Luke Fickell Has Wasted No Time Improving the Wisconsin Roster | Wisconsin Football | Jim Polzin

Intro dot com he's a columnist for Badger extra madison.com Wisconsin State Journal he covers Wisconsin the Badgers the Packers and more Jim polzine joins us on 365 Sports with Paul and Craig I'm David and Jim thanks for your time we appreciate it what has been the reaction on the transfer and commitment from Tanner Mordecai nothing but positivity up here for sure I mean it's been a wild month they've gotten commitments from multiple quarterbacks Nick Evers was the first or was kind of the first Big Splash in the transfer portal for Luke fickle that was like a month ago but I think people understood that he maybe wasn't already made product and they were probably going to go into the transfer portal and try to get someone more experience and then um you know Tanner Morgan kind of came along I don't know it's one of those weird things where sometimes guys go in the portal and they sit there for a week or two and and you kind of get your hopes up if you're a fan this happened very fast I think I think Wisconsin fans were kind of stunned by it but very very encouraged and excited by what he can do Fickell and Phil Longo he fits well into Phil Longo's uh scheme I I know that uh you know it's been reported about his connection with Phil Longo going back to when he recruited him when when Longo was at Ole Miss but uh how much have the fans gotten excited about what is a gigantic sea change in the in the philosophy that was in in Madison for I mean ever I mean they've not ever really run an offense like this have they no I mean not not really anything you think about this kind of an era here is that burial rosera and that goes back to 1990 so we're talking 30 plus years and I mean they've they've it's not been the same offensive their entire time but it's certainly been a you know a very run heavy offense and uh if the words air raid has not been in the vocabulary up here so I think fans are ready for it I mean I think I think I think you know if you pull the fans here um they're they're ready for Change and they're ready for this program got a sale and complacent and um I think you know Luke pickles come in in a really short time and brought kind of an energy a good vibe and and hiring Phil Longo is you know that's an eye-opener for people up here but I I think we're you know I think we're all kind of just um anxious to see how it's going to look you know and and you know I've kind of come around to it I think my first reaction was that can't possibly work in the Big Ten um and now you know the more you watch it a little bit on YouTube and whatever and hear about it um I think it can work and I think the thing is I think the things that Wisconsin stands right we're scared of at first is that you know they're just going to throw the ball 70 times a game and I don't think that's still on those personality at all he's gonna he wants to run the ball they're gonna throw the ball a little bit more than they have in the past but he definitely wants to have a you know a Russian attack that that works well and works well in November and December out here Jim a very unique experience you know Fickell in the bowl game watching the the Guaranteed Rate Bowl just a couple weeks ago and seeing Luke fickle already out there as head coach of Wisconsin they get the win obviously that had to feel good uh but what was that experience sort of like on your standpoint seeing that and fans seeing him already kind of getting underway and how valuable do you think that was for this program yeah it was a weird it weirded the right way to describe it because I'm not really sure he was officially the head coach in that game I mean he even admitted it he was kind of a figurehead um and there were times on the sideline where you know he you kind of tell he wanted to call a timeout and yet he was kind of looking at Jim Leonard and it was you know to make sure everybody's on the same page so it wasn't like a typical head coaching experience where you know their call is the only call um so you know it was the game itself was kind of interesting I do think it was important for him to do that it was such an awkward thing with you know 95 of the people around here myself included thinking that Jim Leonard was gonna get the job and then you know they gave it to fickle and then it becomes his blender gonna stick around defensive coordinator and that answer turned out to be no but you know he said he'd stick to the Bowl game and serve as a again a pseudo interim coach um so it was very awkward but I think it was important for fickle to kind of be the face of the program uh going forward so I'm not sure Jim Leonard wanted that so I don't think he felt like he felt kind of had awkwardness of being the guy when you've got the rugs pulled out from under you so I think that was important I think it was also important for fickle to you know some some coaches when they're hired to kind of ignore that ball game and just kind of stay away from it um and he didn't he was he was very out in front I think he got to meet a lot of families out there I think that was important to him so you know again like I the guy's been on the job for 30-ish days 35 days um I don't think he's made a bad move yet and I think that you know the way he handled the bowl game I think was was impressive another thing he did was after the game um you know he went up on stage to collect the trophy and I think he felt a little off of our back because you know it wasn't his team that got there um and he called you Leonard up there and had him say a few words so I think that was another move where you're kind of like all right just you know this guy's kind of doing the right thing Leonard Fournette you know there were thoughts that uh Leonard could end up even on David Randall's staff at Wisconsin he hired Matthew palich of Oregon so what is next for Leonard yeah great question I honestly thought that Baylor might be a landing spot for him because I know him and Dave got along really really well uh when when Jim retired from the NFL he spent a year kind of shadowing the UW staff and Dave Aranda was a defensive coordinator at the time and I I know those guys hit it off really well I know there's philosophies are similar so I thought that might be a place that he landed but he's going to have a ton of options in NFL otherwise I mean he turned down the Packers defensive coordinator job two years ago and that might come open again in the next month um so I think that might be an option I also think there's an option where he just he sits out for a year and maybe serves as an NFL consultant or something he's got three young boys he's got a wife he played the NFL game where you know he was kind of uh bouncing around a little bit and every January kind of look around and say what am I going to be next season I don't think he wants to do that I think he wants the ability for his family um I think that's really important to him so I don't think he's gonna just jump into anything and you know we'll see he's got he's gonna have options you know they're paying him for next season he had a two-year contract and um Wisconsin's paying them for next season so he doesn't really have to go anywhere if he doesn't want to and I I really would not be as shocked to see him just kind of sit this one out unless the perfect spot came along for him and his family Luke Fickell I would probably throw a USC in that mix right now too um if they make a decision uh with Alex Grinch but uh Jim how much has Luke fickle changed the way that they recruit in in Madison in that um look you've got I mean these are two guys of the portal but Evers and and Mordecai both from Texas both uh via OU too uh as well but uh how has he changed that and do you see them being maybe of a more National than Regional recruiter now that fickle is in the fold have fun it's a really good question and yet he has said multiple times he said it when he got hired he said it on Signing Day and he kind of wants to operate with this 350 mile radius from Madison and I think what he means there is that that's where most of the guys are going to come from and very obvious is very similar to you know like I think Barry's famous line was um our heart and soul is going to come from the state of Wisconsin but our hands and feet are going to have to come from elsewhere because the state produces a lot of lineman uh linebackers it doesn't produce a lot of high-end you know skill level skilled position guys and I think fickle understands that but I think he wants to hit Chicago I think he wants to hit Minneapolis Indianapolis Detroit all those areas but I I do like the fact that they've already you know gotten in Texas a little bit with these quarterbacks um I think they're going to have to hit Ohio Ohio's been a state that's been really good to this program um with under Alvarez and vehicle's got connections there so I hope that's an area they hit too so I think you know long story short I think it's going to end up being recruiting class they're gonna end up being where they kind of hit a little bit from everywhere but I think he's probably right that you know the majority of that class is going to come from that 350 mile radius hey Jim thank you very much for your time uh you'll love Tanner more to Kai and obviously he's got to go produce or whatever and just a great young men we covered him in high school as I set the interview to you earlier for you to use it however you want and thanks for your time good luck enjoy covering Wisconsin you mentioned the Packers and Leonard how about the run that Aaron Rodgers and the Packers are on now controlling their own destiny it's crazy I Ruled him out it's funny I wrote about this last week um after they beat the Vikings but I had this mailbag every week and someone asked me when they were four and eight is it time to bench Rogers and and play uh Jordan love and at the time Rogers had shoulder injury he had a thumb injury and I'm like yes let's you know sit him down and The Season's essentially over let's see what you have in Jordan love and go from there and then you know I did kind of a Maya culpa after the Vikings game because that sounds like a stupid answer now um they're back in it and that's the weird thing with the NFL is you could have the right time and suddenly you become a scary team uh if you get in the playoffs so I don't know how far they're gonna go I think they still have limitations but the fact that we're talking right now that they control their own playoffs uh fate is frankly if you told me that a month ago I would have told you you were crazy yep and there's a lot of teams including one here in Texas yeah Jim I wake up yeah go ahead like the matchup for the past I'm sorry I'm not saying I would like it that'd be a great matchup for the Packers I just you know I cheer for the story and and Green Bay versus Mike McCarthy to go to the Super Bowl or go deep in the playoffs would be a story that I would love to cover you know Jim I was uh there at ATT Stadium the day that Aaron Rodgers hit the unlikeliest pass I've ever seen and it wakes me up in cold sweats in the middle of the night so uh I thought you were there covering it as a journalist well I mean look there's two parts of me and that was one of the few times I was like on the elevator going damn it I think that's the difference in the opinions that Jim's looking at it from a journalism point of view Paul's looking at if I'm a Cowboy fan I mean also I had to go into that locker room afterwards and then the answer you can't ask them Jim you know this sometimes in games when you go down to the locker room to like cover it and they've lost a tough game the answer to every question is what do you want like it was it's crazy sports like what are you supposed to ask the cowboys that you're going to get a good answer with and they're like yeah Aaron Rodgers is alive in the world and plays football I wish he was at like a sailboat a captain or something and not this but he's here in ruining my life what do you want from me I like that that's kind of the answer you get and I it's hard to even get anything usable because you're like well Aaron Rodgers is here and yeah that's why yeah yeah he's done it you know I hope you feel good about this but he's done that to a lot of teams so um the crazy thing about this run late in the season he's not played that well I mean they've really done this with defense in a running game and he hasn't had a passer rating he hasn't had a 300 yard game yet this year guys not one single 300 yard game how crazy is that what a guy coming off two MVPs yeah I mean he's been very you know I use the word mediocre Loosely because he's NFL quarterback who's you know proven it he's gonna be a Hall of Famer but by his standards he has been very mediocre this year and the amazing part is who they are potentially gonna go to the playoffs and it's the Lions and Packers for a chance to get to the playoffs Jim thank you very much thanks for your time Jim closing the Wisconsin State Journal uh Badger extra and also madison.com appreciate his feedback very impressed by