ESPN's Pete Thamel wrote a rather interesting article on Friday about the nature of this year's upcoming coaching carousel. So far, six Power Four head coaches have been relieved of their duties during the season in DeShaun Foster, Brent Pry, Mike Gundy, Sam Pittman, James Franklin and Billy Napier. If we were to include the late offseason dismissal of Troy Taylor, that will bring us up to seven.
This is well ahead of last year's pace that only saw Mack Brown, Neal Brown and Ryan Walters be relieved of their duties at the end of the season. Taylor was let go months later, while Gus Malzahn resigned from his post at UCF. With already one more Power Four post available so far this cycle than last, we are gearing up for the craziest coaching carousel since 2022, one that saw 14 huge changes.
Coaches hired in that cycle include Napier, Mario Cristobal, Marcus Freeman, Brian Kelly, Dan Lanning, Lincoln Riley, and Brent Venables. Some have been huge successes, while others have not. At this juncture, Thamel believes we could approach a dozen or so Power Four openings this season. Right now, Auburn, Florida State and Wisconsin are the three most likely to open up, but we shall see.
Let's now discuss the pros and cons of it potentially being a crazy coaching carousel for Wisconsin.
Potential upside of a crazier than usual coaching carousel for Wisconsin
In addition to Auburn, Florida State and Wisconsin, Thamel mentioned Colorado, Kentucky, North Carolina and Utah as other potential jobs that could become available. For Colorado and Utah, it may have more to do with the health and age of Deion Sanders and Kyle Whittingham than anything. For Kentucky and North Carolina, Mark Stoops is living on borrowed team and Bill Belichick has been bad.
The potential upside of Wisconsin admitting defeat with Luke Fickell is series of better head-coaching candidates may be interested in the job. Would Franklin want to come to Madison? How about Stoops if he is let go? Would Matt Campbell entertain the possibility of leaving Iowa State for the Badgers? The possibilities are endless, but most of which are better than Wisconsin's status quo.
Without question, the clear and most obvious upside to pulling the plug on this unmitigated disaster is Wisconsin would be telling the rest of the college football world that it is serious about fielding a good team once again. This may not be the best job that opens up, maybe not even one of the top five. However, it is a Power Two school with a winning tradition and passionate fan base to work with.
Simply, a wider array of jobs opening up than normal affords Wisconsin more chances to get it right.
Potential downside of a wilder than usual coaching carousel for Wisconsin
There are not that many downsides to more jobs opening up this winter than expected for Wisconsin. If other better programs are admitting defeat, then why can the Badgers not? The big concern may be Wisconsin getting buried on the so-called best jobs available depth chart. Florida and Penn State are definitively better. Will other jobs get on their level? LSU might if Kelly needs to go in Baton Rouge.
At the end of the day, A's hire A's, and B's hire C's. If Chris McIntosh is a C or worse, then what does that mean for the Wisconsin football program? They might be served to ride it out until both are gone, once Jennifer Mnookin comes to her senses... Let's also go with the idea that next year's cycle might not be as robust. Wisconsin firing Fickell next season could make this job more intriguing by default.
In a way, the mounting frustration and perpetually terrible football coming out of Madison being so painfully obvious at some point next season could conceivably serve Wisconsin to get the best candidate. The problem is we may not have as robust of a pool this year. Franklin will get hired again. Top candidates like Campbell, Alex Golesh and Jon Sumrall might not be available next season either.
It is all about spinning and packaging this, but can we really trust Wisconsin to do the right thing here?
What will likely happen for Wisconsin in this year's coaching carousel
This next part is merely on vibes and feel. Depending on how Saturday's game goes at Oregon, it is about a 50-50 proposition if Fickell gets fired on Sunday. Three straight Big Ten shutouts and no points scored in a month is more than enough evidence to merit a dismissal. Wisconsin would be 2-6 (0-5) by that point. Maybe it will take one more loss for the university administration to pull the plug?
Anything at or beyond a seventh loss should probably mean it is past time for Fickell to go. The university may make him wear it the entire time through a joyless slog of a 2-10 (0-9) season. Then again, he could be let go at any point on or after the bye and it would make sense and be totally justified. For Fickell to retain his job for a fourth season, a miracle must happen, or apathy sets in...
Based on what we have seen so far out of the university somehow being able to stomach the product on the field, Fickell may have a 25-percent chance at best to surive this season. If he does, he may be gone really at any point of the year next season. The university should come to its senses by Sunday afternoon. If Fickell has another press conference on Monday, he will have his job through November.
Fickell has done the worst job of any Power Four head coach this year and he should be out by now.