Badgers linebacker returning for seventh season

SB Nation

The Wisconsin Badgers will have senior outside linebacker Aaron Witt on the roster for the 2026 season, head coach Luke Fickell shared on Wednesday.

Witt, a three-star recruit in the Class of 2026, has

been through quite the battle throughout his college football career, dealing with injuries and a personal tragedy. Still, through all of the setbacks, Witt has persevered and played in 23 games over the past two seasons, recording 41 total tackles, six tackles for loss, and a sack.

Now, he will return for a seventh and final year of college football, as head coach Luke Fickell said it was a decision they felt was best for both sides.

“He had a choice, and we had a choice. I mean, that’s just the truth of it,” Fickell said about Witt on Wednesday. But Aaron wanted to be here, and Aaron didn’t want to not be here if he was going to play the game of football. But Aaron also wanted to make sure he was in a position where he could make an impact as much as he possibly could.

And, our talks, me and him, and him and Coach Mitch, and him and Coach Tress, and all those things where he was going to play football, I know this: he didn’t want to be anyplace else. And that meant a lot to me. There’s some definite things over the last three years, over the last six years, that we don’t want to lose from here. And I think one of those things in college football is that, ‘hey, how do you continue to keep some of the roots and some of the history that you have?’ And it might be just the history over the last three years, there’s still things that have been built, and there’s things that we’ve done that maybe everybody on the outside [haven’t been] able to see because, you know, everything gets judged on wins and losses.

“But there has been some things that have been built, and Aaron Witt has been a part of that. And so for him to want to be here and to continue to be a part of this thing, to recognize this change, in particular, I can’t speak about everybody else’s change, but the nature of the change here with 50 new faces and to want to be a part of that, to keep building and some of the things that we’ve done. To me, that was another part of that culture that we want to continue to build from. And Aaron Witt’s a big part of that. He knows that maybe positionally, he may be in a little bit of different spot. He has bounced around with his injuries, but there’s a lot of things that Aaron provides just playing the game of football, but also a culture of the things that we’re still building.”

As for what position he could play, Fickell mentioned that he’ll be more in the linebacker room with his size around 240-245 pounds.

“We’re going to put him more in the linebacker room. He had gone back and forth at what’s the best opportunity for him to be able to get on the field and play more, and again, we felt like it wasn’t getting bigger and trying to play a little bit more with his hand on the ground and closer to line scrimmage. It was more of his ability to kind of be at the 240-245 pound range, where it’s better on his body. He can physically probably play a little bit longer at that position.

“Not that Aaron Witt can’t play at any position, but like, there is a point in time when your body can’t do the things that your mind wants it to do. And so playing down on the line of scrimmage is probably going to put him in a position where I’m not sure his body was going to allow him to do the things his mind wants to do. And ultimately, especially with those older guys, we got to give them the opportunity to get themselves on the field and stay on the field. And so he’ll be playing linebacker for the most part.”

Witt initially joined the Badgers during the COVID season in 2020 and played in five of the team’s seven games as a true freshman, recording three tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, and a forced fumble. But, since one of the games was the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, Witt preserved his redshirt, playing in only four regular-season games.

Before the 2021 season, however, Witt underwent season-ending surgery due to a foot injury, redshirting the year. He missed the entire 2022 season as well, as he needed an additional surgery, and wasn’t fully cleared medically until the regular-season finale of the 2023 season. He played in the final game of the year against Minnesota, seeing four special-teams snaps, and also suited up for Wisconsin’s bowl game against LSU, seeing 15 defensive snaps.

Witt has gone on to play in 23 games now over the past two years, being a regular at outside linebacker in 2024 before moving to more of a hybrid role in 2025. Now, he’ll join a revamped group in 2026 that includes a few mainstays and a couple of newcomers.

With Witt back, here’s what Wisconsin’s linebacker rooms will look like:

Outside linebackers

Sebastian Cheeks (senior)

Tyreese Fearbry (senior)

Micheal Garner (senior)

Justus Boone (senior)

Liam Danitz (senior)

Nick Clayton (sophomore)

Jaylen Williams (freshman)

Jayden Loftin (freshman)

Sam Lateju (freshman)

Yahya Gaad (incoming freshman)