Luke Fickell hires one of his former players as a new Badger assistant

Luke Fickell has brought in a familiar face to be his new Assistant Special Teams coordinator. Former Ohio State safety and player for Fickell, Michael Cibene, has joined the Wisconsin staff as the newest assistant coach.

The connections between Cibene and Wisconsin run deep

Cibene, who played under Fickell at Ohio State from 2013 to 2016, will now reunite with his former coach at Wisconsin. Fickell was the defensive coordinator for the Buckeye's at the time, so he is very familiar with the type of player and person Cibene is. He will fill the role left by Eric Raisbeck, who left the position after just a year.

The connections to the Badgers' coaching staff doesn't stop there, though. He crossed paths with Wisconsin special teams coordinator Matt Mitchell while coaching at Grand Valley State, and Wisconsin assistant linebackers coach Tuf Borland while coaching at Ohio State.

Cibene will now be tasked with improving a Badgers' special teams unit that has had varied success over the past few seasons. Punter Atticus Bertrams enjoyed a solid season last year, including the fake punt of the year, but kicker Nathanial Vakos struggled, hitting just 63% of his field goal attempts.

Luke Fickell has continued to revamp his staff after a difficult 5-7 season. He's hired a new offensive coordinator among others, and has extended promotions to several more Badger coaches. Now, he adds one of his former players to the staff in the hopes of building a better team for the crucial 2025 season.