Wisconsin's Luke Fickell to coach vs. Ohio State: How former Buckeye landed with Badgers

When No. 3 Ohio State plays Wisconsin on Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium, it will be doing more than just putting its undefeated record and College Football Playoff aspirations on the line.

The Buckeyes will face off against one of their own.

Luke Fickell embodies not just Ohio State, but also the state of Ohio. He was born and raised in Columbus, where he was a multi-sport standout at St. Francis DeSales High School. He went on to play for the hometown Buckeyes and, once his playing career was over, it didn’t take him long to find his way back to coach his alma mater.

When Fickell was named the coach at Wisconsin in November 2022, his career took a sharp and unexpected turn, even while it provided him with the opportunity to lead one of the Big Ten’s most consistently successful programs.

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By doing so, though, he’ll directly compete with the Buckeyes as both strive for conference championships and playoff berths. While the 5-2 Badgers are almost certainly out of the running for the latter this season, Saturday’s game will pit Fickell against Ohio State for just the third time of his career (and first at Wisconsin).

As Fickell’s new school prepares to square off against his former one, let’s take a look back at his career, and how his road to Wisconsin took a long, successful route through Ohio:

Luke Fickell college

Long before he roamed the sideline wearing a headset, Fickell starred on the field.

He signed to play football at Ohio State after a dominant high school football career and even more legendary high school wrestling career. He originally tried to balance both at Ohio State, but ultimately decided to play football exclusively: His college wrestling career lasted just one match: a loss to Penn State’s Kerry McCoy, an eventual two-time national champion and Olympian.

Fickell's decision to devote himself wholly to football paid off. He was a four-year starter at nose tackle for the Buckeyes, starting in school-record 50 consecutive games from 1993-96 and earning academic all-Big Ten recognition three times. His college career ended on a high note as he recorded two tackles in a Rose Bowl victory against Arizona State, despite playing with a completely torn pectoral in his left shoulder.

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Luke Fickell football coaching career

Fickell signed with the New Orleans Saints in 1997 as an undrafted free agent, but was placed on injured reserve after tearing his ACL and was later released.

He returned to Ohio State in 1999 as a graduate assistant and, after a stint as Akron's defensive line coach in 2000-01, was hired by the Buckeyes as a special teams coordinator. He held that role in 2002-03, including in Ohio State’s 2002 national championship team. For nearly 15 years, he never left his alma mater, rising through the ranks as a linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator.

Luke Fickell Ohio State record

After Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel resigned amid mounting pressure from a memorabilia scandal, Fickell in June 2011 was elevated to interim head coach for the season. With four of its best players suspended for the first five games of the season, Ohio State went 6-7 in 2011, with six losses coming by seven points or fewer. It was the Buckeyes' first losing season since 1988.

Ohio State did not retain Fickell as head coach, though the person it did hire, Urban Meyer, kept him aboard as defensive coordinator.

"I know what kind of guy he is," Meyer said at the time of the move. "He's an Ohio guy. He's a Buckeye. I knew him from afar. I watched closely how he handled this situation. I thought he's a man's man. Obviously, he's everything you hope for Ohio State.”

Fickell led the Buckeyes' defense for the next five seasons, including a 2014 campaign in which they won the program’s eighth national title. In 2015 and 2016, Fickell's defenses finished among the top three in the FBS in scoring defense.

That success earned him another chance at being a head coach, this time at Cincinnati. He guided them to a 57-18 record from 2017-22, including a 53-10 mark in his final five seasons. In 2021, the Bearcats went undefeated in the regular season and became the first Group of Five team to make the coveted four-team College Football Playoff field.

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Why Luke Fickell went to Wisconsin

Fickell’s achievements at Cincinnati made him one of the most sought-after coaches in college football. From that rampant job speculation came a question: What school, if any, could pry him away from his home state?

On Nov. 27, 2022, an answer emerged: Fickell was hired as Wisconsin’s head coach. It marked the first time in his then-23-year coaching career that he ever ventured outside of Ohio. At his introductory news conference, Fickell cited his longstanding respect for the Badgers, the changing college football landscape and his relationship with Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh as reasons for the move.

It gave him a door back into the Big Ten, but with that came occasional matchups with his alma mater, beginning in 2023. It’s something Fickell said at Big Ten media days in July that he had “not allowed myself to think about it.”

“We'll be excited about it,” Fickell said. “But I also have to make sure we don't make this about something that it's not. For me and my program and our kids, I don't want to do that. I know there will be storylines. All I can say is that I hope we can be in position to make it as big a game as it can be. That's a driving force for me and for us.”

This week, though, he has had no other choice.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Luke Fickell college: How Ohio State football alum landed at Wisconsin