Category: Athletics

The football players who chose to represent the University of Wisconsin in 2022 have been through hell during the last nine months.

Too strong for you?

Consider that the players lost two individuals who they considered part of their family, one a coach and one a player, and had to endure multiple coaching changes.

The Luke Fickell era at Wisconsin will have a soft opening. Fickell will be on the sideline against Oklahoma State on Tuesday night in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. Most of the major decisions, like naming a starting quarterback, will be made by interim coach Jim Leonhard and the other current Badgers coaches.

Nose tackle Keeanu Benton could have turned pro after the 2021 season, his third at Wisconsin.

The graduate of Janesville Craig High School chose to return to UW for his senior season for two reasons:

To help UW win a Big Ten title and to improve as a player.

UW failed to win the Big Ten West and finished just 4-5 in the Big Ten, but Benton put together his best season with the Badgers and on Friday announced via Twitter he is entering the 2023 NFL draft. Benton could have returned for a fifth season because of the COVID year exception.

If Badgers fans bleed red, it’s because Jim Leonhard has their heart. He always has.His departure from the program leaves an open wound that marks the end of an era.

After seven seasons with the Wisconsin Badgers football program, Jim Leonhard has announced he will part ways following the 2022 Guaranteed Rate Bowl game. Leonhard announced his decision on Twitter Tuesday night.

In a post on Twitter, Leonhard said that he would stay on as the defensive coordinator through the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against Oklahoma State.

The Wisconsin football defensive coordinator’s announcement follows the Badgers’ decision to hire Luke Fickell as head coach and quarterback Graham Mertz’s departure.

This past Friday, the 6-foot-3 Robinson finished with a team-high 11 kills, while posting a .667 hitting percentage and recording five blocks as the top-seeded Badgers swept Quinnipiac, 25-19, 25-9, 25-4, in front of an announced crowd of 7,229.

The Graham Mertz era is over, at least at the University of Wisconsin.

“Debunk the myth that great minds think alike.” That’s the advice from Dr. Danielle Pulliam, the University of Wisconsin’s new assistant athletic director for diversity and inclusion.

Program available to UW students for 2022-2023 basketball season.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has hired Luke Fickell as its new head football coach. Fickell comes to Wisconsin from the University of Cincinnati’s football program and will replace interim Badgers coach Jim Leonhard.

University of Wisconsin officials on Monday posted five job openings involving the football program, including three coaching positions.

Both coordinator positions have been posted, as well as an assistant coaching position, the head of strength and conditioning and an assistant strength and conditioning position.

Luke Fickell’s coaching staff will be a work in progress for the next few weeks.

One area that the University of Wisconsin’s new football coach plans to hit the ground running is recruiting.

Fickell was set to return to Cincinnati on Monday night and when he gets back to town Tuesday is expected to bring a couple of key pieces of his old staff: recruiting assistants Max Stienecker and Pat Lambert.

Fickell comes to Wisconsin after six seasons as the Cincinnati football head coach. The 2021 national coach of the year said he had Wisconsin on his radar over the last couple of years.

Now, there’s another layer in major conference sports: Name, Image, and Likeness deals (NIL). Players are now allowed to cash in on endorsement deals, and with the transfer portal, are essentially free agents every year.

The UW Field House will be filled to the brim when the Badgers take the court on Friday.

Job postings for offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, director of football strength and conditioning, assistant strength and conditioning coach, and another assistant coach went up on the university’s jobs site Monday morning. The postings list an opening date of Monday, November 28 and a closing date of Monday, December 5.

New Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell had a whirlwind first day in Madison on Monday, touring Camp Randall Stadium with his family, meeting with university officials and donors, and answering a lot of questions about what’s next for the program.

The UW Board of Regents met Sunday afternoon before UW confirmed its decision to hire Fickell.

Fickell’s hiring comes as a shock to many people who thought Leonhard, who had been serving as the interim head coach, would get the job, and current and former Badgers have mixed reactions.

In a season full of surprises, the Badgers gave fans another one Sunday.

“Well I think I was shocked,” UW Student Eric Dietze said. “I think a lot of people thought it was Leonhard’s job, so to see Fickell get it, shocking.”

The reactions on Luke Fickell, and not Jim Leonhard, set to become the next head football coach at Wisconsin, are pouring in across social media.

Many are stunned by the hire, with plenty praising the move, while others are surprised by UW deciding not to go with Leonhard, the hometown player turned interim head coach.

The University of Wisconsin released a statement on Oct. 19 confirming that “private photos” of the Badgers’ women’s volleyball team had been circulating online “without consent,” prompting an investigation by the UW-Madison Police Department into “multiple crimes.”