A third of the college football regular season remains unplayed, but University of Wisconsin Director of Athletics Chris McIntosh has seen enough. McIntosh has decided that, even if Wisconsin football finishes 2-10, Luke Fickell will be the Wisconsin Badgers’ head coach in 2026.

BadgerNotes columnist Seamus Rohrer, who declared on September 20th, 2025, that it was time “to move on from Luke Fickell,” disagrees with McIntosh’s decision, calling it “the definition of insanity.” Nevertheless, Rohrer is “not surprised” by the news.

“I think the writing was on the wall. I think that we understood that the buyout, especially in the neighborhood of – what, $27 million? – was really steep.” Rohrer explained on Talkin’ Badgers, “I think we understood that McIntosh and his legacy are pretty directly tied to Fickell. I think we also understood that this is not a great year to get into the coaching market, the coaching carousel.”

Listen to Rohrer and host Kedrick Stumbris analyze where Wisconsin goes from here, what the “intention” of increased investment can and cannot fix, and the sticky situation the Badgers now find themselves in to assess Fickell’s job performance before 2027.

*Read Seamus's Film Room breakdown of the Oregon game

*Read Seamus's column and interview with Mason Posa

*Watch on YouTube

*Join Bucky's Burrow!

*Follow Dillon Graff

*Follow Brandon Cooper

*Follow Ryan Eilers

*Follow Kedrick on Bluesky or the website formerly known as Twitter

*Follow the podcast on Twitter/X

We appreciate you taking the time to read our work at BadgerNotes.com. Your support means the world to us and has helped us become the leading source for independent Wisconsin Badgers coverage.

Get full access to Badgernotes at www.badgernotes.com/subscribe