Wisconsin football keeping Luke Fickell, eyeing 2026 'alignment'

Four games remain on the 2025 Wisconsin football schedule, but you would not know it from the headlines coming out of Madison. On a bombshell news day, University of Wisconsin Director of Athletics Chris McIntosh quashed any speculation on Luke Fickell’s job security, indicating that the Badgers head coach will return to the sideline of Barry Alvarez Field in 2026.“Coach Fickell has had my confidence throughout the season,” McIntosh said. “And we’ve had many, many conversations about how this season, and some of the challenges that we’ve faced have gone.”Those challenges–including a six-game losing streak, a 0-9 record against ranked opponents, and an empty trophy case–have not deterred McIntosh at any turn from expressing support for the head coach hired during McIntosh’s second year on the job. In the past 47 days, the former offensive lineman, now Director of Athletics, has issued three public statements supporting Fickell.As news broke, Talkin’ Badgers went live to discuss the news of Fickell’s return, the promise of additional resources to the Wisconsin football program, and the highly-touted “alignment” between the Office of the Chancellor down to the assistant coaches.*Watch on YouTube*Join Bucky's Burrow!*Follow Dillon Graff*Follow Brandon Cooper*Follow Ryan Eilers*Follow Kedrick on Bluesky or the website formerly known as Twitter*Follow the podcast on Twitter/XWe appreciate you taking the time to read our work at BadgerNotes.com. Your support means the world to us and has helped us become the leading source for independent Wisconsin Badgers coverage. Get full access to Badgernotes at www.badgernotes.com/subscribe