Wisconsin football coach Luke Fickell says leadership is No. 1 thing he will stress to his team

INDIANAPOLIS – Wisconsin football coach Luke Fickell and his staff spent the offseason mining the transfer portal for length and athleticism to add to the roster.

The biggest change in Year 2 of the Fickell era, however, might not be measureable.

Fickell unofficially kicked off the 2024 season Tuesday morning at Big Ten media day at Lucas Oil Stadium. His message was growing in the intangibles that go into winning games.

“We’ve got a lot of things to continue to stress in these next 39 days (before the first game of the season), but the  No. 1 most important thing, the thing I’m going to stress and continue to talk about here today as well as when we get into camp is about leadership.

“As a reflect on last year and all the things you go through, not that it’s just Year 1, but when you hit adversity and when you go through the ups and downs and you really reflect on it the first thing it comes back to is leadership. Our ability since Jan. 1 to attack every aspect of the leadership within our program has been critical.”

Wisconsin went 7-6 last season and posted a 5-4 record in the Big Ten. It was a campaign that began with hopes of a Big Ten West Division title but was hampered by injuries, slow starts and the transition that comes with an entirely new coaching staff.

Head coach Luke Fickell and Wisconsin went 7-6 last season with a 5-4 record in the Big Ten. It was Fickell’s first season with the Badgers. This year, the Big Ten adds four new teams to the conference: USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.

At their lowest points, the Badgers dropped back-to-back games to Indiana and Northwestern that dropped them to 5-5 overall and 3-4 in the Big Ten.

Getting better at handling those lows of the season has been a major focus this offseason.

Actually, Fickell believes growth in that regard started  late last season….

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/wisconsin-football-coach-luke-fickell-182600633.html

Author : Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Publish date : 2024-07-23 18:26:00

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