Good move for both. Obviously great hire for Wisconsin. And if Fickell does well, he can parlay it into the top tier programs / nfl
The vocal "leaders" have stated time after time they want JL, that he's their man, he'll bring the team to the next level. Mind you that's a mass of 4-5 players. They have been disappointed that he wasn't hired right away and feel/t that they're being hung out dry. Wisconsin laws have it that the job has to be posted for a set amount of time and as more information comes out, it sounds like LF's interest in the WI HC job was/is off the charts, "one of the top places to be." Insider has stated that the HC job has created a fuckton of interest across the country. Gotta assume this was in the making for a good bit behind the scenes. JL is a cool guy, but as said before nepotism and an outdated offensive approach has killed this program.
There is one team that has come out of this weekend drastically worse than the others in the B1G west and it grows worse corn than Nebraska.
Based on last years coaching carousel it seemed like Fickell was already a candidate for top tier programs.
And which of those programs are becoming available? From all reports, he wants Ohio State, Penn State, or ND. Day and Franklin are both too good to fire. And Freeman has at least two more years. Might as well land at Wisconsin, get paid more, and let it all play out.
I’m not arguing that it’s a bad move for Fickell, Wisconsin is a great program. I just don’t see it as a necessary move for a stepping stone situation. I feel like if notre dame wanted to hire him they would have done so last year. Maybe he just wants a new challenge, more money, better facilities, etc. I just doubt his motivation is this being a required step for a better job.
Weird take. I guess I shouldn’t make a benign comment about the best coach in our conference leaving. Let me tuck my hardon up.
They just posted it last weekend finally. With it being right after Wisconsin became bowl eligible, everyone figured that meant it was Leonhard.
I don’t like him or think he’s a good coach, but dude went 10-2 this year. He’s not getting pushed out of Happy Valley for awhile, assuming it all doesn’t fall apart.
hartline kind of has it made imo. he gets paid well to do something he's very very good at, at his alma mater
Jim Leonhard’s last Google search… “PR firm to help look like the victim even after taking a job at Alabama”
I mean they gave him every opportunity to win that job. Schedule was a cakewalk and he just didn’t do that good of a job?
No, but you also can’t blame Wisconsin for wanting to bring in an established, successful head coach vs giving the keys to someone who has never done it before. People act like victims in this type of scenario all the time. But does anyone actually think Leonhard would’ve been a better choice than Fickell? Jim should go take a lesser HC job if he really wants the top position.
Big ole problem here is that the news, through whoever leaked or confirmed it, basically said JL was due to the next HC for Wisconsin a couple days ago. He had his try out, and it didn't look well. AD likely was talking to LF for a while now.
I don’t think feeling blindsided necessarily means he’d portray himself as a victim, especially since no one can know what was told to him since they let Chryst go.
Leonhard has turned down bigger opportunities and a lot more money (I'm assuming) in CFB and the NFL to stay at Wisconsin, likely with the belief that he would be the next man up if/when Chryst was out. Seems reasonable to me that he'd feel disappointed or worse the day the news breaks, regardless of how much sense I think it makes for Wisconsin to go this route instead.
He turned down ND this past off season after a prolonged dance with Freeman, seems like he fucked this one up. He could've gone to ND for one year and let Chryst implode and then be hailed as the hero when he returned
I think that’s a fair assessment. The learning lesson in all of this is that college football has become so big a business with such high $$ signs that loyalty has gone completely out the window. And people should act accordingly and do what’s best for themselves. Same reason why I don’t blame Brian Kelly for taking the LSU deal. Guy wanted his retirement contract and ND wasn’t willing to give it unless he won a title. Can’t blame him for finding it elsewhere.
most people who are very, very good at something, especially at such a young age, wind up having a bit of ambition as well. if you’ve proven to be good at something in coaching there’s almost no risk in pushing yourself because you can always fall back to what you’ve proven you can do.