Five Best Quotes from Luke Fickell at Big Ten Media Days

After an up and down 7-6 season in his first year at the helm, head coach Luke Fickell took the podium in Indianapolis on Tuesday hoping to energize a fanbase looking for more in year two. Here are some of his best quotes from his press conference.

1. I know this, that the 2024 Wisconsin Badger team is about a lot of things. We've got a lot of things to continue to develop in these next 39 days, but the number one most important thing and the thing that I'm going to stress and continue to talk about here today as well as when we get into camp is about leadership.

Fickell has stressed the importance of leadership all offseason. After a rocky season a year ago, he'll need plenty of it from his veteran players to improve their record in 2024.

2. I think the greatest thing about Tyler is his ability to say, I need to refocus. I understand what his goals were individually. He knew that there were things that he needed to continue to grow to do, and he had experienced an incredible amount of adversity in his three years of starting down at Miami. For me, if you said, What's the greatest thing that you liked when you were identifying Tyler Van Dyke, I would say all the adversity that he had been through, the ability for him to handle three different coordinators, the ability for him to go from the East Coast down to South Florida, win a starting position, have the ups and the downs, and be able to continue to stand tall and have the confidence to continue to play and to play at the level which he expects to play. He's done a phenomenal job, and I expect him to continue to grow in his leadership role as we enter this next 39 days.

Although there hasn't been an official announcement, it seems that reading between the lines reveals Van Dyke will be the starter come August. There was actually some real competition for the job from last year's backup Braedyn Locke, but Van Dyke has earned the role for 2024.

3. Then Rico is a guy that doesn't, I don't think, get talked about enough. I let Rico speak for himself, but I know we have the utmost confidence in Rico. He is a guy that had seven picks last year, but for a guy that by nature as a field corner doesn't get as much action, he is one of the most productive guys that I've been around at playing that position in particular.

Cornerback Ricardo Hallman is probably a the number two corner in the Big Ten behind Michigan's Will Johnson. He'll have every chance this year to make a name for himself and potentially hear his name called on the NFL Draft's first night.

4. When you go to camp, there's so much that is created and so much that is developed within the chemistry and the culture of your program that it is incredibly critical in these next 39 days.

The season is rapidly approaching, and for transfers and freshaman, life comes at you fast. Fickell will need everyone of those 39 days to make sure the guys are ready.

5. These are the standards that we know and believe give us the best opportunity to continue to grow our program and put us in a position to play for a championship because that's the mentality, that's the objective, and that's what University of Wisconsin and our football program deserves.

Fickell knows the Badger fansbase has high expectations, and it seems like his are a National Championship. That probably won't happen this year or maybe even next, but fans need to see that we are headed in the right direction. It will probably take an 8 or 9 win season to prove it to us.