Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell spoke on Tuesday at Big 10 Media Days.
Opening statement:
“Thank you to everybody that's out here. Obviously, this is the greatest conference in the country. It has to do with you guys as well, how you cover us. Everything that you guys do, I know that I appreciate as well, as all the coaches that have come here.
To our commissioner and his entire team, thank you, guys, for all you have done and continue to do in this ever-changing and growing landscape. I know not always the things everybody signed up for. We know darn well if it's got to be done, it's got to be done the right way.
Just want to be able to shout, we have some new leadership within our university. I think it's been really critical in the growth of the things we are continuing to do as a football program but as an athletic department as well.
Our new interim chancellor, Dr. Eric Wilcots, and his guidance and leadership, first week onto the job we had a new AD search. He had to kind of step in and be a leader in that frame. Actually listened to all the people within the athletic department and the coaches. He did a phenomenal job in what it is he's done. I've enjoyed getting to know him a little bit.
To our new AD, Shawn Eichorst is probably in his first month on the job back here at Wisconsin. Happy and excited to build our relationship and move this thing forward with him as well.
Obviously for what we're here for, like the last two years for us have not been up to the standard. I'm not shying away from that. I think a little bit later in the day, I've talked about it several times, about the standard of what we have to uphold and where we have to grow as a football program.
It hasn't been there. That's not just in the wins and losses, that's in a lot of other things as well -- the way we play the game, the physicality, the toughness. We have to do a hell of a lot better job at doing. I can promise you that we will.
Things are obviously moving in that direction. Old coach of mine that I coached for, Coach Meyer, used to say don't sleep on the game. I always envisioned he meant don't sleep on the schemes that are developing within the game. One day you wake up, the game will pass you by.
The truth of the matter is as I've realized more and more, that wasn't just in the schemes of the game, that was in all of the game. It evolved over the last three or four years recognizing the evolution of this game is really critical to what we're doing.
For us, the last eight, nine months, we've taken a deep dive in all things we've done within our program, from the way we train. We've had some critical injuries that have caused us some issues. We've taken a hard look at the way we train, to the way we practiced -- spring ball, fall camp, how we'll practice as we get into the season. All things we have to recognize as a football staff and program that we've got to continue to evolve.
We know how to develop and put together a team that can be tough, nasty and disciplined and win in this league. We also have to be aware of some of the evolutions of things that have continued to happen.
I can tell you this, we're going in a different direction. There's a lot of things that have changed even within the last year in our program. I think some of you that are around will recognize we will open up a new facility starting Monday, the Kellner Family Athletic Center, which is a new indoor football facility that we will open up starting next week to obviously a different investment in our university, really to the team, and most importantly to the leadership of our program.
That's where the greatest changes have happened. A lot of you probably have not recognized this. Over the last nine months, there's been a hell of a lot of changes. To the naked eye, to the fan, I don't know that you could see them all. But to the people from within the program, meaning the players, the coaches, the people that are really close to this team, have seen and felt a difference throughout this entire program.
I'm standing here today in a lot different place than I was in the last three years. I really do mean that. I don't have all the answers. I'm not saying we're someplace far off from where we have been. What we are much different in is our leadership.
About nine months ago midway through a season, there were some things that started to happen. We could have gone one direction or another. We were in a tough situation. There was some youth in our program that really started to grow and took over in a way that was really, really healthy for us. We had a group of veteran leaders that kind of understood what was happening and saw it and embraced that as well.
It's really over the last nine months put us in a position that is far, far different than we ever have been since I've been here. I can honestly tell you that.
We've got three guys here today to represent us. They're a part of that veteran group that has been tied with some of the youth of our team and program, that have done a phenomenal job as well.
Representing the offensive side of the ball is wide receiver Chris Brooks from St. Louis, Missouri. He'll be returning wide receiver for us. Chris is going into his fifth year as a Wisconsin Badger.
On the defensive side of the ball, we have outside linebacker Sebastian Cheeks. He's a starting outside linebacker for us from right outside Chicago.
Then we have Matt Jung, who is a returning starting safety for us from Neenah, Wisconsin, which is actually the home where we just had a pretty severe tornado back in his hometown. Just want to make sure everybody back there understands and knows our thoughts and prayers are with them. Yesterday was a pretty devastating day up around his hometown. Just keep them in your thoughts.
These guys, coupled with some youth of this program and team, have really changed the trajectory. I'll be honest with you, it laid some roots within our program that puts us in a much different place right now.
The problem with today, the biggest issue we have today, is it's too damn easy to just pick up and leave when things don't go well and things don't go right. We have too many people in our ears that tell you you deserve more, maybe you should do something different.
I remind our guys the truth, the reality is we don't deserve anything more than the guy to the left or right of us. What we deserve is an opportunity to grind things out if we have the courage to do it, to get better and make people proud that are all around us.
That's what I'm telling you that the three guys we brought here today, coupled with the youth of the team that we have right now, that have put us in a hell of a lot different spot today. It's why I'm so excited. I know they are so excited to start fall camp eight days from today, to kick off on September 6th in Lambeau Field against Notre Dame.
We can't get here fast enough. I'm excited about that.”
On the impact of linebacker Sebastian Cheeks:
“Sebastian has grown incredibly. I think he's a great example of some of the things we've done in our program. I know it doesn't show to everybody. When these guys continue to return understanding where they have grown, what they've been able to do, they recognize the efforts that have been put in to make them who we are.
We're looking for a big year out of Sebastian. He is in a position for us that has to be a disruptor. He has to create havoc for us defensively.
We've been pretty darn good, especially late in the year last year defensively, and Sebastian had a big part of that. He has to have a greater part of that going into this fall here soon.”
On recruiting the state of Wisconsin and being more involved with the almuni:
“It's always been a priority. I think we've done a hell of a lot better job. That's the truth. We hired a guy in Bradie Ewing that has helped us link a lot better with the former players who always want to be informed. We've done a better job in the state of building relationships.
It's a great year in the state. But the vision, the understanding, the seeing of what's happening within, I think those guys are a great example.
I think there's nine guys from the state next year that have been around us for the last year and a half and have seen a growth that I don't know that everybody outside here has seen. It's hard with the naked eyes to see the roots of things that have grown within our program.
Those guys are a great example of relationships still matter, how you do things from within that is not always seen on Saturdays, but I promise you it will be.”
On if Wisconsin is close to the program he envisioned when he took the job:
“I think we're a hell of a lot closer than we have been. I mean, I think the one thing that's always unique about the last three years is every team has gotten a hell of a lot better.
If there's one thing I could say about this league over the last three years is even where the top of the league was three years ago to where the top of the league is now, everybody in between, they've increased who they are and how they've done things.
So to say exactly where you are, I know this: there's a different vibe within your program. I think it has so much to do with leadership. How good are we, where will we be. We have a lot of new faces that have come in here. The great thing is they've come in to be a part of us.
That's where I would say we're a hell of a lot better to what I envisioned and a lot of people envisioned the University of Wisconsin football team and program would look like. It's about toughness, leadership, making them become us, whether they're from here or coming into here.
Because of that combination of the youth, the leadership and some of the veterans, their willingness to sustain and push through this journey, we're just in a much different place than we have been over the last three years.”
On folks around Wisconsin believing in his vision and new energy in the program:
“It means a lot. Let's be honest, we say we live under a rock, sometimes we're not human. All those things matter. I'll be honest, like our guys feel those things as well. They feel, they see, they hear. That's a growth.
That's why we've talked about some of the changes that we've had to make about how we go about the season. We took a deep, hard look about how we train. That's always been a staple to who we are and how we've done things. We've had to adjust a little bit -- how we practice, the intensity with which we practice with. Some of those changes of saying we have to continue to evolve because we recognize what it takes.
To see those people, feel those people start to see the vision and feel the vision, we know it ultimately comes down to how you perform and play on Saturdays. But all that matters. I mean that from the people that have come back and been around the program and seen and felt a different nature. I mean that from the leadership, from the brotherhood, that it's in a much different place.”
On the positives and negatives of starting the season against Notre Dame:
“I tell you what, it's a great opportunity for us as a football program. I think for us in general, we know darn well where we've been the last couple years. To have the focus of what it is going to be on week one, September 6th, not only that it's in Lambeau Field, I think it's helped me as a coach recognize some of the things we have to continue to evolve to be able to do.
We all know this, November is where it's won. You have to play your best ball at the end of the year. There's a piece of this understanding you have to come out of the gates and be able to play really well and at a high level, especially when you're going to play games like this to kick the season off.
It's been talked about and said we're supposed to do. We know that schedules are created so far in advance. I'm not telling you that this was one of those things that I said, Hey, this is what we should do. But it's in front of us. It gives us a great opportunity to say, Hey, there's an incredible focus as we roll into camp because we know it's going to start in the kickoff of September 6th.
Whether everybody else believes that or sees that, I think that's where the difference in what our commissioner has to do with all the different things. He's got to be with 18 different teams. I don't know that we're all on the same page and believe that, but I know this is where we are and that's what matters to us.”
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