Luke Fickell is addressing the state of Wisconsin football as the program is on the brink of disaster.

Fickell was hired away from Cincy to take over the Badgers following Paul Chryst being fired. The belief was that he could inject new life into a Big Ten powerhouse that had lost its edge in the final Chryst years.

Fans were desperate to return to consistent 10+ win seasons and big bowl games. That hasn’t come close to happening.

It’s been a disaster through two seasons. Fickell is 13-13 during his time in Madison, and the Badgers went 5-7 last season. The program’s 22-year bowl streak was snapped, and fans have had enough.

Luke Fickell addresses state of Wisconsin football.

To the surprise of a lot of fans, Fickell was recently handed a contract extension that will keep him with the team through the 2031 season. Apparently, losing now gets rewarded in Madison. It’s a sad sign of the times.

The head coach of the Badgers might have some job security at the moment, but that doesn’t mean the program isn’t imploding. What does Fickell have to say? It sounds like he thinks some guys might not have cared much about losing. That’s a big problem.

The Wisconsin head coach told BadgerExtra the following about the state of the program:

“When you lose, it’s you either quit, you start making excuses, you start pointing fingers. There’s a lot of things that fall into losing. And then there’s times when you don’t win. Unfortunately at the end of the year this past year, we lost. And as you start to evaluate it, because you have a little bit more of those than you’ve maybe had in your career, it starts to be evident of the difference. If you don’t win, there’s a lot of growth in it, and I think you got to be able to use that growth to make you better. When you lose, there’s a lot of things that are crumbling from within that you got to find a way to recognize and understand. And I’m not sure that I understood it quite as much. I don’t think our guys did as well as they got into it. If it went to an L, it was an L, you know? And I don’t know, maybe just moved on. But there’s a distinct difference. And I hope and believe that that’s a part of our ability to be honest with each other as a program and our way to use that stuff to grow. It’s not being negative because sometimes you don’t want to harp upon the negatives, but that’s what I try and tell them. Not harping upon negative, but there’s a difference between losing and not winning. We need to recognize what that is.”

Wisconsin went 5-7 last season. The team’s 22-year bowl streak is officially over.  (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)

It’s almost hard to know what to make of Fickell’s comments. They come off a bit sad and desperate. If people in the building aren’t treating the situation seriously enough……then that’s a problem with the head coach!

He’s being paid millions of dollars to lead young men. He’s the face of one of the wealthiest programs in America. It’s the head coach’s job to light a fire under guys.

If they don’t care about losing, then have them clean out their locker and get the hell out. It’s that simple. You think Herb Brooks or Nick Saban would have tolerated that?

Hell no.

Will Wisconsin improve in Luke Fickell’s third year? (Photo by Robin Alam/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

The reality of the situation is that the grace period for Luke Fickell is over. It’s done. Fans have endured disappointing season after disappointing season going back to when Chryst was running the show in 2020. Something has to change, and it has to change fast. Wisconsin fans aren’t delusional, but they’re also never going to tolerate losing seasons. Fickell better figure it out or he’s going to watch the entire state turn against him. That much I can guarantee you. Let me know what you think at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.