Luke Fickell lost an important piece of his football staff to USC months ago. Max Stienecker, one of the young football minds in the sport, was hired away to coach for a Big Ten rival, the Trojans. Now, Wisconsin has raided another Big Ten foe to get its new director of scouting and player personnel, Darius Hicks.
Matt Zenitz is reporting that Fickell is finalizing a deal with Hicks to join Madison shortly and get a slight promotion by becoming a Badger. Hicks has served as Michigan State's director of scouting for the last three seasons.
Wisconsin is hiring Darius Hicks as director of scouting and player personnel, a source tells @CBSSports.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) March 5, 2026
Was Michigan State’s director of scouting the last three seasons. Now set to continue on in the Big Ten with the Badgers. pic.twitter.com/ekLYMBixSv
Wisconsin is set to hire Darius Hicks from Michigan State according to reports
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Hicks started his football career after his playing days at Morningside University in Iowa as a coach. He helped with the defensive backs and safeties for his alma mater, but before that, he was working as an assistant coach at Emporia State.
He originally came to Michigan State as a defensive analyst before moving over to the scouting department. After a couple of seasons under his belt, leading the scouting team and helping Michigan State identify and recruit many of their best players over the last few seasons (both via the transfer portal and recruiting classes). He's now taking another big step in his career, leading the whole player personnel department for the Wisconsin Badgers.
This is a big hire for Wisconsin as they find a fast-rising football mind in the sport and do so from one of their Big Ten rivals. Hicks will be able to arrive in time for spring ball and begin to prepare a gameplan going into the season for recruiting the 2027 and 2028 classes. As well as monitoring any potential transfers.
It's an important time to make this hire for Luke Fickell and the Badgers, as winning this year is vital, but continuing to build for the future is part of the long-term solution.