Luke Fickell is the new man in Madison. And according to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, the former Cincinnati head coach could be looking to go in a different direction at defensive coordinator and replacing Jim Leonhard.
Per Rittenberg:
“Will be interesting how the Luke Fickell-Jim Leonhard talks go, but, as some have noted, they’re pretty different philosophically on defense. Hearing Fickell would like to bring Cincinnati DC Mike Tressel and co-DC Colin Hitschler with him to Wisconsin.”
Will be interesting how the Luke Fickell-Jim Leonhard talks go, but, as some have noted, they’re pretty different philosophically on defense. Hearing Fickell would like to bring Cincinnati DC Mike Tressel and co-DC Colin Hitschler with him to Wisconsin.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) November 29, 2022
This goes against previous reports that Fickell was “very open” to keeping Leonhard in place as the coach of the defense. Something that many Wisconsin fans were certainly hoping would be the case.
However, this is Luke Fickell’s job and he’s going to make his own decisions on who he’d like on the staff.
Fickell built something special with the Bearcats with Mike Tressel and Colin Hitschler by his side and he’d likely love to continue that with the Badgers.