Luke Fickell on who is calling plays the rest of the season after he fired Phil Longo: “Why does it matter?”

A few things in no particular order:

• In his almost 2 seasons in Madison, Luke Fickell has been EXCELLENT with the media, generally speaking. He’s got charisma, he’s willing to answer questions with more than just coach-speak, he gives you great soundbites for a sportscast or a podcast. Compared to his predecessor, Paul Chryst, he is OOZING charisma. Luke Fickell is like Attitude-Era Rock compared to Chryst. Chryst made NPR seem like it had sizzle.
• It wasn’t likely that Fickell would be in a great mood yesterday. His team lost a heartbreaker to the #1 team in the country on Saturday night, he fired his high profile OC on Sunday night. Not a fun weekend, I’m sure.
• I understand he’s protecting the new playcaller from media criticism. That playcaller is not likely to be a household name, and if things go, for lack of a better term, tits up, in the last two weeks, he doesn’t want that guy’s name dragged through the mud.

All in all, yesterday was probably Fickell’s worst performance with the media during his time at Wisconsin. You just made a huge coaching move on Sunday night. You’re sitting at 5-5 and quarterback play/the offense is a big reason why. Naturally reporters and fans are going to be curious what the plan is for the two remaining games. His demeanor for that entire portion of the press conference almost made it seem like firing Longo wasn’t 100% his decision.

^Related: I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that this next hire is the biggest of Fickell’s career in Madison. If he doesn’t get this right, his seat is going to be hotter than a sizzlin’ fajita plate at Applebees.

Clearly the shift from Wisconsin’s old ‘ground-and-pound’ identity to Longo’s ‘air raid’ was a bit too violent. It abandoned the foundational blocks of the program, and he really didn’t have the quarterback* or wide receivers to accomplish what he wanted to accomplish.

That said, I think the idea behind Fickell’s hiring of Longo was the correct one. The program and the offense needed to be brought into the 21st century. Gone are the Barry Alveraz days of running the ball 50 times for 320 yards and only passing it 12-15 times a game. We remember those running backs and the success the program had in that era fondly, but that’s not going to work in modern college football. The problem Longo had is that it seemed like his interest in creative running schemes was the same as a toddler’s interest in eating green beans. Fickell needs to find someone who can better blend the old Wisconsin running game with a more progressive aerial attack.

Fickell did say they’re sticking with Locke at QB for the Nebraska game. Locke seems like he’s still mentally reeling from that pick-6 he threw against Penn State. I think that broke him. Maybe Fickell feels like Longo wasn’t playing to Locke’s strengths (?) and there’s still some talent there that a new OC can harvest. Maybe the freshman, Mabry Mettauer, truly isn’t ready. The move at OC felt like a natural time to make a move at QB, but that apparently isn’t going to be the case.

Both the Nebraska game and Minnesota games are winnable to wrap up the season. Hopefully they can get to 7-5, keep the bowl streak going, and hit the offseason with some momentum. I do think we FINALLY started to see some of the long term vision for Fickell’s program in the game against Oregon. Some of the young athletes (especially on defense) are starting to have an impact, and you can see the overall athleticism and talent of the program is better than where it was at the end of the Chryst Era. We’re getting there, but we’re on a much longer road than we thought we’d be when Fickell was hired last season.

*I saw some conversation on Twitter on Saturday night that revolved around how the season would have played out had Tyler Van Dyke not gotten hurt. For all of the fans screaming that, “LOCKE AIN’T IT,” keep in mind, the coaches know that too. They acknowledged that by dipping back into the transfer portal before the year even started to grab a 5th year quarterback. We have no way of knowing how different their record would be with TVD, but I think there’s a real chance they win the USC game, the Penn State game and the Oregon game. Imagine how different we’d feel if this team were 8-2 with three wins against top-25 teams.

PS: If you thought this year’s schedule was brutal, next season’s if even worse: At Alabama, home against Ohio State/Washington/Iowa, road games at Oregon/Michigan/Indiana. YEESH.