After Wisconsin Badgers Athletic Director Chris McIntosh publicly voiced his support for head coach Luke Fickell, a well-renowned former Athletic Director is speaking out as well.
Former coach and Athletic
Director Barry Alvarez expressed his confidence in Fickell on Monday, instead calling out Badgers fans during a segment on ESPN Madison.
“I think it’s embarrassing,” Alvarez said of the Fire Fickell chants from the fans. “I think it’s terrible, despicable. They’re spoiled rotten. Here’s a team that you’ve got young players trying to come on, they’re competing, they’re going to have a chance to get better, and you flip on them. We’re early in the season and you flip on them and you’re chanting for the coach [to be fired].”
“How do you think that makes the players feel? That’s disrespectful, it’s not loyal, you’re not a fan. If the person sitting next to me is booing: Get your a– out of here. We don’t need you in here. You don’t want to watch this? Go someplace else. Go boo in a bar. That really upsets me.”
The fans’ displeasure came during Wisconsin’s ugly 27-10 loss to the Maryland Terrapins over the weekend, which was arguably the worst defeat in the Fickell era.
The tone from Alvarez is a change from earlier this year, when Alvarez pointed out his own displeasure with where the team stood before spring ball.
“This spring practice is important, because after having a losing season, there has to be a pride in this team that they want to come back and bounce back and be relevant again,” Alvarez said on ESPN Madison in February. “We went a long time, we worked our fannies off to start winning, win championships, and be good. Go to bowl games every year, and damnit, we did it better than everyone for 20-some years. After not going for like a million years.
“Now, these guys have to fight their a– off to get back in that groove, and I hope that they understand that. They’ve got a responsibility. I don’t like where we are right now. They need to bounce back and put this program back where it belongs.”
Following the loss, Fickell understood the fans’ current sentiment, acknowledging the need to be better after a defeat like that.
“I feel what their pain is,” Fickell said on Saturday. “But there’s nothing that we can do other than keep grinding, keep working. We have to play better. I don’t get upset, I don’t lose my mind because of the way they feel. They’re passionate about what they do, what they do, and what they want to see. And that’s what you love about this place, and that’s what you know. That’s what you signed up for when you came here, knowing this place is passionate about [winning]. They’ve got a history, and they expect more, just like I do.”
But, there is a clear divide with the fanbase and the organization right now, and Wisconsin has a long road ahead to fix that with a tough schedule this year.
