Luke Fickell says ‘burn the ships’ as Wisconsin more than doubles NIL spending for 2026
Wisconsin's football program finally appears to be investing in success on the field.
There used to be a time when the Badgers would consistently win 10+ games a year and appear in major bowl games.
Those days are long gone, and the Luke Fickell experiment has been an unmitigated disaster. The man hired to inject life into the program has done the exact opposite.
He's 17-21 as the leader in Madison, and he now sits on the hottest seat in all of college football.
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While Wisconsin's official NIL spending numbers have never been public, there's long been the feeling among fans that not enough was happening. There needed to be significantly more commitment.
That now appears to be happening.
The Athletic reported this week that the Badgers are spending more than $25 million this year on its football roster. That's an elite number, and a clear shift in the thinking in Madison.
The outlet reported that the NIL spending for the 2026 season is more than double what it was in 2025, when the team went a pathetic 4-8.
Fickell's buyout is currently around $20 million, according to The Athletic, and he denied a one-year rolling extension after the disaster that was the 2025 season. It's now do-or-die for the former Cincy head coach.
"I wanted the guys to understand that too. My chips are pushed to the middle. We gotta burn the ships, burn the excuses, anything that’s going to hold us back. The only option is to push forward," the Wisconsin head coach told The Athletic.
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Burn the ships.
I like it. Where was that attitude since he was hired in 2022? I guess it's better to be late than never show up at all.
The Badgers open the season September 6 against Notre Dame at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. It's time to find out if Fickell can finally save the sinking ship that is Wisconsin football. Let me know your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.
