Luke Fickell Shares Savagely Blunt Remarks About Wisconsin Player In The Transfer Portal

Luke Fickell doesn't want to spend one second of time talking about players who decide to leave the program.

Wisconsin is currently sitting at 2-1 following a frustrating start to the season. While the team might have two wins, the Badgers also lost to Washington State and have started all three games slow.

To make matters worse for the Badgers, the team's receiving depth took a hit when Keontez Lewis decided to hit the portal last week. Lewis was expected to have a bigger role than what he'd been given through two games, and decided it was time to find a new home.

Wisconsin wide receiver Keontez Lewis is in the transfer portal. (Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Luke Fickell reacts to Keontez Lewis leaving the Wisconsin Badgers.

Don't bother asking Luke Fickell about it because he doesn't have anything to say about guys who are NOT part of the team. He made that crystal clear when discussing Lewis' departure over the weekend.

"We just won a football game. We’re going to focus on the guys that are in that locker room. Those guys are the ones that did what they did. We’re going to have the guys that are here, and the guys that aren’t going to be here and don’t want to be here, then they won’t be here. This has got to be an unselfish thing we do, so we’re going to talk about — if there’s any more questions about the guys in that locker room and how they played, we’ll talk about them, but anybody that’s not a part of our program, we don’t need to talk about at this point," Fickell told the media after beating Georgia Southern when asked about Lewis leaving the program, according to Bucky's 5th Quarter.

Luke Fickell didn't mince words when discussing Keontez Lewis leaving the team. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)

Fickell made his feelings crystal clear.

If fans need another example of how Luke Fickell isn't Paul Chryst, they just got a new one. Chryst never would have been this blunt discussing a player's departure.

Fickell clearly is fired up about the issue, and wants to focus on guys who are committed to the program. It's very much a "you're either with us or you're against us" vibe, and as a Wisconsin man, I don't hate it.

The Badgers have lost their edge over the past few seasons. The chippy attitude and grittiness wired into Wisconsin's DNA seemed to know longer be there by the time Chryst was fired and Fickell was hired.

Luke Fickell was hired to turn things around and inject energy into the program. That's exactly what he's doing, and bluntly making it clear his sole focus is the guys with the team - not leaving it - is the exact tone and attitude fans want to see.

Luke Fickell shares blunt remarks about Keontez Lewis leaving the program. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)

The media now on notice. Don't even bother asking about guys who decide to step away from the team. Luke Fickell isn't having any of it.