SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Wisconsin’s linebackers were eating lunch at the team hotel Sunday when sophomore Jake Chaney spotted his new head coach seated alone and invited him over to the group’s table. Luke Fickell quickly accepted the offer, eager for the opportunity to learn more about his players.
“After we invited coach Fickell over, everyone is going around, like, ‘Hey, what was your favorite memory from the season? What was your funniest moment from the season?’” said Badgers inside linebacker Maema Njongmeta. “So we’re just sharing and he’s just listening. We’re all laughing. And he’ll ask a question here or there. When it was appropriate, he’d share something. He was very cool, calm and collected. It’s just been a good relationship. It’s been very organic.”
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When Fickell was hired from Cincinnati to lead Wisconsin’s program on Nov. 27, he knew little about the people who filled out the Badgers’ roster. Over the next month, as Wisconsin prepared for its Guaranteed Rate Bowl game against Oklahoma State — which kicks off from Chase Field on Tuesday at 9:15 p.m. CT — he set out to quickly change that situation.
In fact, nothing was more important to him.
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When he was introduced at Wisconsin, Fickell stressed the value of building “trust, respect and love.” The only way to achieve those objectives was to be himself, ask as many questions as he answered and lay down roots for relationships to thrive down the road.
“They don’t know you,” Fickell said. “They’re kind of curious about you. You can tell them one thing about what we’re going to do, a different offense, who might be coaching you. But, to me, it’s all about, ‘Do they really trust you?’”
Fickell has been in a tricky spot, not wanting to interject too much into the football side of things while Wisconsin finishes its season under a previous coaching staff. But, if anything, that has allowed Fickell to find common ground with his new players that goes well beyond the game — something several players already have noticed.
“Coach Fickell has been doing a great job of just being able to have conversations with you outside of football, asking how your day’s going, asking about classes,” said wide receiver Chimere Dike. “I think that’s the biggest thing is having a coach that cares about his players and is willing to see what’s going on outside of football.
“That’s the quickest way to get used to your players and see how they work. He’s done a great job. I think that his morals and his standards kind of match up with a lot of the ones that Wisconsin has, so I’m excited for him.”
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Fickell made a point to meet with as many Wisconsin players as he could during his first couple of days as coach. Some of those players may have questioned their futures with the program after interim coach and defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard was passed over for the full-time job. But they quickly grew comfortable with Fickell’s genuine nature.
Running back Chez Mellusi told reporters before the regular season finale that he planned to return to Wisconsin for a fifth season, and said Fickell gave him confidence that he was making the right decision.
“He grabbed me pretty early on and sat down and we had some great convos,” Mellusi said. “He kind of just reassured me that this is the place that I need to be and this is the place for me. He built that relationship really fast. I think he’s a great dude. I’m blown out of the water. I think there’s a future that this program’s headed to, and I think it’s in the right direction.”
One of the most important players for Fickell to talk to was star running back Braelon Allen, who was the subject of transfer rumors earlier in the season. Fickell said he asked Allen to maintain what he called “blind faith” in Fickell and the vision he had for Wisconsin’s program. That talk quickly moved away from football entirely and focused on their shared enthusiasm for wrestling.
Fickell was a three-time high school Ohio state wrestling champion. Allen won a 16-under national championship in the 195-pound division at the Iowa Folkstyle Nationals in 2019. Fickell learned that Allen had yet to attend a Wisconsin wrestling match and said they would go together. The plan is for them to watch Wisconsin against Penn State on Jan. 6 at the UW Field House.
“We kind of connected with our wrestling background and definitely trying to get to a match in the near future,” Allen said. “That’s one thing that we had in common right off the bat. The relationship pretty much comes from getting to know each other, having conversation and obviously doing things like going to a wrestling meet. When he first got there, still to this day, I’ll be in his office or even if we’re eating, just talking, getting to know each other like that.
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“It was more of trusting, getting to know coach Fickell and learning about his vision for myself and the future of the program. I wouldn’t say it was a main selling point. It was just me getting comfortable with everything he was trying to do. … At the end of the day, it was easy. Coach Fickell is a guy I’d love to play for, I’m excited to play for, and I’m excited about the future of this team.”
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Njongmeta said Fickell has struck a balance during this unique time before the previous staff moves on. Although Fickell is the head coach for the bowl game, he essentially is a figurehead while Leonhard and offensive coordinator Bobby Engram compile their respective game plans.
Fickell is using the bowl trip to be around the team and said he planned to be around “as many families as I possibly can because I’ve got a lot to learn about the people and the families within this program.”
“That’s the hardest part for me when I went to Cincinnati, the hardest thing was the first two years,” Fickell said. “Just for the sheer fact that I didn’t really know the guys. I had never been in their home. I didn’t know their families. And I just feel like it’s hard.
“It’s hard sometimes when you don’t know where a guy’s from and how he’s grown up and the dynamics of some of those things because you’ve never had a chance to sit in their homes. There’s other ways of doing it. But you’ve got to really kind of peel back some of those layers and try to find some things out.”
When Wisconsin returns for the start of winter workouts in January Fickell will have full control of the team. He plans to use the offseason to evaluate each position group and the talent he’ll have for next season. But the process of building bonds will be just as vital for establishing the close-knit program he wants to run.
“It’s not something that just happens overnight,” Fickell said. “It’s not something that happens in one meeting sitting down in your office. But it’s hopefully something that will continue to happen over these past few weeks and for sure all the way through this winter and into the spring.”
(Photo: Jeff Hanisch / USA Today)
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