Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell Credit: David Leong-Imagn Images
By Drew Lerner on

It has not been a season to remember for Wisconsin football fans.

The Badgers dropped to a 2-5 record on Saturday after getting shutout 34-0 by Ohio State at Camp Randall. Head coach Luke Fickell now sits at an ugly 14-18 record overall throughout his Wisconsin tenure, putting him firmly on the hot seat.

As with any beleaguered head coach, Fickell was met with some tough questions from reporters during his postgame press conference on Saturday. But one question in particular had observers raising an eyebrow. A reporter asked Fickell about a report from The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, who shared after Wisconsin’s loss that the head coach “has been shutting NFL scouts out of practice.”

When confronted with the premise, Fickell seemed defensive.

“No. We have NFL scouts there almost every single day. I think that one week we kind of said on Wednesdays let’s don’t have a slew of guys. But, no. They’re in the building, they’re able to ask [questions]. Maybe they can’t watch the whole practice on a Wednesday, I think, but my goodness, I don’t really think I have much of a restriction,” Fickell answered. “I think there was a week, but other than that, we’ve got other things to worry about. I don’t get into some Bill Belichick type of scouting situation. That’s the least of our worries. But no, they can ask all questions and visit with too many people at times, but they’re more than welcome.”

Fickell’s coaching has not inspired much confidence recently, and neither did that answer. Shouldn’t he “know” his own team’s policy on NFL scouts rather than “think” he knows? The manner in which he answered the reporter’s question would only seem to lend credence to Brugler’s reporting.

Fickell was clearly caught off guard by the question (Brugler’s report was posted right around when Wisconsin was finally put out of its misery against the Buckeyes). On Sunday, The Athletic’s NFL Draft expert defended himself.

“I’ll just say this – it would be a pretty weird thing for me to randomly make up. My original post was based on info from multiple scouts. And I’ve heard from several more this morning. It’s real,” Brugler wrote on social media.

Let’s just say, Luke Fickell likely wouldn’t want to submit to a polygraph test on this one.

About Drew Lerner

Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.

View all posts by Drew Lerner