Jason Joyce
Reporters recording a football coach.
Luke Fickell has opened spring practices to the media.
During a Wisconsin football practice, when the team’s position groups split up, the vantage point of the observation deck at the McClain Center, UW’s indoor practice facility, offers a buffet of options for what and who to watch. Quarterbacks, running backs, linebackers, wide receivers, defensive backs, even the offensive and defensive linemen partake in drills that can be interesting to follow. Focusing too much on one group can lead to a nagging case of FOMO and it’s easy to lose track of head coach Luke Fickell, who moves around the field, seemingly interacting with every group over two-plus hours.
And during the March 25 session, the first of the spring practice period, it’s easy to get distracted by the player moms chatting about shoe sizes, grocery bills and body odor right behind me.
Drills are executed at a brisk pace, with players, coaches and even managers sprinting between stations after each period. During passing drills, immediately after a quarterback and a pair of wide receivers run a play to the right, another group takes a snap and runs a play to the left while a third group lines up to replace the first group on the right again. The drill makes it clear why new offensive coordinator Phil Longo hoarded wide receivers during the transfer period: nobody covers more ground.
“The wideouts and [defensive backs], their ability to play at the tempo we’re playing at is impressive so far,” Fickell says after practice. “I would say there’s a lot on those guys’ plates for the way that we play offensively and defensively.… They went out there and took to heart what I said in the team meeting: ‘Don’t worry about mistakes, just play with effort, play with speed. We’ll correct the mistakes with film.’”
Speed, tempo, energy and intensity are words that come up often with Fickell, who arrived from Cincinnati in November to take over for the fired Paul Chryst. His regime represents the biggest change to the program since Barry Alvarez took over in 1990. Along with a faster style of offense, Fickell has embraced using social media to give fans and, more importantly, recruits a look at what he’s up to. Spring practices are all open to the media, a shocking departure from tradition.
Has the team already developed a new identity under Fickell? Well, something’s afoot: At a March 23 press conference, he talks about meeting another coach in the department who asked, “What are you guys?”
“I would say we are a high energy group in everything we do. That whole mantra of the way you do anything is the way you do everything is the way we live. If you don’t have energy, if you don’t have passion for what you’re doing, then it’s not worth doing,” he says. “There’s no such thing as laid back. I tell some of the guys when I first met them, I tell the recruits, ‘If you’re wanting a laid back coach and you wanna chill at times, that’s not me. This is probably not gonna be the best place for you, because there’s no chill in me.’”
While Fickell’s preferred style of football is much different, the force with which he’s bringing change to the program is reflective of the arrival of Barry Alvarez 30-plus years ago. It’s worth watching and, thankfully, Fickell is pretty transparent so far. Fans will have a chance to chill while watching the Badgers practice at an event called The Launch, set for April 22, 1 p.m., at Camp Randall.
