Luke Fickell raves about improved leadership from Hunter Wohler

If Wisconsin is going to improve under Luke Fickell going forward it’ll need to keep doing the things it did well going, and that starts with the leadership of safety Hunter Wohler.

The Badgers featured one of the nation’s top defenses a year ago, ranked No. 20 nationally in scoring defense after giving up just 20.2 points per game.

Fickell is counting on Wohler, in particular, to set the tone for his defense as a senior leader.

“I’ve kind of asked him and kind of pushed him to be one of those guys, because he’s got everything that we’re looking for to build a program, to build a culture, to build a locker room around,” Fickell said this spring. “You’ve just got to understand that it’s not always easy and there’s going to be things and times that even some of your best friends and things are going to be accountability things that you’ve got to be able to handle and do.”

As far as the individual part goes, Wohler seems to have that down pat.

A first-team All-Big Ten selection by the Associated Press, Hunter Wohler is coming off a monster season. He tallied 120 tackles, 5.5 tackles for a loss, a sack, two interceptions and eight passes defended.

His 120 tackles were the most for any Big Ten defensive back and the most for a Wisconsin defensive back since 1991.

Where Fickell has tried to cultivate growth in his senior leader, though, is in understanding what leadership takes. Forget the on-field stuff, focus on doing the hard things.

“I think his ability to understand that leadership isn’t always easy (is key),” Fickell said. “You’ve got to do some things with leadership that aren’t always popular, and you’ve got to be honest. At times that means people aren’t going to like you. I think that as long as you can back it up and as long as you’re the guy that people look to, I think that that’s what we need.”

The Badgers probably don’t need to make a massive leap to be significantly improved in 2024. The team went 7-6 last year, but four of the losses came by single digits and none came by more than two touchdowns.

Getting Hunter Wohler right where he needs to be as a leader could make all the difference.

“If we can continue to create that with guys like him that will become more of the culture of what it is that we need,” Fickell said. “Because this roller-coaster world that we’re in, ultimately when we go to that locker room it’s still got to be the same things.”