The Wisconsin Badgers are reaching the midway point of spring ball soon, and head coach Luke Fickell spoke with the media last week, sharing his thoughts on the team’s progress and growth with pads coming on.
Here is everything the Badgers head coach said after Wisconsin’s fifth spring ball practice:
Opening comments…
“Now I think we’ve got a bunch of other guys are going to play significant roles. So I think that’s where that idea of, hey, we got to practice, we got to try to stay as healthy as you
possibly can in the spring, because that’s what usually happens, right?
“You get limited with the number of guys, so it’s hard to get younger guys work, but then you never have a chance sometimes to figure out what you can really do by going live. And so we’re going to try to work this progression of maybe no pads on Tuesday and shells and then be able to go a little bit live on Saturday because we do need to find out a lot about not just ourselves, but all the guys in our program.”
On Colton Joseph’s growth…
“Yeah, I think there’s still a lot to learn. I did this little sit-down and talk with them, not trying to take Matt Lepay’s job or anything, but kind of just to get to know me, to get to know some of these guys because they’re new too. And there’s a lot that I realize from how much is on the plate coming into a new system, with a lot of the things that we do offensively.
“And so it’s hard to judge and say, he dropped the ball on the first play of team today. And you could just see it’s not, he’s got great hands. You could just see the wheels that are turning, how much is on his plate. So I think when the ball goes down and you just play, I think I’ve seen a little bit more of what he can do. And so that’s a little bit of that idea on Saturdays. You won’t put the quarterback live, but the ability to go some live ball to see what also comes out in a guy like Colton, because what he’s done has been good. I think giving him the ability to kind of play a little bit more is where I think we’ve got to find out how much more we can put on his plate.”
On Joseph’s growth as a leader…
“You’re seeing him loosen up a little bit. I think that, you know, it’s obviously, as we all know, it’s a high-stress position and there’s a lot piled onto those guys’ plates and not just from the nature of the offense, but also an expectation thing too. And so there’s a guy with high expectations and you can come in and you can see a little bit of a natural tightness that he wants to lead, but he’s got so much to learn that each and every day.
“I think he’s, especially practice-wise, you’re seeing him become a little bit more loose in what he’s doing. And I think that comes along with making a few plays. It comes along with the things that go on around you. But I think that progression that is good to see. And it was one of those guys on break that I reminded him, like, you don’t need to go and be throwing 6 days. We’ve done a lot of football. I’ve done a lot of football since you’ve been here. There is an opportunity, and you need to take it to relax a little bit too. And he came back a little bit more refreshed and even in a leadership way.”
On early returns from freshman QB Ryan Hopkins…
“Yeah, Ryan, he’s obviously beyond his years a little bit. I think that coming out of the program, which he did, and also transferring, I think, you know, he went to Mater Dei his senior year, so he had to be thrown into a situation as a senior that he had to go compete to win the spot. He had to go in there and obviously play around a lot of great players who were number one in the country at one point in time.
“I think maybe we don’t recognize how much that makes a guy grow. And I think that if there’s anything that you’ve seen from him walking in the door here, there’s a maturity level, there’s a growth, not just in learning the offense, but understanding what that position looks like at this level.”
On difference in recent success with in-state recruiting…
“It’s everything. I think that the good thing about it all is I think that you are seeing, at least in particular in the recruiting side of things, that there’s a confidence level in the things that we’re doing. And sometimes it’s hard to see because it always comes down to wins. But guys that are inside the program, guys that come to the program, they do see something that’s growing. And I think that’s a big thing for us.
“But I also think it’s a great year in the state. I think our coaches have done a great job. But it takes a couple, you know, catalysts to doing those things as well. And so there’s a lot of credit that needs to be kind of thrown around for how this thing has gone. But a lot of it has to fall on those guys’ shoulders, those families’ shoulders that have been here and seen the things that are growing. Just hasn’t been as obvious to the outside.”
On what the staff has done to bring large group of newcomers along…
“Nothing out of the ordinary. I think that we do those kinds of things in the winter. We push it and force it for, you know, guys going out to eat and getting with coaches and getting to the homes. And we do a lot more of it after spring and through the summer stuff. I think it’s the most important thing is understanding and recognizing the respect you got to have for one another.
“And I think competing on the field and doing the things that we do is the greatest way to learn more about each other. I’m not saying it’s abnormal from college football. It’s just, again, usually you’re not meeting and learning a lot about guys that are in their 5th and 6th year or 4th year in college football. Usually, those are the guys you know, and it’s the young guys coming in. So I think the best thing we can do is learn who they are on the field and then be able to grow those things in particular through the summer.”
On Sebastian Cheeks’s growth and where he’s stood out so far…
“I think that it starts with a little bit of leadership. I think Cheeks is one of those guys that’s always been pretty comfortable in his own skin and has done a really good job here at kind of solidifying what he does and how he does it. His ability to step outside of that and understand that there’s a lot of people that he affects around him, and it’s not just him. I’m not saying that he’s not, but by nature, that’s just his nature of what he does.
“He takes care of himself. He’s a pro at everything he does. I think his ability to kind of affect others around him a little bit more is where we’ve challenged him, and I think that you’re seeing him even grow more on the football field because of it. He recognizes on a daily basis that there’s an example that he sets to a lot of people.”
On how to challenge players on lighter practice days…
“That’s what we gotta go watch and see on film. I praised them a little bit after practice about how they handled it up front. And a lot of that has to do with the motion because when you take the shoulder pads off, you know, you’re going to get hit in the shoulder at some point in time. And usually that’s when the emotions start to flare up. But it was a suggestion from a group of guys that, you know, I meet with, the kind of the captains of the spring or the leaders of the spring.
“And the idea of ramping up through the week, kind of like a game week where you go light in early after a game and then you play on Saturday. The idea of, hey, being in spiders to the guys up front, the mentality, it doesn’t back off much. So we said, well, let’s see if we can’t get enough done that we need to get done, work the things we need to work at, trying to take the physicality in particular off the guys up front. And it looked pretty decent today. We gotta go watch it and see if it’s something that we can continue to build on.”
On what the process was for Colton Joseph to acclimate when coming in…
“Well, I think that knowing first and foremost when he walks in the door that, you know, he’s been put in the position to lead. I think that, yes, there’s always competition and you always got to say, look, everybody has an opportunity to play and the best players are going to play. But walking in the door to say, look, your job is not only to learn this offense and, you know, learn the intricacies of what does it do as we figure out what your strengths are as well. It’s also to lead.
“And so I think that all that being thrown on a plate is a lot more than maybe even he or anybody recognizes it. And so he’s done a great job at that. He’s kind of taken that under his wing and trying to figure out the balance. I’m sure for him, if you talk to him and how much do I spend leadership-wise, how much do I spend just with the offense-wise, how much do I apply upon myself? I think that’s a balance that he’s going to continue, just like all the quarterbacks are going to have to figure out as they continue to progress this thing.”
On what he likes most about Deuce Adams…
“Deuce has done a really good job and he’s in a position where it’s a little bit more difficult. You know, everybody walking in the door [knew] the day one when we went out there that Colton was going to go with the ones and Deuce understands that. But he also believes and understands that, look, everything is earned. And so no matter where you come in, it’s ultimately where you finish. And he’s done a really good job through the winter.
“He’s come out here in spring and, you know, the first 5 practices, done a really good job at leading in his way from the position at which he is at. But you can see a growth too and understand the offense. He’s got a lot more athleticism, speed, and some things than maybe I would have known coming, you know, watching his film out of college. He’s a really good all-around football player that we got to give some more opportunities to, even sometimes with the ones.”
On the hire of Brady Ewing as the Director of Community Relations…
“You know what? I’m still getting numb. I mean, I think that all that we’re trying to do is making sure that we can put as many people around our guys that can lead in a positive way, as many guys around us that we can trust to be all in at the things that we’re doing. And the little time that I’ve known Brady, that’s exactly who he is. What his role is, and we talked about this, and that role, just like most people in our program, the number one thing you got to have is flexibility. You know, let’s figure out what it is that your strengths are.
“Yes, the alumni relations and the former player relations is a big part of it, but man, there’s a big part of making sure that you understand how do you connect with these guys on this football field? How can you connect the guys on the football field, whether they’ve been here for 6 years or 1 year, to a lot of the other guys from the past? And, you know, there’s a lot of things that, you know, he’ll be asked to do, but there’s a lot of things I’m going to say, hey, you got to take this position and be able to run with it. How can you make us better on the field, off the field, and in particular, you know, with the formers and with the community?”
On what skills translate up to the Power 5 for Colton Joseph…
“Winning translates. And I think that’s where, when it really comes down to it, and I always use it for like, hey, if you’re going to go build your quarterback in these video games that you guys all play, I don’t— if you’re going to build them, where are you going to put the energy? Where are you going to put the power? Right. And some people would say on their arm and their speed and their intelligence.
“And I said, I’d put it first in guys that can win, guys that find ways to make everybody around them better as leaders and can find a way to to see what he’s done and what he did at that. It doesn’t matter what level it is, winning is winning. And so understanding that he wants more and there’s a progression to it and there’s a competitive spirit to it too. And so all those things that you thought you saw, we saw from watching the last couple of years of him play, it has held true. And so that’s why I’m kind of excited about getting to— and I want to get past Tuesday and Thursday, but getting the ability to play some Saturdays. Where we can put the ball down and have live situations and let them play to see how guys continue to take their game and grow their game and in particular confidence.”
On what flexibility looks like for players and the staff…
“Well, I mean, for us in particular, I hear like this to go in helmets in a spring practice. I mean, it took a couple [of days]. So I twitched every time we walked out here to say like, you know, spring practice in particular has been about, hey, physical, can you pound? You got 15 practices and 34 days, and we got a toughness and I don’t want to get away from that.
“But I think there’s all a growth of what we have to be able to do. These guys, they’ve got to become really, really tight and really close with guys that they’re competing with and they don’t know, right? I mean, there are a lot of guys that have moved in here, have come in here. That is a little bit of the landscape of where we are in college athletics and college football in particular, but it’s not like we want everybody else has got to be able to adapt and adjust and we’re going to do things the way we’ve always done them. We have core values, we have core things that we have, but we also know that there’s a growth on our part. I think that’s got to be the example to all those guys.”
On what the expectation is for the offensive line…
“The number one thing offensively is the continuity of those guys up front. And, you know, I’m not going to dwell upon the past, but if there’s something that, you know, has probably not gone in the direction in particular individually or unit-wise, it has been the O-line. And, you know, with the history here and what the expectations are here, that’s one of the big things. And look, we got to get back to that group being a group. It’s not individuals.
“There’s a lot of things we got to be be able to do. And that’s what I really love about it, to be honest with you. I love being in that room right now because there’s all new guys, right? I mean, there’s some guys that played a little bit in [Colin] Cubberly and Emerson Mandell, but the nature of it is it’s a new group. And yes, they understand the history. Yes, they understand the past. But it’s time to kind of say, look, this is a group that’s got to kind of reestablish the things that we believe in, and we are. And obviously what has been set here. And I think that’s where a lot of the youth and the newer guys has been a really refreshing kind of a little bit of a changeover.”
