Wisconsin, Luke Fickell agree to contract extension through 2032

Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell has agreed to a contract extension that will keep him with the Badgers until 2032, UW Athletics announced on Wednesday. Fickell’s previous deal kept him with the program until 2031.

Fickell finished his second season at the helm of the Wisconsin program in 2024 where the Badgers finished with a 5-7 record, barely missing out on the postseason. That came after his debut season in 2023 fresh off taking Cincinnati to the College Football Playoffs. Wisconsin finished 7-6 and made an appearance in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

At the end of the 2024 season, Fickell ranked as the 18th highest-paid coach in the country with a $7.7 million salary. His buyout was set at $40,186,667.

He is one of four Wisconsin coaches who were approved for an extension by the UW Athletics Board, joining volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield, women’s soccer coach Paula Wilkins and men’s soccer coach Neil Jones. Those three Wisconsin coaches were all extended through 2030.

Mass updating coaching contracts appears to be a “routine” process for Wisconsin, as in April 2024 the board approved six more for one-year extensions that included men’s basketball head coach Greg Gard.

This is not his first extension since being hired to the program in November 2022. He previously signed another one-year extension in Jan 2024 shortly after the conclusion of his first season with the program.

Before arriving at Wisconsin, he was impressive across six seasons at Cincinnati, amassing a record of 57-18. Naturally, when he was hired by the Badgers over two years ago, he was given high expectations.

“Fickell’s attraction to the Badgers brass, along with his record and roots in the league, is his ability to build a program,” ESPN’s Pete Thamel said at the time. “Fickell turned Cincinnati into one of the country’s best development programs, taking modest recruits and consistently churning out strong teams.”

While Wisconsin has gone 12-13 under Fickell in two seasons, he’s bringing in the No. 27 overall recruiting class this offseason, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, which is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. Fickell has also brought in 18 players from the transfer portal this cycle as of this report.

The Badgers will begin the 2025 college football season at home against Miami (OH) on Aug. 30. They’ll play the likes of Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State and Oregon during the 2025 regular season.