MADISON, Wis. — It’s already been quite the start to the week for the University of Wisconsin football program.
There is a game this week when Wisconsin (2-5, 0-4 Big Ten) travels to face No. 6 Oregon (6-1, 3-1) for a 6 p.m. CT kickoff Saturday, but a lot of talk Monday continued to swirl around the future of the team. Athletic director Chris McIntosh sent a letter, as tweeted by WOZN’s Zach Heilprin, expressing disappointment for this season and vowing commitment to elevate “the investment into our football program to position us to compete at the highest level.”
That went out less than 48 hours after the Badgers lost 34-0 at home to No. 1 Ohio State, where the game wasn’t in doubt after the Buckeye’s first touchdown midway through the first quarter.
Luke Fickell was asked Monday if he was told that he’d return as Wisconsin football coach for the 2026 season.
“I don’t think any of us have a crystal ball. I’ve never asked the question,” Fickell said. “It’s not something that I can dwell upon. I can’t tell you that it’s not something that you don’t think about. I’m not saying it’s something when you go home, your wife doesn’t look at you, but it doesn’t do us any good, right?
“It’s not going to change the fact that we got to practice tomorrow. It’s not going to change the fact of anything on Saturday. I guess you just let everybody else kind of deal with those things. But I have not been told. I’m not worried about that. I understand if we don’t meet expectations and we don’t do the things we need to do, anything can happen.”
Here are more notable quotes from Fickell’s availability, along with the full video of the news conference.
Highlights from Fickell’s press conference
(On where he think the support needs to come from in the athletic department)
“I don’t know that that’s for me to answer right at this moment. All of us need support. Right now, our kids need support, right? That’s what I do every single day right now. Look, I’m not stopping coaching. I’m not stopping pushing, not stopping being honest. But more than anything, as you battle through things like this, just like any of us have in our lives, you need support. And right now, the most important supports inside that locker room and making sure building these guys up and their confidence to be able to go out and play the game of football and the things that they love and remember why they’re doing it.
“And obviously, when you don’t win, that’s very difficult. But my job is not to worry about where the support is going to come in the future. My job is to make sure that, most importantly, that we can support the guys right now, in this moment, in these opportunities, and find ways to grow and be better and get better.”
