How Luke Fickell has pumped life into recruiting at Wisconsin

Wisconsin football received a jolt of excitement this offseason when they hired Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell away from the Bearcats after a string of extremely successful seasons in the Queen City. He’s been where no Badger ever has: the College Football Playoff, and accomplished such a feat at a non-power conference to make it all the more impressive. Now that he’s migrated even further north, right into the heart of Big Ten country, Wisconsin fans are hoping he brings that dynamic passing game and air-tight defense with him.

Even if results don’t materialize immediately on the field for Fickell, the new Badgers coach is already grinding out wins on the recruiting trail. On3’s JD PicKell believes the early success Fickell is having in the 2024 class is evident of an entire program shift when it comes to roster building. Take a look at the video here or read his full comments below on why Fickell’s early recruiting success is a tremendous sign of what’s to come for UW.

JD PicKell fired up over Luke Fickell’s quick recruiting success

“Wisconsin, right now, has a top 25 ranked class, and that may not sound super bizarre to hear, because you think about Wisconsin, you think about the brand and they’re in the Big Ten. I think Luke Fickell has just pumped a whole lot of life into this operation, because last year they had the No. 47 ranked class. Year before that, No. 33 ranked class. Like, recruiting at this level for Wisconsin is not a thing that we’re super accustomed to, okay.

“Usually, they’ve done it with what I would call OKGs, which stands for: Our Kinda Guys. Meaning, they’ll take the three-star, they’ll take the two-star, they’ll take the guy that’s going to fit in their system well, the culture guy. And they’ll go win with them and they’ll be just fine, like that’s how Wisconsin’s done it over the past couple of years.

“But now, you’re bringing in Luke Fickell and he’s got some skins on the wall with what he’s achieved as a head coach. So you’re like… okay, I’ll go play for him. I’m gonna win. I’m probably gonna go and have a good chance to get drafted. If I’m looking at the resume for Wisconsin, you also can overlook the fact that you’re going to be playing in a pretty fun offense if you’re a skill position player.

“Long gone are the days where they’re just going to line up with three tight ends and two full backs and just run it down your throat. I think you’ll still see that in short yardage and I think they’ll still have that available, kind of keep it in the back pocket. But Wisconsin, now they’re going to trot out there this coming season and there’s gonna be multiple times where you see them playing with four wide receivers on the field. You’re going to see them spread it out, you’re going to see them air it out a little bit

“So the direction of Wisconsin football under Luke Fickell I think is more appealing to recruits. Wisconsin, the Fickell effect and the fun offense, that’s what I think is bringing kids to Madison.”