The Badgers could be making some coaching changes if things don’t improve by the end of the year.
The Wisconsin Badgers are set to face off against the Oregon Ducks on Saturday, looking to pull off a major upset against the top team in the country at Camp Randall Stadium, with kickoff set for 6:30 p.m.
Heading into the game, the Badgers have a number of questions to be answered, both on and off the field that could define the program’s future.
So, ahead of the big game, we brought back the football roundtable to answer three of the biggest questions surrounding Wisconsin’s football program at the moment.
Q: What do you want to see from Badgers vs. Oregon and over next 3 weeks?
Rohan: Development. At this stage, the Badgers season outlook has changed from a team that could pull off eight wins to one scratching and clawing for bowl eligibility with three games to go. Now, this team has shown a ton of fight, the Iowa game withstanding, and a number of young players have started to crack the rotation.
Wisconsin needs to see what they have in Braedyn Locke. That’s the biggest question because it’s unclear whether he can be the guy in 2025. If Locke’s inconsistent play continued, the Badgers need a different solution. But, it doesn’t just extend to Locke.
The Badgers should look to see continued progress from offensive weapons Darrion Dupree and Trech Kekahuna, who could be the top options in their respective parts of the game in 2025. Defensively, defensive tackle Dillan Johnson is a player to watch, as is cornerback Xavier Lucas, who can hopefully get back into the defensive gameplan on Saturday.
But, it’s really the overall development that will be the biggest thing over the next three weeks. Can the Badgers show progress and end the season on a high note?
Scary: I want to see some goddamn heart. Look, winning this game was always going to be a steep challenge, but if I see the team and coaching staff give 100 percent fight from kickoff to 0:00 of the fourth quarter, I can live with the result. The talent advantage for Oregon is massive and, frankly, the coaching advantage is likely pretty hefty, too. But guts and showing a will to win are worth something.
If Wisconsin loses 31-17 but plays hard all four quarters, you won’t hear a single complaint from me. Unfortunately, until I see otherwise, it’s hard for me to predict that the Badgers stay that close because I don’t think they will. Oregon should cruise on Saturday evening.
Connor: I want to see a similar competitive fire that the Badgers demonstrated after their first bye week against USC. The play calling and execution on defense was really good in the first half of that game and I don’t see why that’s not possible early in this home game as well.
Over the next three weeks, I want to see the Badgers play more aggressively. It feels like a lot of what worked during their strong three-game win streak disappeared as soon as they faced Penn State. Most of the creativity on offense wasn’t there in that game which forced the defense on the field for way too much time.
Q: Whose seat is hotter: Phil Longo or Mike Tressel?
Rohan: Phil Longo’s, but I’m not sure that it should be. I’ve been an advocate for Longo at times, as you can see the vision the offensive coordinator has when re-watching the film. There have definitely been some issues in each game with playcalling, as I’ve highlighted in past articles. But, a lot of the problems have been decision-making and inaccuracies from the quarterback position, as well as drops and a lack of separation at the skill positions.
Now, injuries haven’t helped the team in either year, but the problems offensively extend past Longo. The bigger question is: can an Air Raid offense be sustainable in this environment against the Big Ten? Wisconsin hasn’t gotten a top-end quarterback option yet in the Luke Fickell era, despite landing some nice recruits. They also haven’t seen good enough receiver play, while the offensive style has completely eliminated the under-center game, which I’m a big proponent of. Through two years, we haven’t really seen evidence that the Air Raid can be sustainable.
As for Tressel, it’s the second straight season where he’s had to simplify his defense in the middle of the year to accommodate his players. Like Longo, I can see the vision for what his defense should be, but you have to adapt to your personnel and for some reason, that hasn’t happened quick enough in back-to-back seasons.
His connection with Fickell and overall shared belief in the defense likely makes his seat fine, but there needs to be a change in 2025. Perhaps the infusion of younger players can help him implement more of his desired system.
Scary: Yes.
Kidding aside, I think it’s Longo. Tressel has had his share of issues, but the reality is that Jim Leonhard had far more NFL talent on his defenses than Tress. That matters. If 2024 Wisconsin had 2017 Wisconsin’s front seven, it’s possible if not likely that it has an extra win or two and is certainly ranked higher as a unit. But I can see the logic behind the argument that, talent issues or not, Tessel has made some mind-numbing decisions this season, and is using a scheme that makes defending the run a challenge.
On the other side of the ball, Longo didn’t suddenly forget how to coach, but his performance so far as an offensive coordinator makes me wonder if he needs NFL-level quarterback talent, like he had at UNC, to make things hum. To call his tenure in Madison underwhelming is a massive understatement.
The bad luck of not having his starting quarterback for half of those games is tough, but let’s not forget that Braedyn Locke was his handpicked guy two years ago. If I had to bet on it, I’d say Longo will not be on Wisconsin’s sideline in 2025 and Tressel will be.
Connor: In my personal opinion, Phil Longo’s seat is much hotter than Mike Tressel. Mike Tressel has been in the Luke Fickell system so long that it would take a lot for him to get fired. The best year of Fickell’s career came with Tressel as defensive coordinator when they became the first Group of 5 team to make the College Football Playoff.
When it comes to Phil Longo, it just feels like the playcalling is too inconsistent in a majority of important games. A lot of the run plays get predictable too quickly and the passing plays don’t fit Braedyn Locke’s skill set as well as one would hope. I think Longo is a good coach who would quickly find a new job in college football should he be let go, but I just don’t know if this partnership made as much sense as Fickell thought it would.
3. What is a successful season? Can it still be achieved?
Rohan: I think the way to potentially get to a “successful season” is winning the last two games. When it came to preseason predictions, many had Wisconsin down for around eight wins, as I hovered around the seven to eight range.
That seems unlikely now, as the Badgers would have to win out and beat the No. 1 Oregon Ducks, but seven wins is a possibility if they’re able to pull off victories over the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Now, even with back-to-back wins, there would still be significant questions to answer at the end of the year, especially when it comes to the quarterback position. But, winning seven games would be a good way to finish out Luke Fickell’s second year, which had a number of tough games on the schedule, especially if there’s good growth seen to end the year out.
Scary: Three things: Showing some heart and progress from Saturday forward, beating Minnesota, and winning a bowl game will be a successful campaign. That sounds pretty damn modest, but here we are and it’s probably 50/50 at best that it happens. Losing out would not shock me.
The mere fact that expectations have dipped this far is troubling, but we’ll see what this team is made of over the next three (and hopefully four) games. This was always a four+ year plan for Fickell, and his recruiting has held up its end of the bargain, but the rest of it has been disappointing. We’re 22 games deep into the Fick era and his squad has no discernable identity. Just brutal stuff.
Connor: Whether fans want to hear it or not, a 7-5 season is still successful in my eyes. The Badgers came into this season projected to win six games and some predicted them to only win five. The Badgers have had to play Alabama, USC, Penn State, and Oregon all in one season. All four of those teams were ranked in the top 11 at one point, with three of them still in the top 10 at this moment.
Rebuilding a program takes time. The wins that are most important are against teams you are favored or a small underdog against. If Wisconsin somehow manages to pull off an upset against Oregon, that’s incredible. However, what’s most important for the future of this program and Coach Fickell is winning their last two games. Winning one gets them bowl eligibility, but winning both solidifies another winning season as well as two big wins over rivals.
I expect Wisconsin to be a small, single-digit favorite in both of those contests and expect them to win both. Winning both and finishing off the regular season 7-5 is a successful season. I expect them to do so but it will still take work to win against both Nebraska and Minnesota.