Luke Fickell is helping Wisconsin prepare for their bowl game
Luke Fickell is doing something somewhat uncommon with the Wisconsin Badgers. The recently named head coach is will help the current Badgers staff prepare for their game against Oklahoma State in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. The Badgers coach will do that in between recruiting for next season.
Many new coaches wait until after the bowl season before preparing their new team. Fickell wanted to see what the Badgers had on their roster for next season. That includes the quarterback position after Graham Mertz hit the transfer portal.
According to Raul Vazquez with Badger Blitz, Fickell said Tuesday he will not make the final decision as to which quarterback starts against Oklahoma State. That will be left up to interim head coach Jim Leonhard’s staff, who will coach their last game for the Badgers.
In terms of personnel/what the two deep will look for bowl game, Fickell hopes to have that figured out (including QB) by next Wednesday or so. Says he won't pound the table/try to play specific guys to learn about the group. Will leave up to staff to decide what's best. #Badgers
— Raul Vazquez (@RaulV45) December 13, 2022
Added that decision at QB won't be up to him. Chase Wolf not at practice today. Went home this week to be with family. His grandfather passed away.
— Raul Vazquez (@RaulV45) December 13, 2022
It’s necessary for Fickell to be involved in Wisconsin’s bowl preparation this season. The Badgers have had a lot of turnover this season after Paul Chryst was fired. He needs to see what the Badgers must get before National Signing Day on Feb. 1. Quarterback will undoubtedly be a position Fickell will be going after hard. Fickell should have an easier time convincing a quarterback to come after he hired new offensive coordinator Phil Longo.
Fickell is doing the right thing by letting Leonhard’s staff make the final say before the game. It’s an awkward situation before the program completely changes hands, but Leonhard deserves to coach the bowl game after he helped engineer a turnaround this season.
