Luke Fickell Gets Brutally Honest About Horrible First Year At Wisconsin

Luke Fickell has no problem admitting his first season with the Wisconsin Badgers didn't go according to plan.

Many people had the Badgers pegged as a team that could win 10 games and win the Big Ten West in Fickell's first year with the program.

Fair or not, the expectations placed on him and the team were incredibly high. Wisconsin had an elite running back in Braelon Allen, a very good QB in Tanner Mordecai and a re-tooled offense that was supposed to be awesome.

In reality, the Badgers struggled across the board, Mordecai missed multiple games with a hand injury and the team finished a disappointing 7-6. The good news is Fickell isn't pretending it wasn't a disaster.

Luke Fickell reflects on awful first season in Madison. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)

"Getting your ass beat has for me always been a humbling experience. But even the way in which we got beat, it’s incredibly humbling. Then when you take that good dive into it, it’s even more humbling. But I think those are all great things," Fickell recently told The Athletic when talking about his incredibly disappointing first year in Madison.

He further explained, "My greatest growth periods are all the things that have been really the most difficult ass-whoopings or humbling experiences from the time I’ve been 15, 14 years old that have helped me be who I am. I’m hoping that this year was another one of those. But, yeah, it’s definitely different than the last five years…It’s a hell of a lot easier to reflect when you undershoot where you were. Because you’re looking for answers for yourself."

Luke Fickell went 7-6 in his first season in Madison. (Credit: Journal Sentinel via USA Today Sports Network)

Luke Fickell was surprised by the reactions to losing.

Fickell also shined a light on how he was surprised by the reactions he saw unfolding as the team's season went off the rails……and not in a good way. He seemed disappointed there wasn't more outrage shown.

"Everyone’s disappointed when you lose. They weren’t pissed maybe in some ways. I don’t know why. That’s where it was like, it’s killing me. It’s eating at me. Maybe they did a really good job at not showing that. I think that sometimes, we’ve been kind of coached to not show our emotions. And that’s not the way I want to live. That’s not the way I want our team and our culture to be. I want guys to let each other know when they’re disappointed," The Wisconsin coach explained to the Athletic.

"Now, that doesn’t mean start arguing with each other. But there’s times when we’ve got to hold each other accountable and we have to, as leaders, create an expectation for the things that we do. As we got into it, when the adversity hit and things didn’t go our way, I don’t know that we were like an animal that got backed into the corner and was going to fight its way out. I’m not saying we accepted it. But it was just like, ‘Aw, s—, these things happen.’ So that’s why I think it made it difficult for me in some ways," Fickell continued.

Wisconsin struggled in Luke Fickell's first season with the team. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)

Props to Luke Fickell for shooting it straight when it comes to what happened last season. There was simply no excuse for the kind of season the Badgers had. None.

Winning seven games will never be tolerated and it shouldn't ever be acceptable. The Badgers had losses to Washington State, Iowa, Ohio State (this one is easy to swallow), Indiana, Northwestern and a bowl game loss to LSU.

Fans demand much better, and instead of making excuses, Fickell is being honest and open about the fact the team got their teeth kicked in under his leadership. A great leader stands up and accepts responsibility. That's what he's doing, and as a Wisconsin man, I love to see it.

Now, it's time to gear up for the upcoming season, and make sure the mistakes of 2023 aren't ever repeated. Let me know your thoughts on the state of Wisconsin football at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.