Badgers coach Luke Fickell addresses media ahead of season opener

here we go again right yeah um obviously a lot to be excited about uh let's just you know we could start uh obviously T Tes Monday night but tomorrow night we open up volleyball got top 10 match up with volleyball so wishing them luck against Louisville um that'll be tomorrow night and a lot of other things within the athletic department that are really exciting too right I mean obviously season tickets um you know our our you know fundraising for our indoor so there's a lot of internal excitement for uh for the start of what we call our season um so I get that out of the way quick just to make sure that everybody kind of understands there's a lot more going on than just what's going to happen on the 30th but for us I think that uh this is the longest week of the year within your entire season so within the entire program right I mean every whether it's offseason whether it's Spring football that week one buildup is the longest week of the year and I think our kids would probably say the same thing right you go through fall camp Camp uh then you kind of switch gears a little bit as we came back to campus and you're not still not into game mode and then you all of a sudden go into game mode and you do it a few days early just trying to make a break between fall camp and things like that um and then this week becomes incredibly incredibly long today's a Monday which we'll have a Wednesday practice so try to figure all that stuff out um as you try to build your routine School hasn't begun so that's what I mean by for our kids you know for our coaches it's always we week one is a long week when school's not in it's even a longer week um so Friday can't get here fast enough but there's still a lot of work to be done and I think for us that's kind of the the key right is is week one in college football is different than any other sport I think out there why because we have no real preseason game we have no scrimmage right it's probably the only sport out there the high level sport that you don't have some idea some type of scrimmage some type of competition with another group that you can you know get a little bit of a better idea of where you are and how you do things how you handle things so you know this is my I think my 24th year somewhere right around there in college coaching and and I don't know that it's going to change and it hasn't changed so You' think that well coach you ought to be used to this by now you know but I don't know that you do get used to that each and every year week one is so unique as we saw even in week zero last week there's a lot of unknowns um not just because they're college football kids because they're 18 to 22 year olds but also because of those other things we talked about no no opportunity to scrimmage whether it's in the spring and fall you know as many turnovers and and and uh you know transfers and things like that that a lot of programs have so um that week one is there's a lot of build up to it and uh you know we're getting close uh we're excited about that but you know we still got some work to do before we get to the 30th I never really thought about this before the scrimmage thing um you have a voice in this in this sport have you made a passionate player what what are the cons against it I I don't know I think that obviously there's a lot of change in in college football there's a lot of change coming in our landscape so I think that it could bring about some some different opportunities right and and like I said it's been 24 years you think you'd get used to that but that's what makes week one so uniquely different right there's nothing in the spring uh there's nothing in the fall um and then you get thrown into it now you know they may look at it and say well you know now that there's a 12 team playoff not that every game doesn't matter but there's a little bit of a difference you know to even your first few weeks but I would Envision as we move forward in in this landscape that uh hopefully we can find a way whether it's something in the spring or something in in Fall Camp to you know simulate maybe what they do at the next level but again it's really hard to spend a whole lot of time and voice a whole lot of opinions on things like that when you know we've got a lot of work to do ourselves so I try to stay off of rules committees I try to stay off of some of those other committees just from the nature of you know dealing with 120 guys here um that's the most important thing talking about changes to your coach the addition of the tablets and the intercom and the headph or the helmet how does that impact things for you guys and if I'm not mistaken you guys can take it a little bit farther with the tablets than they can at the professional level yeah I think professional level all they have is still pictures now I don't know how how far deep that gets to is there's 100 still pictures on each play maybe they can kind of make it look like it's a it's an actual play um we had it in the bowl game so we got an opportunity to kind of see what that uh was like a little bit in the bowl game um recognize some things we got to do better from from spending a game with that and then haven't had a whole lot of time we had one kind of mock game where we had the opportunity to to bring in all the technology um in one setting so it's definitely different I think that uh you've got to have a plan for it whether it's the headset whether it's the technology but I also think that it can it can be overwhelming too so we got to try to figure out what that balance is each kid can handle some things a little bit different right do you need to watch every single play do you need to be you know evaluating yourself on every single snap I think that's probably not going to be the best thing for everybody but it does give us an opportunity to make sure we're using it the best way how can it be Advantage for us and our program and our kids um in particular on game day and I think we you know obviously we feel really good about the plan of where we are and how we're going to use it um but there'll always be some things that can adapt and adjust as we get rolling coach um do you have an update on on James Thompson and you know how long he might be out with the status no it it doesn't look like James is probably going to make it um I don't know that we'll have him for the year um so you know there's a lot of things that are still we got to wait and see right I mean um I don't know if it's a four to five month thing um he he had surgery big last week uh you we haven't really talked about it but um you know it's it's a it's a big loss it's tough you know a guy in his senior year that has been through so many things and has meant so much to us I mean obviously over his time here but even in this off season you know and our ability to continue to grow and do the things we want to do and you know kind of really you know put guys in leadership roles and he's done an unbelievable job and fired up and ready to go and uh you know the unfortunate thing happens and uh now he'll be in a little bit of a different role for us this year I don't know that we'll have a chance to get him back J look you mentioned that the 12 team playoff the way things are changing this year I know you have experienced in a four te field you know how hard that is in what ways do you think a 12 team field changes things for a program like Wisconsin as you go into a season in the new I don't know that you look at it any different um you know if you you go you're guaranteed to be in if you put yourself in that four four team selection uh but I do think that in the long run on what it's going to do it's going to make you know the season the length of the season the the later games of the year become you know I not say that they're not important but more important in the eyes of everybody around college football and I think that's what will create a greater excitement even about where college football is right I mean sometimes late in the year they're all looking for what's well we only have so many matchups this week and well there's so many more games that are going to have an impact on what those 12 teams look like that I think it's a great thing for college football I think it's a great thing for programs you know because if something does happen early in the year you're not out of things and uh again in year one we'll all see how that all works you know how does it really balance out as we move forward where to you know where do those championship teams go or how do the the aqs Go I mean there's a lot of things that need to be you know probably ironed out and and will be ironed out the next probably year or two with with all of that but I think what it does is a whole it makes college football better it giv you opportunities to play games like we got on week three where you're not overly worried about hey this is the whole season because you're playing a a week three game against a top five opponent you know and all that puts us on the outside because you know if you're not undefeated then you're not going to have a chance and so I think in the long run it does a lot more for college football I think it does a lot more in just the landscape of keeping kids involved and maybe not opting out and things like that because they all want an opportunity to not only play in the playoffs but play for championships and you know as we've gotten smaller and Tighter in college football you know not saying the bows have gone away because they haven't but the you know the importance sometimes of the bulls and what has made college football I think so great um you know to have successes at the end of the year and to have those opportunities I think we're we're opening up a new Avenue where uh we're going to give a lot more opportunities for for a lot of different teams and and it'll be better for college football in the long run Steve goad just wondering what you've seen from chess during this preseason offseason just when what says for him to come back after all the injuries he's kind of dealt with over the years yeah that's the thing I mean injuries are injuries and and how people deal with him are are really key and critical and chz has had his right he's had his ups and he's had his downs and um he's had these really tough moments and you know for us more than anything obviously we love chz we want him to have an incredible season and wanted to have you know all the things that he expected and expects the thing about it is building that Confidence from coming back from a lot of those injuries and I can say this that he's in a much different place from what I've known even from last year and I mean that because in Spring football we went live with chz and it wasn't something that maybe we thought we were going to do and I think it started to build his confidence when all of a sudden he was able to go live and get that feel back and then in Fall camp we went live with him again in there and have the true ability to you know kind of test yourself and see where you are and I really do believe I've seen you know he's had a great attitude he's worked his tail off and everything that we've done but that confidence level of truly carrying the football truly making plays truly taking care of it um when you do some of those things we did in Fall camp and let him go in live situations I think it's really kind of helped build his confidence you know not just in his leg but in in all things that uh that tends to get taken away sometimes when when you go through as many tough injuries as he has so I'm excited to see him play I'm excited for him to you know kind of let loose again and uh I really do think that his confidence level and St is in a really good place chairman then you've said previously would you look for a quarterback leader and winner I'm curious how you evaluate it beyond the scoreboard and Beyond the leadership stuff are metrics you look at in terms of what makes a quarterback what means he had a good day or a good season well it's hard good days can be up and down and that's all a part of it I think the the day after sometimes not good days is really a great evaluating stick um evaluation you know kind of meter to see how do they handle those things cuz it's going to happen whether it's in in a series or in a game um and the consistency to me is what has to be in your quarterback position and whatever that means whatever that looks like I think that's why it was a little bit more critical for us to so to speak named not not named publicly always the the starting quarterback early on but I think it was really important for us to kind of put those guys in the situation that we thought it was going to be earlier on um to see how they were going to be able to hand see how their lead ship's abilities were were grow see how that relationship amongst you know Tyler and Braden how that flourishes too once all of a sudden some things are you know kind of labeled right whether it's a one and a two or a 1 a and a 1B um so that part of that position is so critical and like I said where we are right now is a really good spot I think both those guys have done an unbelievable job you have seen a difference in Tyler um since that time and I mean that even not as ups and down not as even as emotional but truly being a little bit more vocal standing in front of that group a little bit more um and then you seen Bray Braden kind of flourish a little bit too you know obviously disappointed you know when all of a sudden you kind of name Kyler as a starter but not at a point where he didn't still become a really healthy competition within that room and a relationship where they can help each other out so um I think on both sides of it you kind of look at to say okay what does this look like right this position is so special so unique that no matter what you do You' got to have a guy in leadership positions at that spot and uh I think they've done a really good job now obviously come Friday night it starts to be the the the other test and the ultimate test to what they do um but they do understand that there's a lot of other people around them and and I do feel like they they understand and know that you know it's not just on them look what would you say the biggest differences from where Runner is that in his game from start of last season to now well it was hard because last season Joe didn't get a whole lot of opportunities you know he was a guy that you definitely noticed whether he was a starter or not last year um in my mind always had the makeup of what you were looking for as an offensive lineman and the you know in the in the toughness department and the the physicality department and the way he played the game and the energy and the emotion he played with it was just unfortunate that he didn't get a whole lot of opportunities right not many years you could ever say that you're starting five play the entire season without you know having an injury until obviously Jack rolled his ankle in the bowl game um but I I was impressed I was impressed that you know even the difficult times he had to go through when he wasn't getting the opportunity to play that you still saw the the things that you want to see from a from an offensive lineman right and his grit his toughness um and then obviously with the opportunity starting in the spring um and all the way through fall Camp I think he he's you know he's a guy that went on the play hard board and that's not a not an easy thing right because at that position in particular you're going to be on some ISO camps and we're going to evaluate every single step of uh of what it is that you do on on a daily basis and um so I think he he brings a little something different to the rest of that crew and I don't mean just the youth behind him um but a little bit of an edge as well coach Max Loi kind of got hurt at a in opportune time in the middle of that coaching transition there didn't get to play at all last year I was curious you know what would have you seen him behind the scenes has allowed him to get back to where he is probably better than he was before after that year off and you have a sense of what Friday needs to him just kinding get us started so it's hard to say exactly where he was before that right because I because I didn't know um but if I said it in the spring and if I said it in start of fall Camp from last year the I think I said naer was the guy that had made the biggest leap in my mind throughout winter and and spring and even in the fall Camp um now I would say Max Loy in my mind has made the biggest leap um and again because we didn't really know where he was last year but even as he came back in the start of spring um to where he is now there's I don't think there's another guy in our program that that I have as much respect for um you know because of the way that which he's handled everything right he wasn't uh he wasn't handed anything um there was a time and a and a place where he probably was on the bubble you know to to be here and and not un anything that that had his control of you know obviously how how his ankle was going to come back and some things like that but just how the way how he's gone about his business how he's worked um how he's been you know I say at the bottom but in a spot where nobody kind of knew who he was or recognized him um because he was hurt you know and as you come in a new program you're trying to evaluate everything and I was reminded by you know a guy I coached for for 10 years in Jim Trestle to never evaluated kid when he's hurt and usually you talk about with young kids but when you come into a program everybody's young to you because you don't know them and and um where he was even in Spring ball to where he is right now is is light and days different and another guy that went on the play hard board that is very difficult um to do and and especially at a at a position where you know sometimes you call them skilled athletes we don't uh not that I don't respect those guys but sometimes I have a little harder time putting those guys up on the board um but he has done an unbelievable job of uh not say winning us over but winning everybody and just you know taking advantage of every opportunity that he has uh and I I really expect some some big things for him and I'm excited to watch him um play this entire season Jess you talked before about some of the challenges of week one what do you know or think you know about Western Michigan at this point you need to do well good question I mean we know as little as we ever have known right and they got a new off coordinator they got a new defensive coordinator and they got a new special teams coordinator right so so what do you know right obviously the head coach is an offensive guy um does he stick in you know what the head coach has done or is it more of the Walt Bell and you know are they going to be the Louisiana Lafayette where the defensive coordinator came from I mean so there's a lot of unknowns you know even with transfers and things like that there's still a lot of unknowns but I think the good thing about that whether it's game one or even a game one where you know you got a lot of guys returning meaning you have an idea what their offense is going to be what their defense is going to be it allows us to make sure we focus on oursel and I think that is really key and really critical in college ball in particular because you don't have those pre-season you know opportunities to to to challenge yourself so you really have to be able to focus on yourself do the things that you do and do them really well and you get to find out you know your maturity of a team early on just because you get to see how you can can problem solve in week one you know I don't know if they come out in a four down front or a three down front you know studies would tell you they're going to come down come out in a four down front you're 95% you know last year at uh you know where they were before Louisiana in the four down front well that could be different right I mean you know they were last year in 11 personnel you know 90 some per of the time but who knows maybe they come out in 10 and and 12 so a lot of unknowns that'll make you just say let's focus on the things that we do and do them really well let's see what kind of maturity we have in week one and our ability to problem solve as we you know get a chance to see the see what's really happening on iPad as you come over from the sideline um and if I would say anything about last year that's where I think after week one and two I did recognize one of our you know shortcomings was our ability to problem solve as things changed um as things changed within a game um as things change from the start of a game because you know I felt like last year we were really good the things we prepared for but we were not nearly as good with the things that we hadn't prepared for and you know so that is that comes down on the way that what you prepare but your ability and maturity wise to to be able to problem solve and I think we'll get a great look at that in week one going back to the defensive line um in addition to the forast listed on The Unofficial uh deept chart in in Brandon Lane um anyone else showing you that maybe they're ready to to you know get out there on the I don't know who's all listed on that I I know that I could it's okay I mean I just just I goe tell me who's trying to be concise with my question go uh Neil Hills Barton McDonald are the you know top four and then I just threw Lane on there well so to be honest with you through fall Camp I would say we were we were going to go six deep at D line and and I really did believe that that was a group that had made a lot of improvements um I thought from last year and and our ability to say hey we can go six deep so Brandon Lan will definitely be a guy that you will see and how much time we'll see and then Dylan Johnson is for sure a true freshman that's going to play and um how much we'll see right the the idea of us you know trying to play those guys you know 40 snaps a game you know being the you know maybe the top three guys there's a lot of other snaps in there that we need from hills and and Brandon Lane and Dylan Johnson and um we're only going to be as good as as deep as we can be in that position and um two weeks ago we were planning on playing six uh right now I think we're planning on playing Five and there's still a couple other guys that you would say hey we'll see in those first couple weeks if uh if uh if we need them you know then they're they're there as well with you know Mel and and maybe even an nor bills that are guys that you know if if the situation arises meaning if we get into some goal line situations we're going to need some other big bodies in there are guys that uh that are ready and and able to go uh coach Sebastian sheets he's a guy who transferred in started at inside linebacker then you guys the outside linebacker short time he's been there what have you maybe seen from him for him to be able to the well sometimes things that happen injuries that happen sometimes help you find some some other things as well right I mean when Thomas hyberger went down we became a little bit thinner uh at the outside linebacker position in a spot that we felt like we were pretty deep at and um in Camp then we decided hey let's let's let's try Sebastian over there he's you know he's playing getting a lot of reps in the inside linebacker spot but you know in some of the things that we had done in third down situations putting him up on the edge it seemed pretty natural for him um and in a short amount of time two or three days I think that we really feel like we found probably his most natural position and um I'm not saying he can't go back and play inside linebacker uh but from what we've seen in the last two weeks I would say that that that is a the outside linebacker in particular the sandb backer for us is is a real home that uh I think he provides some things are a bit different I think his athleticism his ability to play in space as a you know as a potential drop guy um and then his ability to rush the passer he is a really unique different type of pass rushing guy that I think could uh could provide a lot for us throughout this entire season Luke looking at special teams with Nathaniel Vos and just what you know basically you talk about his change in form that he had uh you know who talks I didn't talk about his change in form I don't I don't know anything about his change in form yeah I I was a special teams coordinator for a little while but I still didn't really form but yeah but he said he changed his form you know during preseason camp and whatnot but what did you see out of him and the kicking game both Place kicking and then also his kickoff specialist in PR preseason camp so I I don't know that he'll be doing the kickoffs um if we can keep that off of him that uh we would rather do that um but he has been really consistent you know and don't get me wrong he is not like he's made every single one I'm on him um but the ones that he hasn't made have been very consistent you know meaning they're just you know they're they're you know 6 Ines eight you know a foot outside um very consistent very well hit um very similar trajectory which in in my opinion tells you that he's confident in what he's doing right there's sometimes his wins and different things like that but he has been really consistent and um he has showed us that he's got a stronger leg and and can uh you know it be pretty consistent in the 50 52 53 yard range and and it's proven that I think the other day we we gave him an opportunity to 57 or 58 um because he had made already a couple and he was chomping at the bit and it was was the first time that he didn't have the consistency maybe in in the kick so maybe we found a little bit of the top end of the range um but no I think that uh he has matured a lot I think he has been really consistent through fall Camp uh and I think he's got a chance to be a weapon for us couple more Johnny then uh yeah you have a lot of options at safety next to Hunter wer I'm just curious what what is it about Preston zman's kind of skill set that you like as a combination next to Hunter so I think it starts similar word that we keep hearing consist right here's a guy who missed all of spring football pretty much um coach Grinch came in and didn't even know who Preston really was because he was out all spring you know so he didn't get an opportunity to see him play and in another situation you know camoy gets hurt and even in Fall Camp gets hurt um so there's more opportunities for a lot of those guys and and we've moved them around right I mean I think with you know with what Max Loy has done playing the nickel spot at the end of last year that was more of an Austin Brown Austin was you know even do spring football would have said that Austin looked like he would be the nickel um and then obviously what Max has done has given us some ability to move Austin around a little bit you'll see definitely a bunch of different combinations in the back end um you'll see some other guys and some different Personnel groupings that that add some more safeties to the field but I think all in all what Preston has done is his consistency uh and a lot of the things that we do in the back end and you know we're not going to be super simple I mean we we we change it up pretty good amount and expect some different things from those guys in the back end as opposed to just just Play Man or just play single High and um his ability to be really consistent his ability to to be a problem solver especially in our back end has given uh us a lot of confidence in him and he'll be the guy that'll be out there starting Luke when we spoke with Kurt Neil a few weeks ago at Camp he really talked about how confident he was in himself in being a voice in this room as a as a red shirt sophomore a younger guy in this group how have you seen him developed through spring camp through fall camp and and into this moment now I I think it started in in uh in blll practice to be honest with you um sometimes you know that's why it's you're meant to be in college for four years and maybe five years with a red shirt and because sometimes when when things turn over in those rooms it gives other guys opportunities for their leadership to step up and you know what happened you know being down a few guys in in the bowl game um it gave Kurt an opportunity not just to play and start but to step up in his leadership role and as we went through the winter and into the spring that was the challenge to him don't look at yourself as a sophomore or Rising junior or whatever that is look at yourself as a leader and you and James making sure that we understand that if we don't play in this room five or six deep that it's going to be really difficult and I think he kind of took that to heart right I mean to understand like look I'm going to be better if the guys around me are better and that takes leadership and uh so I think he's just kind of he's taken an ownership in that room in particular he's taken an ownership in in his ability to lead and recognize that the stronger the guys are around him the stronger he's going to be and you know that's what leaders do right they make others around him better and and he's been a great example of that since uh not just spring and not just Vol campus since the started bull prep last two let's go Nick and then part of the national discourse last week was centered on former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores and their quarterback to a Tung of BW my question for you is you know their relationship sour how challenging is it for you as a coach to maintain relationships with a much bigger roster here at the Collegiate level and how do you go about that on a weekly and week out basis knowing the you know the length of the year Well it starts in recruiting I think everything that we talk about in in a traditional program is it starts with relationships you know and that's trust respect and love and um you know it's something that we talk about but like I said it's it's something that these guys got to experienc right and that's what is more difficult a newer program right in year two I've always said that it's harder for me to build some of those relationships when I've never sat in a kid's home and I don't really know the family when I haven't got some of the ties all the way back to when they're 17 18 years old but that just is a challenge right I mean the way the world is today and way college football is and you don't find a way to to create a relationship in a short amount of time with guys you bring into your program I think you're going to struggle and um you know again this Sy this word's going to continue to come up up that you hear is consistency right and our ability as coaches to be consistent that doesn't mean be soft that doesn't mean like okay I got to be his best friend and and build a relationship really soon and really quick and you know he's going to be our quarterback like no your ability to be honest with people your ability to be open with people but your ability to be consistent with people is is really key and critical and I think we'll see it more and more in college football right is is do people go this traditional route where how how import is a relationship or do you go to this transactional route of how important is having a having a contract and how much I'm paying the guy how does that win over and hold when you're trying to develop and and maintain and and grow a roster so we all understand there's a difference in college football and there's a balance to what that is um but if I'd say the the the biggest part of what coaching really is it's going in relationships and that's not going to change um in the program that that we want to run we want to build and it just becomes more difficult right it becomes you got to build these relationships in short amounts of time you may not ever get into their homes you may not have ever known their families um but you still got to build relationships in the same way and it starts with trust and consistency Luke another kind of off field bigger picture question for you Beer's going to be at Camp Randle for the first time ever of this season what do you think about that I don't know that I'm going to get to enjoy that um that was probably the only thing I didn't say at the beginning right of some of the stuff that has happened uh with within uh within college football within obviously our Administration but but uh I think it it it you know adds to the to the uh atmosphere and it adds to the experience in Camp Randle I think it's great um you know I'm not an advocate either way I just you know more than anything uh an atmosphere is really really really important in Camp Rand has always been an advantage in the atmosphere um as good as any place in the country if it helps us create a greater atmosphere meaning maybe we get the students into the seats a little bit sooner so that they can you know go and get a drink um that's even better but I think all in all it's just we're all seeing the change of you know the times and and we all got to be on board with understanding that there are some traditional things that we love and we don't want to let go of but also there's some things that if we don't you know let go of and we don't adapt and adjust and grow with the times that we'll be left behind I'm not saying that this is one of them but it's just another indication that hey we got to continue to grow you know we do as a program we do as a you know as a as a as an athletic department um and our fan base has to as well they have to be able to embrace the different things that maybe they don't love um whether it's alcohol maybe it's the loud music that we we crank up a little bit more um all those things are a part of us continue to grow you know that we're doing right