Less than a day after learning that he wouldn't have the chance to lead the University of Cincinnati football team to a third straight American Athletic Conference championship, Fickell is going to take over the Wisconsin Badgers program.
Sources told The Enquirer that Fickell is expected to be named Wisconsin's new head coach as early as Sunday.
Sources say that Fickell told Cincinnati he was leaving. The interim head coach will be Kerry Coombs.
Fickell, who is 57-18 in six seasons at Cincinnati, was asked if he would entertain any offers if he were to leave. At the moment, it's too hard to think about that.
The Cincinnati football team's 32-game win streak was snapped in the regular season finale.
I know what you mean. He said it was hard to think about. We have a chance to play and hopefully there are some things that can happen. It's not a good idea to think about those things. We have to get up there and take care of the seniors. Make sure their heads are up and they are ready to go.
After a win by Central Florida over South Florida on Saturday, Fickell and Cincinnati were eliminated from the championship game.
Wisconsin's Paul Chryst was fired before Week 6 of the college football season. During his weekly news conference, Fickell was asked about the trends.
He said that it was a bad place to be in.
Wisconsin parted ways with their coach after a disappointing start. The Badgers finished their regular season with a 613-6 (4-5 Big Ten) record after a loss to Minnesota.
He was let go after seven years. He was 67-26 in his time in Madison and 6-1 in bowl games. The Badgers lost three of their first four games last year, but ended up winning nine of them.
"I think it's sad to see a guy who has been at his place as long as he has and done what he's done, to be out after five games," Fickell said in the press conference. It's the same thing at Nebraska. I'm not sure what's happening there. I don't think it's a good thing for our children. We are professionals, not for us. You're evaluated on your victories and losses. If it's not right, just change it and get rid of it in the middle of what you're doing. We have a lot of transfers.
In 2020 and 2021, Fickell's team won back-to-back American Athletic Conference titles. Fickell was named the coach of the year for three years in a row. He was named the national coach of the year after leading Cincinnati to a 13-0 record and a spot in the College Football Playoff. The first Group of Five team to make the playoffs lost to Alabama in the semifinals.
Fickell won at least nine games in each of the last five years. In the 135-year history of the football program, no other head coach has done that.
Fickell, whose oldest son is a sophomore offensive lineman at the University of Cincinnati, signed an extension with the school that will pay him $5.05 million over the course of eight years. The contract will be bought out by UC for over $3 million.
The article was first published on the Cincinnati Enquirer.
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