Wisconsin’s athletics board met Wednesday to, in part, rubber-stamp one-year extensions for the Badgers’ head coaches. All of them except head football coach Luke Fickell.

Fickell requested to AD Chris McIntosh to remove his name for consideration for a 1-year extension following his team’s 4-8 record in 2025.

“I respect his request and determined that the current terms of Luke’s contract will be maintained,” McIntosh told ESPN. “Luke is completely focused on a successful 2026 campaign. There is no one more competitive than Luke, and he holds himself to the highest standards. He is committed to meeting and exceeding the expectations of everyone connected to Wisconsin — his own, the team’s, the university’s, alumni, supporters, fans, and the entire state.”

Hired one year removed from taking Cincinnati to the 4-team College Football Playoff following back-to-back undefeated regular seasons, the Fickell era at Wisconsin has not gone as either side envisioned. Fickell went 7-6 with a ReliaQuest Bowl in 2023, but the club has seen its win total drop each season since. 

Wisconsin went 5-7 in 2024, then 4-8 last fall. 

The Badgers played an extremely tough schedule in 2025, facing a whopping four eventual CFP participants: at Alabama in non-conference play, Ohio State and Oregon in back-to-back weeks, and then a road trip to Indiana in November. Wisconsin also drew Michigan, Iowa, Washington and Illinois on its Big Ten slate.

But 4-8 is 4-8. Losing to Ohio State, Oregon and Indiana is one thing, but Wisconsin also lost 27-10, at home, to Maryland, and ended the year with a 17-7 loss to arch-rival Minnesota. 

Falling behind the Ohio States and the Oregons is one thing, but Fickell is a combined 1-5 against Iowa and Minnesota. Worse still, the Badgers have scored 10 points or fewer in all five losses. 

Fickell received his customary 1-year extensions following the 2023 and ’24 seasons. He is under contract through the 2031 season.

McIntosh announced Fickell’s return back in November, pointing to a lack of resources as the primary reason for Wisconsin’s first back-to-back losing season since the early days of the Barry Alvarez era.

“One of the things this season has shown us is that we can identify the challenges that we’ve faced this season, and that allows us to develop a plan that. That’s a plan that we’ve begun to execute on, it’s not like that starts today. It begins with the people in and around our program. Every aspect of our program will be evaluated and scrutinized. It starts at the top — with me, with Coach Fickell. It ends to our coaching staff, everyone that’s within our program. One of the things that I’m most pleased with is the alignment that we have from the top, the alignment for the need for us to invest in our program,” McIntosh said then.