When Wisconsin hired Luke Fickell as head coach, there was a lot of excitement around the football program. That hype, however, has faded over the past few seasons, and questions are now emerging about Fickell’s future.
One analyst warns that Wisconsin could repeat a costly mistake similar to Florida’s with Billy Napier in an attempt to extend Fickell’s tenure.
Will Wisconsin Repeat Florida’s Costly Mistake with Luke Fickell?
Wisconsin has been bad this season. The Badgers are 2-5 through seven games and have yet to win a Big Ten game. Defensively, they rank 52nd in the country according to PFSN’s CFB DEFi metric, while offensively, they are even worse, sitting as the third-worst unit in the Big Ten in PFSN’s CFB OFFi metric.
With the team’s poor performance, many believe Fickell, who holds a 15-18 record over three and a half seasons as Wisconsin’s head coach, could be on his way out.
However, college football analyst Josh Pate believes Wisconsin might try a strategy similar to what Florida did with Napier. Rather than paying Fickell’s buyout, estimated at around $31.5 million, Pate suggests the Badgers could keep Fickell and redirect that money toward NIL funding, just as Florida did with Napier in 2024.
“Do we pay the money to buy a guy out, or do we rub the panels together, hit him on the chest, resurrect him one more time, bring him back to life, and then take the money we would’ve given him for the buyout and infuse it into NIL,” Pate said. “AKA what Florida did last year. It did not work out for Florida; they still ended up firing Napier.”
As Pate notes, that strategy did not work out well for Florida. The Gators continued to struggle under Napier in 2025, ultimately leading to his firing and leaving Florida paying for his $21 million buyout.
While Pate acknowledged there’s a real possibility Wisconsin holds on to Fickell, he noted that if the head coach continues to have blowout losses to Big Ten opponents, it could change the school’s stance and ultimately lead to his firing at the end of the season.
“It remains to be seen what would happen if Wisconsin chose to do this, but it does look like that may be the route they want to go right now,” Pate said. “Again, if they get blown out 59-3 at Oregon Saturday, and then Washington comes and hits them over the head at home, maybe that changes the mood.”
The decision will depend on Wisconsin’s performance for the rest of the 2025 season. If Fickell can turn things around and show he’s capable of leading the program, the Badgers might avoid paying his buyout and redirect that money toward NIL. However, as Pate notes, if Wisconsin continues to lose, Fickell will likely be out of a job by January.
