Luke Fickell makes another staff move to tackle one of Wisconsin’s biggest problems

The Wisconsin Badgers football program and Luke Fickell desperately need to improve the football team for next season. With essentially one year to prove he can turn the Badgers around, Luke Fickell is planning to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. He's already upgraded one staff position in a move to better the team, adding Eric Mateos and firing AJ Blazek.

He's now reshuffling his coaching staff to see if he can also strengthen another much-needed area: the defensive backs. Today, Wisconsin football announced the hiring of former NFL defensive back Robert Steeples to be the cornerbacks coach. Instead of letting go of Paul Haynes, Fickell has decided to shuffle him to secondary coach.

Wisconsin continues to look for a winning combination on the coaching staff

Related: Former Wisconsin OL coach AJ Blazek has found a new gig in rapid time

The problem last season wasn't really the defense, though if you had to isolate one weak area on the defense, you'd label the defensive backs. In a move to help elevate the program and specifically that room, Steeples is coming in to take over that unit. He's a former NFL player and elite college defensive back who played at the University of Missouri.

He's also been in the coaching ranks for the last few years. He was the cornerbacks coach at LSU from 2022 to 2023 and coached two players who went on to the NFL, Jay Ward and Jarrick Bernard-Converse. When he oversaw the unit at LSU in 2022, it was fourth in the SEC in pass defense.

In 2024, LSU head coach Brian Kelly changed who was the cornerbacks coach and went in a new direction. Steeples landed at Iowa State as an offensive analyst, helping elevate the passing game.

He now comes to Wisconsin to help with the defensive backs and work alongside, and maybe even under, Paul Haynes, who will now oversee all of the secondary. It's a move Fickell hopes will elevate that unit, pushing the entire defense to new heights.