When the Badgers nation saw their 2025 schedule release, everybody knew it was only a matter of time before they fired Luke Fickell somewhere in the middle of the season. ESPN had them ranked 5th on the toughest schedule list. Their schedule included heavy hitters like Bama, Ohio State, Oregon, Washington, Indiana, and Illinois, and there was no such thing as cupcakes on their schedule. It was in writing that Luke Fickell’s era was at an end. Unfortunately, the day seems way closer than ever before. Getting back-to-back shut-downs by the Iowa Hawkeyes (37-0) and mighty Ohio State (34-0) only made this worse.

Luke Fickell’s 2024 season was downright bad; he led the Badgers to their first losing season of the 20th century with a 5-7 finish. The way things are going as headed into week 8, the man plans to double down and go lower. The Badgers currently have a 2-5 start to the 2025 season with five straight multi-score Ls. And the Badgers have not beaten a Power Four opponent in their last eight to ten games.

Need to give props to his agent: The former Bearcats HC is stacking big boy $7.8 million annually, and Luke Fickell has a $25.7 million buyout. The Badgers are more likely to call the bank anytime soon. Before the chaos spreads further, let’s go through the top three potential coaching replacements for the Wisconsin Badgers.

Manny Diaz (Duke Blue Devils)

Bet you did not see this one coming. Here’s the scoop on why Manny Diaz could be a good fit for Wisconsin. Manny Diaz is known for his smart, aggressive defensive coaching. He really focuses on causing problems for the other team, like getting sacks (tackles for loss) and forcing turnovers (when the offense gives the ball away). This style of defense is pretty similar to what Wisconsin has historically been good at, so it could be a natural fit. This could resemble 90s Badgers football. Plus, he also spent a couple of years as the defensive coordinator at Penn State, so he knows the Big Ten conference inside out.

Now, to make a strong case for him, let’s look at some numbers. When Diaz was at Penn State, his defense was indomitable, even finishing first nationally in total defense in 2023. He’s also been a head coach at Miami and now Duke, where he’s done a good job building those programs up. At Duke, his defense in 2024 was among the best in the ACC at getting tackles for loss and sacks. The Blue Devils make every game competitive and turn them into one-possession games, unlike Luke Fickell.

Alex Golesh (South Florida Bulls)

What Alex Golesh is doing at Florida Bulls is something not lot of football coaches would even do half of that. Alex Golesh is a hot name in coaching circles right now and could be a real contender for the Wisconsin job. He’s known for running a really exciting, fast-paced offense that could bring a fresh new look to the Badgers. Think lots of points and explosive plays! Not only that, but he’s already turned around a struggling USF team in a short amount of time, taking them from a 1-11 record to bowl eligibility in his first season (2023). The man’s certified winner. In fact, they are even running for the playoffs in big 2025.

The only real Gs know Alex Golesh from his Tennessee days. His work there as an offensive coordinator was nothing short of diabolical. His offense was tops in the nation for scoring and total yards in 2022. The big question is whether he’d want to leave sunny Florida for Wisconsin, but he’s definitely a coach on the rise worth considering.

Lance Leipold (Kansas Jayhawks)

The Jayhawks might not be doing very good at the moment, but that doesn’t take away anything from Lance Liepold. Matter of fact, this only makes things better for Lance Liepold’s case. Lance is a really interesting name to consider for the Wisconsin Badgers job, the man’s born and bought up in Wisconsin and even played college football in the state.

Lance led Wisconsin-Whitewater to six national championships. Now at Kansas, he’s done an incredible job turning around a program that was trying to keep their heads above the water. He guided them to their first bowl games in years and delivered their best season in recent memory in 2023, finishing 9-4. Lance is past 60, and the pull of returning home at that age hits right in the chills—could that be enough reason to bring Lance Leipold back to Wisconsin?