'Sconnie Six Pack 11/29
Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell meets with the media for the first time, Aaron Rodgers plans to play against the Bears, and more -
Formalities -
With Wisconsin football’s head coaching search complete, there will now be a ton of news pieces that move with it. Readers, please let me know what you want to hear the most about with these changes that will come very quickly. Are you most interested in learning about Fickell’s coaching staff? Maybe what recruits will now come or will not come to Wisconsin? Perhaps you have interest in learning what happens with players and coaches currently at Wisconsin - who is staying and who is leaving? Sound off in the comments, or interact with me on Twitter and let me know what you want to hear about!
Without further ado -
Wisconsin football head coach Luke Fickell and athletic director Chris McIntosh address the media
Head coach of Wisconsin football Luke Fickell and athletic director Chris McIntosh met with the media yesterday following an introductory event for Fickell. All combined, there were about two hours of time spent making public comments and answering questions. During that time, Fickell and McIntosh outlined their shared vision for Wisconsin football.
“No doubt, Wisconsin is playing to win,” McIntosh said during the introductory event adding that “we believe this experience can be transformational.” Comments from McIntosh and Fickell made it clear that the two share a vision of having Wisconsin football compete at its highest possible ceiling. When asked about his vision for Wisconsin, Fickell said, "I’ll tell you this and you’ll probably hear it every year at the beginning of the year. We’ve got one objective, one goal to play for a championship...This league, you're playing for a championship, amazing things can happen."
McIntosh and Fickell both took time to outline the tools a modern athletic department needs to compete for championships. McIntosh was asked about potential improvements to practice facilities - a question that is particularly notable given that Fickell had language in his contract at Cincinnati that called for improvements to its football practice facilities. McIntosh said that “it is time for us to commit to and commit the resources to getting a complete indoor practice facility.” Wisconsin’s current indoor practice facility only houses an 80-yard football field. Fickell also described athletes’ opportunities to profit off of their name image and likeness as “a way to take care of your whole program… because they all deserve something.”
Wisconsin basketball back in action tonight against Wake Forest
Following its third place finish at the Battle 4 Atlantis, the Wisconsin (5-1) plays the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (6-1) tonight at the Kohl Center in the ACC/B1G challenge. You can watch tonight’s nonconference matchup at 8:00PM CST on ESPNU.
Wake Forest is predicted to finish ninth in the ACC according to a preseason poll of media members conducted at ACC preseason media days. Wake is led by senior guard Tyree Appleby who leads the team in points, assists, and steals. Wake’s lone loss this season came to Loyola Marymount.
ESPN announced this week that this year’s iteration of the Big Ten, ACC challenge will be the last. The Big Ten’s newest media rights deal ends the conference’s previously-held television agreement with ABC/ESPN.
Aaron Rodgers says he “plan[s] on playing this week” during interview on Pat McAfee Show
After suffering a rib injury during Green Bay’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday Night Football, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers injury status was in question. Rodgers has also been playing with a broken thumb he suffered on the last play of the game in the Packers’ loss to the New York Giants. Following the most recent loss to the Eagles, Rodgers said he wants to continue to play as long as Green Bay is not mathematically eliminated from reaching the playoffs. The odds of the Packers making the playoffs currently sit at 3% according to FiveThirtyEight.
Despite his injuries and dwindling playoff hopes, Rodgers said today that he “plan[s] on playing this week” against the Chicago Bears. Rodgers made the comments during his weekly interview on the Pat McAfee Show. The initial x-rays taken on his ribs were inconclusive when trying to determine if he had any broken ribs, according to Rodgers, but follow-up scans provided “good news.”
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said yesterday during media availability that if Rodgers is healthy enough to play on Sunday, he will play.
Wisconsin volleyball’s Gülce Güçtekin earns conference honors ahead of NCAA tournament
Gülce Güçtekin, libero for the Badgers, earned two weekly conference awards according to a release by the Big Ten yesterday. Güçtekin was announced as the conference’s Defensive Player of the Week and Co-Freshman of the Week (shared with Purdue outside hitter Eva Hudson).
Güçtekin has emerged as a defensive powerhouse in her first season with the Badgers. She currently leads the team in digs per set - a mark that puts her at tenth overall in the Big Ten. She also contributes at the service line for the Badgers leading the team and ranking sixth in the Big Ten in service aces per set.
This is Güçtekin’s second Defensive Player of the Week award and third Freshman of the Week Award.
Wisconsin men’s hockey honors Suter family during upcoming game against #5 Michigan
The Wisconsin Badgers (6-8-0, 0-6-0 Big Ten) will celebrate Suter night on Friday at the Kohl Center during a game against the #5 Michigan Wolverines (10-5-1, 2-4-0 Big Ten). Wisconsin’s games on Friday and Saturday against Michigan will be televised on Bally Sports Wisconsin Extra.
The night will honor the Suter family which is among the greatest contributors to the development of hockey programs in the Madison area. John and Bob Suter played at Wisconsin and won the 1977 national championship with the Badgers. Bob won a gold medal on the US Olympic team at the 1980 winter games. John and Bob’s brother Gary, played at Wisconsin in the 1980s, in the NHL for 18 seasons, and in two Olympic games winning a silver medal in 2002.
Bob’s son Ryan, followed his father and two uncles to become the fourth Suter defenseman at the University of Wisconsin. Ryan is currently playing for the Dallas Stars in his 17th season in the NHL. He won a silver medal at the 2010 Olympic games.
Beyond their accomplishments on the ice, the Suter family is known for founding, coaching, supporting, and owning the USHL’s Madison Capitols and its partner organizations that support youth hockey in Wisconsin.
Topping-off the six pack: My biggest concern with head coach Luke Fickell
I am extremely excited about Wisconsin seemingly swinging for the fences and hiring Luke Fickell as its next head football coach. It is a move to “go outside of the family” that does not happen very often at Wisconsin. With it comes risk, but I applaud athletic director Chris McIntosh in choosing to accept that risk to seek a greater reward. One of the biggest risk-reward tradeoffs that exist in the hiring of Fickell is in recruiting.
By all accounts, Fickell is a great recruiter of talent. He significantly outperformed recruiting expectations for a school as small as Cincinnati, beat out Ohio State for a few recruits, has great relationships with many high school coaches (particularly those in Ohio), and people who have worked with Fickell speak incredibly highly of his ability to recruit. Fickell, however, has only ever coached college football in Ohio. In a state with a population of six million more people than Wisconsin, Ohio is a more fertile recruiting ground. Consider the fact that Cincinnati is just a short drive away from other recruiting centers like Indianapolis and Louisville - even Pittsburgh is within a 300 mile drive - and it becomes clear that recruiting to Wisconsin is a different challenge.
Fickell always touted the “300-mile radius” as the core of how he recruited at Cincinnati and he is not shying away from that approach at Wisconsin. The potential problem with this approach is that there are simply more recruits within 300 miles of Cincinnati than there are of Madison. Fickell has great relationships with high school coaches in Ohio - an area Wisconsin could absolutely stand to recruit better - but with Ohio outside of that 300-mile radius, will Fickell’s relationships there be key to his recruiting to Wisconsin? How quickly can Fickell build relationships with high school coaches in Wisconsin? His track-record suggests he will succeed in doing so quickly, but there is a risk that things do not pan out in Wisconsin like they have for Fickell in Ohio. While Wisconsin has never been a program that primarily recruits nationally, I hope that Fickell makes use the knowledge and relationships he has used to recruit before even if it is to recruit outside of Madison’s 300-mile radius.
Bottom-line: I am excited about Coach Fickell. McIntosh is swinging for the fences and trying to get Wisconsin football to its ceiling. The reward of getting Wisconsin to its ceiling will take risk and that is exactly what McIntosh took when hiring Coach Fickell over Jim Leonhard.
On, Wisconsin.
I’m fairly new to college football, could you elaborate on what happens to the current staff?
Another banger, Ked 👍