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It's a little absurd to think, but I don't feel you are wrong.  Jimmy loves Madison and wants to be here.  That he is coaching the team to a bowl game while Fick is watching says a lot I think.

I hate to get my hopes up, because I think Jim is a big time defensive coordinator and will be courted everywhere, but he just might stick around. 

If I’m JL, I might want to stay another year or two at UW as defensive coordinator.  Imagine he and Fickell collaborating on defensive schemes?   That could be tremendous.  Hell, imagine if you are a big time defensive recruit.  Fickell and JL on the staff together?  Holy crap.

The other issue is you can make a case JL could become even more valuable and sought after if Fickell is able to come in and have immediate success.  Plus, I’m not sure there are any plumb jobs left as HC.  Wait another year or two and that could change.  What if Harbaugh continues to get over on the Buckeyes?   Ryan Day could be gone in 2-3 years and maybe Fickell replaces him and JL gets the UW job after all.

The final nugget is when you  look at next years schedule, yes they play Ohio State but it’s at home and there’s no Michigan or Penn State.   They also get Iowa at home.  Sure, they have WSU and Purdue and Illinois and MN on the road but honestly those are all winnable games. Realistically, this should be a 9 or 10 win team next year.   I bring this up as a strong reason for JL and key players to stay.   They should have a very good 2023 season.

Last edited by Tschmack
@Tschmack posted:

If I’m JL, I might want to stay another year or two at UW as defensive coordinator.  Imagine he and Fickell collaborating on defensive schemes?   That could be tremendous.  Hell, imagine if you are a big time defensive recruit.  Fickell and JL on the staff together?  Holy crap.

The other issue is you can make a case JL could become even more valuable and sought after if Fickell is able to come in and have immediate success.  Plus, I’m not sure there are any plumb jobs left as HC.  Wait another year or two and that could change.  What if Harbaugh continues to get over on the Buckeyes?   Ryan Day could be gone in 2-3 years and maybe Fickell replaces him and JL gets the UW job after all.

The final nugget is when you  look at next years schedule, yes they play Ohio State but it’s at home and there’s no Michigan or Penn State.   They also get Iowa at home.  Sure, they have WSU and Purdue and Illinois and MN on the road but honestly those are all winnable games. Realistically, this should be a 9 or 10 win team next year.   I bring this up as a strong reason for JL and key players to stay.   They should have a very good 2023 season.

Assuming key players stay, being a 9 or 10 win team depends on QB play. Perhaps Mertz stays and becomes at least a competent game manager type who avoids the killer mistakes. I don't think it's the most likely outcome, but it's not impossible. Maybe they get a guy from the transfer portal instead?

As poorly as this season went, if a Jack Coan type would have been the QB, they very likely win at least 2 more games (Washington State and Michigan State). They may even win 4 more games (Iowa and Minnesota).

Good, competent QB play covers up a lot of other issues that you don't notice otherwise.

I think Fickell will deal with this issue more effectively than Chryst did.

If there’s a way to keep JL even for a year or two I doubt you will see many guys transfer out.  I also think Fickell should be able to attract guys to the program (hopefully a QB).   But I agree - something has to give with Mertz and he may decide to move on himself.

If Allen still decides to transfer so be it.  Rumors of Michigan and U$C aside, his best opportunity to showcase his skills will be at Wisconsin.   He’s the main man at UW.  Those other two programs are loaded with great players.  He likely will play in 2023 and then declare for the draft so why not stay in Madison?

Last edited by Tschmack

How long before Fickell talks to players, like Allen? Is Allen unhappy at UW? I see the Badgers' recruiting budget as something that needs to be adjusted upwards. If we added $1 million to it, we would be near Michigan's recruiting budget, which is still near the middle of the pack. Lots to do to bring a winner to Madison.

Last edited by mrtundra

In retrospect it's not clear how close they actually came to getting him, but if Caleb Williams transfers to Wisconsin instead of USC, there is no doubt the Badgers would be playing Michigan tomorrow because their record would be, at worse, 10-2. They'd have likely still lost to OSU, and may have still lost to Illinois, but that's it.

There are likely QBs out there that would upgrade the position fast.

https://trojanswire.usatoday.c...s-coach-paul-chryst/

Notre Dame QB Drew Pyne will enter the transfer portal.  He has 3 years of eligibility left.   He went 8-2 as Notre Dames starter this year, going 4-1 against top 25 teams.   He will not play in the Fighting Irish bowl game.   Get on the phone Luke and get that young man to Madison.   Fickell is exactly the type of coach Pyne should want to play for.

https://www.espn.com/college-f...nter-transfer-portal

Last edited by ammo
@ammo posted:

Notre Dame QB Drew Pyne will enter the transfer portal.  He has 3 years of eligibility left.   He went 8-2 as Notre Dames starter this year, going 4-1 against top 25 teams.   He will not play in the Fighting Irish bowl game.   Get on the phone Luke and get that young man to Madison.   Fickell is exactly the type of coach Pyne should want to play for.

https://www.espn.com/college-f...nter-transfer-portal

They guy who could not beat out Jack Coan

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Bob Bostad is leaving the program.  Not a huge surprise as he was one of PCs most loyal guys, but he’s also (arguably) the best position coach in UW football history.   Under his watch as OL coach, they churned out a dozen or so All American OL.  When he moved to LB coach, he made a similar impact.   This year?  I have no idea what happened to the OL although I’m not sure they had the right level of talent or strength/conditioning for those interior OL positions.  

Bobby April is a guy to watch as well and like JL I hope they are able to keep him.  He’s probably their best recruiter on the PC/JL staff and he’s done well developing guys.   That being said, he probably could land a DC position for the right program so it’s worth following.  If JL goes I’m sure April will as well.

As for the Badgers offense, I really think other teams figured out that schematically it was easy to defend them and obviously other than the RB position this team has been abysmal at TE and WR the last half decade or so.  Skylar Bell is intriguing but he’s a backup on most good teams.  Dike is nothing special and for as reliable as Ferguson was he was no threat to make game breaking plays.  

We’ve also talked about this but Taylor and Allen covered up a ton of warts on that side of the ball.   If JT didn’t play for this team my guess is PC would have been canned earlier.  He was a once in a decade talent at RB.

If Fickell is able to come in and effectively recruit top 20-25 classes like Cincinnati this should be a 9-10 win team or even better.  I also expect he will make some changes or upgrades in strength and conditioning because that’s been a problem since Bielema moved on.

With players he recruited for his system.  I watched the Bearcats a lot. Father in law graduated from there and a niece just graduated. Wife is from Cincinnati. Fickle can coach. They play a different defense also 3-3-5?? Offense will depend on o coordinater. Will the current one come to Wisconsin?

The OC,  Gino Guidugli is no stranger to Wisconsin.   He played QB twice for the Green Bay Blizzard of the AFL and 1 season with the Milwaukee Mustangs.   He also was with the Tennessee  Titans as a QB for 1 season and also played in the CFL.

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