Chris McIntosh’s Vote of Confidence, and The Biggest Billionaire Buys the Sport

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Wisconsin Athletic Director Chris McIntosh has issued a vote of confidence for Badger’s Football Coach Luke Fickell. Is it usually a good thing when you have to give a vote of confidence to your head coach in a public letter to the fans? In the letter that was too long and gave too little specifics, McIntosh promised to pour more resources into the football program in Madison. Which makes you ask the question: how? If you ask any other athletic program in Madison, you’ll hear how every penny is already going to the football program that continues to falter. The letter is being panned by just about everyone, and the whole thing feels desperate. What are people supposed to take away from this letter? Do you really think that anyone is going to open up their wallets after they got shut out two weeks in a row, for the first time since 1977? At least these days, the players aren’t going off to try and fight the fans after the game…

People are starting to tune out of Badgers football. They aren’t renewing their season tickets, and why should they if this is what they can expect again next year? Despite the best efforts of the players, who did give their best effort on Saturday, the student section never filled up. The only reason students go to games now is to Jump Around and boo. Madison is not used to this sort of uncompetitiveness and the benefit of the doubt is running out. If we can give Fickell one thing it’s how he’s been able to handle the media. He isn’t shying away from questions like some coaches in the past, and he isn’t lashing out at the media when they ask tough questions. At the end of the day, Oates says that Fickell will not be the one to turn this program around.

It’s a stark contrast to look at schools like Vanderbilt and Indiana, who are succeeding this year while the Badgers continue to fall. There is actually a pretty easy answer to why that is, Oates says: money. In the era of NIL, the things that used to matter like facilities, tv appearances, tradition, and even academics don’t matter to the players anymore. What matters is which school has the biggest billionaire behind them who’s willing to write the biggest check. It almost sounds like another sport that Wisconsin sports fans are all too familiar with this past week…

The Wisconsin Sportscast with Lucas & Oates is a Cap Times podcast produced by Nate Wegehaupt. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.