Luke Fickell on Tanner Mordecai's final game: 'I don't think you can say enough about that kid'

Wisconsin quarterback Tanner Mordecai joined the Badgers last offseason, finding a home to play out his last collegiate football season and end a journey that started all the way back in 2018 at Oklahoma.

Mordecai helped lead Wisconsin to a 7-6 record in their first full season under head coach Luke Fickell, and although Wisconsin was the third stop of his college career and he spent just one year with the program, he exemplified what it means to be a Badger in the eyes of his head coach.

“I don’t think you can say enough about that kid,” Fickell said getting choked up with emotion. “I mean everyone’s programs in this time, it’s tough. To have guys that stick things out, the guy that some people would say come into a place and rent it, there’s no rent in that guy. I mean there was never a hesitation at what he wanted to do and what he was going to do.”

Mordecai spent the first three years of his college career with the Sooners before transferring to SMU, throwing for over 3,000 yards and 30 touchdowns in his two seasons as the Mustangs’ starting quarterback.

He played in 10 games for Wisconsin this past season, throwing for 2,065 yards and scoring 13 total touchdowns for the Badgers. But is toughness, leadership, and dedication to the team is what stands out the most to Fickell following Mordecai’s final game in a college uniform.

“Is a guy that played on a broken hand after three and a half weeks or four weeks. Couldn’t clap for four weeks out there, and there was never hesitation as to whether he was gonna play in this game or not,” Fickell said. “And for him to go out and not just play the way he did but practice the way he did, lead the way that he did, to help us move our program forward and kind of set an example of what things can look like when you really dive all in. For a guy that did that and one year, bottle that thing up, mold it, and it is the way to go about your business.”

Mordecai had a strong performance in his final game, throwing for a season-high 378 yards and three touchdowns in Wisconsin’s Reliaquest Bowl loss to LSU. But hopefully, it won’t be the last game of his football career and he can take his game to the next level.

“He’s gonna play for a long time, I’ll call my buddy and make sure that if he does he better get him on his team because the guy’s a winner. I know he didn’t win today, but he left it all out there. And I’m not one of those guys for sixth or seventh years, but if there was a way I would do everything I could to get him back,” Fickell concluded.