Tim Brando dismisses ‘podcasters’ criticizing Luke Fickell

Tim Brando went to bat for Luke Fickell during Saturday’s Oregon-Wisconsin game. That’s about all the Badgers had going for them in a 21-7 loss that extended their losing streak to six games.

Wisconsin scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter to avoid a third straight shutout. That was the highlight. They’re now 2-6, 0-5 in the Big Ten, and fans stopped showing up to Camp Randall weeks ago. But Brando wanted everyone watching on FS1 to know that Fickell’s aware of the criticism and that podcasters questioning his relationships with high school coaches don’t know what they’re talking about.

“Listen, Luke Fickell’s been hearing it all,” Brando said on FS1’s broadcast of Oregon-Wisconsin. “The noise is out there. They’ve been banging on the doors at Camp Randall; a lot of no shows for home games. He’s aware of it. I mean, it’s something that he has mentioned more than a couple of times this week. “And with all these podcasters now that want to say ‘Well, the relationships with high school coaches just isn’t there anymore.’ How much do they really, really know? Probably not much.”

Tim Brando on the media criticizing Luke Fickell: “And with all these podcasters now that want to say ‘Aw well the relationships with high school coaches just isn’t there anymore’…How much do they really really know? Probably not much”#Badgers #OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/ii0nYqg4TJ

— Carter 🦡🐻 (@cfbvideo) October 26, 2025

Wisconsin hasn’t won a conference game all season. The Badgers went 11 straight quarters without scoring a point before Hunter Simmons hit Lance Mason for a 2-yard touchdown with under eight minutes left Saturday. Fans have been chanting “Fire Fickell” at home games since September. Before the Ohio State game two weeks ago, they booed Fickell’s name during pregame introductions.

Fickell’s 15-19 at Wisconsin. The program hired him to compete for Big Ten titles and gave him a massive contract to do it. He’s delivered consecutive losing seasons.

The high school coach relationships Brando mentioned aren’t a talking point invented by podcasters. When Fickell took the Cincinnati job in 2016, rebuilding those relationships was central to his pitch. Tommy Tuberville, the previous coach, had allowed local recruiting ties to deteriorate. St. Xavier coach Steve Specht told Eleven Warriors in 2017 that Tuberville never once visited his program despite the school being fewer than 10 miles from Cincinnati’s campus.

Fickell changed that immediately. He prioritized high school coaches and built Cincinnati into a College Football Playoff program. When he arrived in Madison, he emphasized building those same connections in the state. He spoke to Ohio high school coaches about leadership and building trust during a clinic in February 2023.

Whatever relationships Fickell’s built haven’t translated to wins. Wisconsin’s offense averages 13.3 points per game, good enough for third-worst in FBS. The Badgers have been shut out twice in the last three weeks. Oregon beat them by two touchdowns despite having just 21 total yards and minus-16 rushing yards in the first quarter.

The Athletic reported last week that Fickell shut out NFL scouts from practice. Fickell denied it, then acknowledged there was “maybe” one week where scouts couldn’t watch full practices. Dane Brugler stood by his reporting, while ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler said multiple scouts confirmed it.

Have confirmed this with several scouts who have been told all of practice is closed to them at various points throughout the year, dating back to August and as recently as last week. Fickell denied Dane’s report in a presser Sat, and one scout said to me: “he knows he’s lying” https://t.co/Nml30uQBsC

— Kalyn Kahler (@kalynkahler) October 20, 2025

None of that’s shaken Wisconsin’s confidence in Fickell. Athletic director Chris McIntosh doubled down on Fickell this week and announced additional program funding. Barry Alvarez called the “Fire Fickell” chants “embarrassing” back in September when Wisconsin was 2-2. The Badgers are now 2-6.

Brando’s been calling games for 40 years. He knows what coaching pressure looks like. But dismissing the criticism as coming from podcasters who don’t know anything, while Wisconsin’s on a six-game losing streak and hasn’t won a Big Ten game, doesn’t make the problems disappear.

The Badgers finally scored Saturday. That’s progress, according to Fickell.

“You’re not going to win football games if you score seven points, probably, but you’ve got to score seven before you can score 10,” he said after the loss.

Wisconsin’s paid Fickell to win a lot more than seven points.