Note to readers:Coaches Confidential is a series in which Milwaukee-area coaches answer questions under the condition of anonymity related to topics of our choosing.

As Wisconsin football has gotten out to a 2-6 start to the 2025 season in the third year under coach Luke Fickell, fans and alumni alike have bemoaned a program that has not looked or performed like those of recent decades.

The 2025 Badgers football roster includes 35 athletes who hail from a Wisconsin hometown. In 2021, the last full season under coach Paul Chryst before he was fired midway through the 2022 season, that number was 48. The 2021 roster also included notable future NFL players from Wisconsin including Braelon Allen, Chimere Dike, Hunter Wohler and Jake Ferguson. Dike later transferred to Florida in December 2023, nearly a year after Fickell’s hire in November 2022.

What do area high school coaches think about the efforts to recruit in-state under Fickell?

The Journal Sentinel reached out to two dozen Milwaukee-area high school football coaches with an anonymous survey designed to gather perceptions of the relationships the UW football program has cultivated under Fickell’s tenure. These coaches lead some of the Milwaukee area’s most competitive programs in both team performance and the development of NCAA Division I prospects. Many have been involved in or are currently involved with the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association, putting them in position to be familiar with regional and statewide trends.

Thirteen coaches responded with their thoughts. These responses have not been edited aside from the removal of a specific recruit who may have identified a respondent.

How would you characterize your relationship with the Wisconsin Badgers football program in the time since Luke Fickell was hired in November 2022?

• “We were his very first stop on his first day out as the new Badgers head coach. I haven’t seen him since that day.”
• “Very good.”
• “Nonexistent. I do have relationships with RB Coach (Devon) Spalding and OL Coach (AJ) Blazek.”
• “Open line of communication with coaches as needed. Coach Spalding and Coach Blazek have been responsive and engaging to work with.”
• “It’s been pretty good. All of the coaches who have visited have been really warm and welcoming. I feel good about most of the personal relationships that I have formed with the assistant coaches who have visited and are in this recruiting area.”
• “They were very active in recruiting (recruit’s name redacted), who was being recruited by the previous staff. Since then, they’ve checked in but it doesn’t feel as regular as previous staffs. That could be partly due to changes in rules.”
• “Little to no relationship.”
• “Never spoke with or met him.”
• “They have made a solid effort to get coaches in our building quite a bit. I also feel like I can call or text any of them and they will get back to me right away. I do think it helps we are a suburban school and typically have some decent players.”
• “I have a pretty solid relationship with the receivers coach Jordan (Reid), but outside of him I haven’t heard from them.”
• “Limited, visited when he was first hired.”
• “Honestly it isn’t popular, but it was better than the previous staff. It can be weird. I’m not sure they trust what we say or the state talent, but they have come around and been in contact.”
• “From afar as paying customer in the Camp Randall stands.”

If you were in your current role as head of a Milwaukee-area program dating back beyond 2022, were there differences in how the Wisconsin football program interacted with your program under previous Badgers coaches?

• “Paul (Chryst) visited yearly … not just his assistants. Chris Haering made multiple stops here each year when he was on staff with Paul. Devon Spalding is in our school quite a bit now … like 3 times in 2025.”
• “They have recruited more of our athletes in the last three years.”
• “The previous staff had let relationships slip in the state. I don’t feel like they did a very good job communicating and staying on top of guys as they needed to. To believe it was better at the end of the Chryst era would be false.”
• “I don’t know if it’s much different. I think the messaging from the program has shifted … it does not seem that they are as invested in the players in the state or are pursuing them as eagerly as previous staffs.”
• “I could count on coaches in the past to check in every year whether we had a known recruit or not. I don’t think that’s happening now.”
• “Yes every year.”
• “Previous coaches actually recruited the area and made sure to come get the top Wisconsin recruits. Whereas, ever since Fickell took over, he prioritizes the out-of-state recruits and shows no love to the in-state guys. Then once those out-of-state guys commit elsewhere or decommit, he tries to come back to the Wisconsin kids last minute to get them to flip. He’ll give them a last-minute walk-on offer. I’d hate to be a high school kid in the state of Wisconsin right now. I feel for my athletes. There is only one DI school in the state and they don’t care about Wisconsin.”
• “I feel we received more information in the past, however, in-state recruiting is just as bad as previous staff.”
• “The guy at Indiana (Bob Bostad) — drawing a blank — but OL guy was great. When he left it fell apart. These guys do a little better and have come in one cycle at least.”
• “Yes. The previous staffs made sure to connect with high schools in different ways, from subtle on up. It may seem minor, but if you qualified for the playoffs they would send a colorful flyer that had your school name on it and would wish good luck in the playoffs. That has stopped under this staff. Little things can go a long way.”

Has your program received any specific, non-general outreach from the Badgers (phone calls, individual emails, snail mail) in the past six months?

Yes — 7No — 6

Has your program received an in-person visit from Luke Fickell or another representative of the Wisconsin football program in the past six months?

Yes — 7No — 6

Note to readers:All 13 respondents indicated the same yes/no response on both of the previous two questions.

Luke Fickell and the Wisconsin football staff have made high school coaches and players in the state of Wisconsin a priority?

Respondents were asked to rate whether they strongly agree, agree, disagree or strongly disagree with the above statement.

Strongly agree — 0Agree — 3Disagree — 9Strongly disagree — 1

Luke Fickell and the Wisconsin football staff have a responsibility to build relationships with all high school programs in Wisconsin, not just those who have potential DI recruits?

Strongly agree — 3Agree — 7Disagree — 3Strongly disagree — 0

What other comments do you have on Wisconsin’s recruiting efforts in-state and particularly in the greater Milwaukee area under Luke Fickell?

• “We have studs from Wisconsin starting elsewhere … Minnesota, Ohio State and Notre Dame to name a few. Paul (Chryst) would have locked these kids down to stay at home.”
• “Wisconsin has been around here recruiting our athletes as well as other athletes in the area.”
• “I do not have a relationship with Coach Fickell, but like I said previously I have a relationship with Coach (AJ) Blazek. I have met with him on several occasions, the same with Coach (Devon) Spalding. Coach Spalding allowed me to sit in on his RB room before spring game. I have had a chance to be around the staff a few times.”
• “When players start to attract national attention, notably at the OL position, the Badgers don’t have enough leverage (NIL, amenities, etc.) to win those battles. Additionally, the OL coaches have tremendous pedigree and relationships with in-state coaches from their time recruiting the area. The recruiting battles of kids wanting to just play for Wisconsin is not as passionate as it once was because of the national attention and opportunities that exist.”
• “The blueprint is there. It’s been in place since 1990. I don’t know why anyone would deviate greatly from it. It’s completely appropriate to make it your own, but any flagship university must prioritize their state’s players and programs.”
• “I reached out and talked to their safety coach about our DI kid and there was little to no contact with him.”
• “Our kids are treated like the bottom of the barrel since he came in. The only way an in-state will get an offer from the Badgers is if they see that other Big Ten schools have offered. I’d be interested to know how many in-state kids have had their first DI offer from the Badgers, if any, since this staff came in? I personally had 5 other Big Ten schools come in to recruit our stud athlete before the Badgers did. He was an all-state kid junior and senior year, has 11 Division I offers and the Badgers didn’t invite him on a gameday until after Week 9 of his regular season. It’s clear that this staff doesn’t think too highly of Wisconsin high school football.”
• “I believe it’s a disservice that Wisconsin is losing out on DI talent like Lamont Hamilton, Brandon Walton, Michael Farr, Dominic Walters and many other talented athletes to programs outside of our state. With Wisconsin being the only DI school in the state, they need to keep our DI talent home. Such a sad situation.”
• “I feel a lot of DI players from Wisconsin are going elsewhere because it is not a priority to keep them in Wisconsin.”
• “I just think they miss the boat. This state is talented and has players that can develop. They have let them go to other programs — smaller or same size. To me they are looking for stars and splash — that isn’t Wisconsin. But you can win with guys who develop like a 4/5 star. The state has tough, physical, smart kids. They prove it at all sort of other places — look no further than NDSU who makes headlines with Wisconsin kids. Other MAC or Big 10 (schools) have some kids on the roster too. Kids who didn’t pass the eye test or whatever else. But I also get it. You get fired for missing on guys who don’t look the part. I also think football is hard. And it’s the most complicated sport. Lots of people think they know the game and the decisions being made, but they don’t. Some of the kids in the state the Badgers missed or whiffed on. Others they made the right choice letting go elsewhere. It’s a tough business.”
• “To the previous answer, recruiting efforts should build off of a network. High school coaches watch tons of film and are the best widespread network of eyes and ears for this staff across the state. Even if you don’t have a DI caliber player, chances are you’ve encountered them on an opposing team, seen them on film, or heard about them from a peer. We have a strong, vigorous football coaches association — one of the best in the country. Coaches talk to each other. In my experiences, discussions around the job this Badger staff is doing with in-state recruiting is generally not positive. Like all Badger fans, high school coaches are disappointed in the results on the field and in recruiting. We want Coach Fickell, his staff, and the Badger football team to be successful. We are losing talented, scholarship level kids to out-of-state Power 5 programs not from losing a recruiting battle, but rather from not engaging at all. There are Wisconsin kids playing at high level P5 schools that this staff did not show much or any interest in recruiting. The mood of coaches with whom I have interacted is that we would like to see our backyard, the one with players upon which Barry Alvarez built the foundation of this program around, to be better recruited. Better engage with the people that are in the trenches of Wisconsin high school football.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Coaches Confidential: High school coaches weigh in on UW coach Fickell