Wisconsin Sticking With Head Coach Luke Fickell, Keeping Him for 2026 Season

Luke Fickell will not be joining the already massively crowded coaching carousel this offseason. Instead, he will remain Wisconsin's head football coach for the 2026 season, athletic director Chris McIntosh told ESPN on Thursday. 

"Chancellor [Jennifer] Mnookin and I are aligned on significantly elevating investment in our program to compete at the highest level," McIntosh said in a statement to ESPN. "We are willing to make an investment in infrastructure and staff. As important is our ability to retain and recruit players in a revenue share and NIL era."

Wisconsin's decision to stick with Fickell comes amid huge struggles in his third season at the helm. The Badgers (2-6) have yet to win a conference game and are one loss away from missing a bowl game for a second straight season. 

While the 2025 campaign has been Wisconsin's worst in the Fickell era, the first two years weren't good either. Wisconsin went 7-6 with Fickell in 2023 before dropping to 5-7 in 2024. He is 15-19 so far in his Wisconsin tenure.

The first three years of Fickell's tenure in Wisconsin have marked a notable step back from where the Badgers had been for much of the previous two-plus decades. Wisconsin's four coaches prior to Fickell had all either led the Badgers to a Big Ten title or an appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game.

However, McIntosh believes that Wisconsin's shortcomings this season — and in the Fickell era altogether — are more due to the program's resources than the coach. 

"If Wisconsin is going to be as competitive as we expect, the support has to be as competitive," McIntosh told ESPN. "There's no getting around it. Our people, our fans are passionate about Wisconsin football. I'd have it no other way. A successful football