It might be beating a dead horse, but that is only fitting to the dead horse program Wisconsin football has devolved into under Luke Fickell. This team is poorly coached. There is no way around it. Even more concerning, Fickell's team is struggling to hold its own vs. the bottom-tier teams in Power Four competition. Alabama and Maryland are fine, but getting skull-dragged by them is certainly not okay.
In the wake of Mike Gundy being let go by his alma mater of Oklahoma State, that brings us to three Power Four head coaches who have been dismissed before October. DeShaun Foster and Brent Pry were relieved of their duties last week at UCLA and Virginia Tech, respectively. The Bruins and Hokies got off to 0-3 starts. Firing Gundy from his alma mater was tough, but it had to be done, unfortunately.
Here are the latest betting odds regarding who the next Power Four head coach to be fired could be.
- Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier: +250
- Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell: +400
- Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze: +750
- The Field: +950
- Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney: +1000
- Northwestern Wildcats head coach David Braun: +1200
- Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott: +1200
- Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman: +1500
As you can see, only Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier has better odds to get fired next than Fickell. Should the Gators lose their next three games vs. Texas, Texas A&M and Mississippi State, there is no chance Florida will let Napier go to Jacksonville to coach against Georgia in The Cocktail Party. Just like Wisconsin, Florida is on the first of its two annual byes here in Week 5, so that is cool.
Gundy being let go has put the job Fickell is doing at Wisconsin even more so under the microscope.
Who gets fired next between Billy Napier and Luke Fickell as head coach?
Truth be told, the Gundy termination ripped open a can of worms in the next Power Four head coach to be fired front. He was a star quarterback for the Cowboys and the greatest head coach in Oklahoma State history. That did not matter, as he was let go before the end of the season. While he should have been given the opportunity to finish out the season, that simply was just not meant to be.
Right now, Napier feels like the far more likely next head coach to be fired. As quite literally illustrated by Phil Hands' hilarious political cartoon for the Wisconsin State Journal, money is the biggest reason why Fickell still has a job. While the nature of Napier's buyout at Florida is complicated, it may not be to the degree of the Gordian Knot Chris McIntosh and the University of Wisconsin tangled together.
Even if Fickell loses the next four games before Wisconsin's next bye ahead of the Washington game, that still may not be enough to merit his termination. Keep in mind that Florida will be on its second bye a week before Wisconsin is. The timing of it all is far more in Florida's favor to move on from Napier sooner than Wisconsin would be with Fickell, but we might have Don Morton Jr. on our hands.
Napier is the next one to watch, but it is not the Florida head coach, then it probably has to be Fickell.