Coaches / Head coach / Luke Fickell
Form · last two seasons
67
performing to its level
Rating69recent
Peak72best 5 yrs
Career70whole career
confidence
Luke Fickell
Head Coach · Wisconsin
Headline rating: as head coach. Every role he has been rated in is below.
Chemistry
64
continuity at Wisconsin · early
Seasons here5
Programs3
Stints4
Career path
Head-coaching stints since 1936; assistant roles since 2016
Chemistry
vs every head coach since 2016 · 62 = typical
Tenure here
Seasons as head coach at his current school
Staff continuity
Seasons he and his offensive coordinator have worked together
Player retention
Players kept vs. the league norm for similar rosters (fewer transfers out)
Followers
Players and staff who followed him from his previous job
QB & coordinator
How long his quarterbacks have played for the same coordinator
Roster continuity
Share of starters returning from one season to the next under him
Dashed gold ring on the radar = average (62). Chemistry scale: 62 is typical, 20-50 is a warning sign, under 10 is a collapse.
As head coach
Rating69Form67≈ as usualPeak72Career70
2011–2026 · 11 seasonsRecord 80-46National titles 0Great seasons 1 (top ~7% of all teams that year)
- Rating 69: his whole career, recent seasons weighted most, measured as how far his teams stood above their era, crediting him with half of what each program already was when he arrived (about the share that, historically, follows a coach to his next job), fading as the program becomes his own.
- Peak 72: best five-season stretch, 2018–2022 at Cincinnati (53-10, 1 top-10 season by team strength), taking over an average program.
- Career 70 (#183 since 1936): total accomplishment over 11 seasons (80-46), 0 national titles, 1 elite season; full credit for the program he inherited.
- Won big at one of his 3 programs (Cincinnati).
Over expectation · 2016 on73Results against what his rosters' talent predicted (program lift, evaluation, recruiting, staff building, game management).
Rating = who he is: his whole head-coaching career (since 1936), weighted toward recent years — how far his teams stood above their contemporaries, how much he lifted programs, his great seasons and titles. Form = the last two seasons. Career = the all-time ranking number.
Program lift74
Evaluation52
Results76
Recruiting52
Staff building69
Game management78
| Season | Team | Record | Season rank | vs contemporaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Wisconsin | 0-0 | #30 | +0.83 SD |
| 2025 | Wisconsin | 4-8 | #62 | +0.20 SD |
| 2024 | Wisconsin | 5-7 | #53 | +0.36 SD |
| 2023 | Wisconsin | 7-6 | #47 | +0.36 SD |
| 2022 | Cincinnati | 9-3 | #39 | +0.54 SD |
| 2022 | Wisconsin | 1-0 | #43 | +0.51 SD |
| 2021 | Cincinnati | 13-1 | #5 | +1.58 SD |
| 2020 | Cincinnati | 9-1 | — | — |
| 2019 | Cincinnati | 11-3 | #31 | +0.67 SD |
| 2018 | Cincinnati | 11-2 | #39 | +0.58 SD |
| 2017 | Cincinnati | 4-8 | #106 | -0.96 SD |
| 2011 | Ohio State | 6-7 | #43 | +0.39 SD |
Season rank = his team among all major-college teams that year; vs contemporaries = how far above the average team (in standard deviations).
As defensive coordinator
Rating76Peak76
His defense against its preseason projection (value over expectation) and the unit's opponent-adjusted quality.
| Season | Team | Unit (EPA/play) | Over expectation | Season score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Ohio State | 0.19 | — | 0.98 |
Season score: 0 = an average season in this role; positive = better.