Luke Fickell addresses change of Wisconsin offensive identity

Luke Fickell recognizes Wisconsin’s offensive identity is about to change, but he doesn’t think that’s a bad thing.

Speaking with the media at Big Ten Media Day, the freshly-minted Badgers leader addressed the evolution of Wisconsin’s offense, and it’s evident they’re moving into a new era.

“Why not?” answered Fickell, asked why he would look to change the offensive philosophy at Wisconsin. “I think to the naked eye, to the normal fan, to the kids on campus, to whoever, it’s going to look different. I think you’re going to see, yeah it’s going to look different, no doubt. Whether it’s two tight ends, three tight ends, two backs in there, that may be the tradition of what Wisconsin has been, and been really successful with. To the ability of being able to spread things out a little bit more. I don’t think that it was anything to do with, ‘Hey, let’s change what it is that we’ve done and been really good at, and let’s bring in somebody that’s going to do something different,’ it’s more about people. Obviously I learned that growing up in the Midwest, and from a great former coach as well, is it’s about people.

“When you get the right people together, they understand that regardless of who they’re labeled to be. Whether they’re a ground-and-pound guy, whether they’re an air raid guy, what is the core values to the things that you do? And it might look different, but deep down as you dive into it, it’s still going to be about the guys up front. It’s still going to be about physicality. It’s still going to be about controlling and winning the line of scrimmage, whether that’s offensively or defensively.”

Additionally, Fickell made sure to point out that the change in offensive philosophy is his and his coaching staffs, and not something being forced upon him by a higher up.

“The thing that I loved about this opportunity in particular is they never asked about that. It wasn’t like, ‘Well, what are you going to change, or what aren’t you going to change,” or this is — no, it was about, ‘We believe in you as a person. We believe in you as a coach, and we believe you’ll do what’s best to continue to grow our program and move us forward.’ So I give a lot of credit to obviously (Wisconsin Director of Athletics) Chris McIntosh, who believed that, and we’ll figure out what exactly it will look like as we continue to grow, but the core values won’t change,” added Fickell.

Wisconsin will look different, but it’s hard not to see the potential the Badgers will possess under Luke Fickell’s leadership moving forward.