes is shown during practice Thursday, August 13, 2026 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Following an amazing week for Wisconsin football, when it looked as if the Badgers had unlocked the offense through deploying freshman quarterback Ryan Hopkins, things fell back apart against Maryland, with a 24-21 loss and one man being the main culprit.

Yes, Luke Fickell has some blame, along with a litany of players and coaches. But a lot of fingers should be and will be pointed at offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes. After a week when he let his freshman QB run free, stretching the field and making impressive throw after impressive throw, he reverted the game plan back to its ugly, previous form.

Luke Fickell
Nov 14, 2026; College Park, Maryland, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell sends a play in with Wisconsin Badgers linebacker Aaron Witt (59) in the first half against the Maryland Terrapins at SECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

All around terrible effort

Hopkins threw for just 72 yards with an average of 3.5 yards per completion. On top of that, Maryland was able to get consistent and persistent pressure, getting home on Hopkins four times, three of which resulted in fumbles.

Instead of letting him rock, Grimes went back to the offense that made Colton Joseph such a despised figure in Wisconsin sports, dinking and dunking screen passes, drawing up designed runs on obvious passing downs and not relying on the run game to pick up short yards.

These issues came from start to finish, as on an early fourth down, Grimes got cute, trying to run a misdirection fullback dive to the outside instead of just pounding the rock straight forward. He consistently turned away from Bryan Jackson, who ran the ball just four times despite proving himself to be an elite power back.

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Not just him, either, as Abu Sama III got just two carries and Darrion Dupree, who led the team in rushing attempts, still got just 14 carries for 57 yards. Grimes refused to rely on his backs to pick up yards, consistently mixing and matching which ones were in and drawing up odd run downs.

In the end, the passive approach never allowed the Wisconsin offense to build any kind of rhythm. From top to bottom, everyone seemed out of sync, with the most damning struggles coming from his true freshman quarterback.

Grimes seemed to overindex the baby steps he had to take with giving a freshman the reins, refusing to let him work through any kind of mistakes and almost taking the ball out of his hands at times.

Hopkins was able to prevail at times in the second half, making some very impressive plays down the stretch that almost gave the Badgers a chance to win. But when the system holds someone as inexperienced as him back as much as it did, it's hard for even the best of players to come through and make impressive plays.

In other words, this should be the end of a terrible tenure for Grimes, and potentially Fickell himself.

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