Sources: Wisconsin making push to land Fickell

Wisconsin has targeted Luke Fickell to beryllium the school's adjacent caput coach, sources told ESPN. No woody is signed, but there's a beardown propulsion by the Badgers to effort and onshore Fickell successful the adjacent 48 hours.

Fickell led Cincinnati to the College Football Playoff past play and has gone 57-18 successful his six years there. Fickell's 2021 Bearcats squad went 13-0 earlier losing to Alabama successful the College Football Playoff, becoming the archetypal Group of 5 squad to scope the CFP.

Fickell has beardown roots successful the Big Ten, arsenic helium was a longtime adjunct manager and coordinator astatine Ohio State and played determination collegiately. He'd been picky astir jobs implicit the years arsenic Cincinnati roseate to the apical of the Group of 5, being selective astir the Midwestern footprint.

Fickell would regenerate Paul Chryst, who was fired successful the mediate of the play aft going 67-26 successful 8 seasons there. He'd been replaced by Jim Leonhard, who had been the antiaircraft coordinator and was considered a campaigner for the head-coaching job.

Fickell's attraction to the Badgers' brass, on with his grounds and roots successful the league, is his quality to physique a program. Fickell turned Cincinnati into 1 of the country's champion improvement programs, taking humble recruits and consistently churning retired beardown teams.

Last year, Fickell's Bearcats had 9 players picked successful the NFL draft, which was 3rd down lone Georgia (15) and LSU (10).

Fickell spent 1 play arsenic an interim manager successful the Big Ten, going 6-7 successful 2011 successful the aftermath of the firing of Jim Tressel astatine Ohio State. He stayed diligent from there, moving arsenic the Buckeyes' antiaircraft coordinator nether Urban Meyer and winning a nationalist title successful the 2014 season.