Tag: coach ranking

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti is doing what everybody expected Luke Fickell to do at Wisconsin

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti is doing what everybody expected Luke Fickell to do at Wisconsin

Indiana continued its dream season with a 20-15 win over the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday.

The Hoosiers improved to 10-0 (7-0 Big Ten). The program’s instant turnaround in Year 1 under coach Curt Cignetti is the biggest story in college football.

Related: Big Ten Power Rankings after Week 11: Indiana remains undefeated

The why behind Indiana’s turnaround is pretty clear. Cignetti and his staff have done a phenomenal job, highlighted by reshaping the roster in the transfer portal over the offseason. That included many of Cignetti’s former players at James Madison, plus former Ohio quarterback Kurtis Rourke.

Cignetti reloaded the roster, assembled a strong coaching staff and is winning instantly. He is doing so at a program that went 3-9 in 2023 and hasn’t won more than eight games in any season since 1967.

Many point to the schedule. The Hoosiers have not faced Penn State, Oregon or Ohio State, and they will face only Ohio State this season (Nov. 23). But Saturday’s 20-15 win over Michigan was the team’s first game that wasn’t decided by two or more possessions. Light schedule or not, this season’s performance has been nothing short of amazing.

That brings up a comparison to Wisconsin under coach Luke Fickell. The Badgers are 5-4 (3-3 Big Ten) entering the final stretch of the season. They finished the 2023 season at 7-6.

The conversation surrounding Fickell’s hire involved the word championships, both from Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh and from Fickell himself. The on-field results have clearly fallen far short of that self-imposed expectation.

In reality, Cignetti is doing what many expected Fickell to do upon arriving in Madison. He jumped from a successful Group of Five program, brought in a loaded transfer class, changed the culture and is winning instantly. Coincidentally, a significant piece of that success is longtime Badgers assistant Bob Bostad.

Wisconsin had a schedule similar to Indiana’s in 2023, if not easier. The difference in performance is striking. Wisconsin needed to work through substantial growing pains on both sides of the football while Indiana is a College Football Playoff contender.

This comparison will not do much to dictate Wisconsin’s future under Fickell or where Indiana goes under Cignetti. It’s worth pointing out, however, when it’s argued that more time is needed before success can follow.

That idea of more time is no longer a luxury in today’s era of college football. Most top coaches have zero trouble winning instantly at new programs. Cignetti, an ascending top coach in the sport, needed six months to turn a 3-9 team and bottom-tier program into a potential playoff participant.

2025, now, will be a critical season for Fickell and the Badgers to respond.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.

Longtime Wisconsin HC among college football’s winningest active Power Four coaches entering 2024

Most of his wins came with the #Badgers…

Former Wisconsin and current Illinois head coach Bret Bielema is one of college football’s winningest active Power Four coaches entering the 2024 season.

His 115 wins sit No. 7 overall, ranked behind only North Carolina‘s Mack Brown (276 wins), Iowa‘s Kirk Ferentz (196), LSU‘s Brian Kelly (186), Clemson‘s Dabo Swinney (170), Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy (166) and Utah’s Kyle Whittingham (162).

Related: 10 developing opinions entering year two of the Luke Fickell era at Wisconsin

Bielema tallied 68 of those wins during his seven-year stretch with the Wisconsin Badgers from 2006-2012. He was 68-24 overall, good for a winning percentage of .739.

His eight years of coaching since leaving the Badgers before the 2012 Rose Bowl have not been as successful. He went 29-34 in five years at Arkansas before taking three years off, then going 18-19 in his first three years at Illinois.

Bielema’s record at Wisconsin: 68-24 (.739)

Bielema’s record since leaving Wisconsin: 47-53 (.470)

Regardless, the former Badger head coach is one of the longest-tenured active head coaches in the sport. He now must prove at Illinois that he can have success outside of Madison, Wisconsin, however, or that tenure may not extend for much longer.

Other coaches who will soon pass Bielema on the active wins list include Penn State‘s James Franklin (112 wins), NC State’s Dave Doeren (104) and UCF’s Gus Malzahn (101).

Current Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell, for reference, has 71 career wins.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.

Ranking the Big Ten head football coaches entering the 2024 season

Wisconsin has one of the best coaches in the conference

Coaching turnover ruled the offseason both in the Big Ten and across college football.

Many of the moves set off several dominoes, like Nick Saban retiring at Alabama, which then led to Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer taking the Alabama vacancy and Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch moving over to Washington.

Related: Which Big Ten football team has the toughest conference schedule in 2024?

All of these coaching changes — from Saban’s retirement, to Jim Harbaugh’s move to the NFL, to Jonathan Smith moving from Oregon State to Michigan State — have at least some effect on the Big Ten landscape. Whether it’s a direct move or triggers subsequent assistant movement, Wisconsin fans should be interested in the results of the coaching carousel.

Entering the 2024 season there are five new head coaches in the Big Ten (UCLA, Indiana, Washington, Michigan, Michigan State), plus the addition of USC’s Lincoln Riley and Oregon’s Dan Lanning. The coaching landscape looks a lot different than it did at this time a year ago.

So far this offseason we’ve ranked all 18 programs in the Big Ten, predicted each Big Ten team’s 2024 record and checked in on the Las Vegas win totals for each team in the conference.

Now, here are Badgers Wire’s official Big Ten head coach rankings entering the 2024 season:

Luke Fickell ranked in top 10 CFB coaches by PFF

Pro Football Focus released their top 10 head coaches in college football Friday, ranking Luke Fickell as the ninth best coach in the nation.

Pro Football Focus released their top 10 head coaches in college football Friday, ranking Luke Fickell as the ninth best coach in the nation. Fickell is taking over the helm of the Badgers after six seasons with the Cincinnati Bearcats.

During his tenure at Cincinnati, Fickell produced a 57-18 record while winning two conference titles and two bowl games. Additionally, he led the Bearcats to a College Football Playoff appearance in 2021 after the team went 13-0 in the regular season and conference title game.

On top of the team success, Fickell was able to produce NFL talent players like quarterback Desmond Ridder, wide receiver Alec Pierce and cornerbacks Sauce Gardner and Coby Bryant over the last few seasons.

Now at the reigns for Wisconsin, Fickell has brought in some of the best recruits in program history, as well as top transfers in the country like quarterback Tanner Mordecai. Finally, along with him, offensive coordinator Phil Longo (North Carolina) and defensive coordinator Mike Tressel (Cincinnati) have fortified the Badgers’ coaching staff.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbyzzyj3n3jt6m7 player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

Barry Alvarez is one of ESPN’s ‘top 100 college football coaches of the last 50 years’

Barry Alvarez is one of ESPN’s ‘top 100 college football coaches of the last 50 years’

[mm-video type=video id=01fd0jk9hpn3kkncmj2h playlist_id=01eqbyzzyj3n3jt6m7 player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fd0jk9hpn3kkncmj2h/01fd0jk9hpn3kkncmj2h-49e33855b9ebad9fae0ba6268ef6407d.jpg]

ESPN’s Bill Connelly ranked the top 100 college football coaches in the last 50 years earlier today.

At the top is Alabama’s Nick Saban, unsurprisingly. Other names towards the top that still coach today include Urban Meyer (now in the NFL), Dabo Swinney and Pete Carroll (NFL).

Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst hasn’t yet achieved enough to crack the top 100, though he has had a remarkable amount of success since taking over in 2015.

There was one Wisconsin coach on the list, though, as Badger legend and former athletic director Barry Alvarez came in at No. 32.

Here’s what Connelly had to say about the Wisconsin legend:

Teams:Wisconsin (1990-2005)
Record:120-73-4
Conference titles: 1993, 1998-99 Big Ten

It’s one thing to turn a program around. It’s another to turn it around permanently. Alvarez brought a physical style to Madison that the Badgers have maintained ever since; Alvarez’s fingerprints are still all over the program, and in the best possible way.

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.

[listicle id=34003]

Paul Chryst is one of CBSSports’ ‘most underrated Power Five college football coaches’

Agree with their thoughts on the Badger head coach?

CBSSports compiled a ranking of the top 65 Power Five football coaches a few months ago, notching Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst No. 18 overall and No. 5 in the Big Ten.

Chryst has done a remarkable job since taking over as the Wisconsin’s head coach back in 2015. He’s 56-19 overall, 5-1 in bowl games and has brought the team to the Big Ten Championship three of his six years.

And all that said, he’s done it with a lower recruiting profile compared to the other consistent 10-win teams across the country.

This weekend, the CBSSports returned to discuss their coaching rankings and find which guys do not receive the credit they deserve. And as could be guessed, Paul Chryst was one of those names.

Here’s what Chip Patterson had to say about Chryst and his time at Wisconsin:

When we filled out our ballots for the Power Five coach rankings earlier this offseason, this was one of the more noticeable spots where I broke from the consensus. Not the most notable — that would be Geoff Collins, who I had about 30 spots ahead of his consensus ranking because I’m a sucker for good branding and a quick turnaround in recruiting — but the aggregate ranking had Chryst at No. 18 while I have him among the top coaches in the game at No. 10.

Chryst is 56-19 in six seasons at Wisconsin with three division titles and three New Year’s Six appearances, and I think his success is overlooked because there’s an assumption that’s a turnkey operation. Chryst has advantages as a Wisconsin native and former Badgers player that help him, sure, but not enough to be the only reason he’s one of the winningest coaches of the College Football Playoff era.

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.

Paul Chryst is one of CBSSports’ ‘most underrated Power Five college football coaches’

Agree with their thoughts on the Badger head coach?

CBSSports compiled a ranking of the top 65 Power Five football coaches a few months ago, notching Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst No. 18 overall and No. 5 in the Big Ten.

Chryst has done a remarkable job since taking over as the Wisconsin’s head coach back in 2015. He’s 56-19 overall, 5-1 in bowl games and has brought the team to the Big Ten Championship three of his six years.

And all that said, he’s done it with a lower recruiting profile compared to the other consistent 10-win teams across the country.

This weekend, the CBSSports returned to discuss their coaching rankings and find which guys do not receive the credit they deserve. And as could be guessed, Paul Chryst was one of those names.

Here’s what Chip Patterson had to say about Chryst and his time at Wisconsin:

When we filled out our ballots for the Power Five coach rankings earlier this offseason, this was one of the more noticeable spots where I broke from the consensus. Not the most notable — that would be Geoff Collins, who I had about 30 spots ahead of his consensus ranking because I’m a sucker for good branding and a quick turnaround in recruiting — but the aggregate ranking had Chryst at No. 18 while I have him among the top coaches in the game at No. 10.

Chryst is 56-19 in six seasons at Wisconsin with three division titles and three New Year’s Six appearances, and I think his success is overlooked because there’s an assumption that’s a turnkey operation. Chryst has advantages as a Wisconsin native and former Badgers player that help him, sure, but not enough to be the only reason he’s one of the winningest coaches of the College Football Playoff era.

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.