Big Ten media days commenced on Tuesday morning at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. Wisconsin was among the group of six programs that kicked off the event on July 23, with the 12 remaining programs spread out between July 24 and July 25.
Each day of the event begins with head coach press conferences at the podium before player availability and select interviews with on-site television and radio crews. The initial press conferences last about 15 minutes, and include an opening statement before a few questions from the assembled media.
Related: Where Wisconsin lands in USA TODAY Sports 2024 Big Ten football preseason poll
Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell’s press conference only included the former. His opening statement lasted 13 of the 15 available minutes and left time for only a brief question.
Media members in attendance were impressed by Fickell’s ‘filibuster,’ or his ability to deliver the necessary message without allowing others to redirect the conversation.
Very impressive filibuster by Wisconsin's Luke Fickell. B1G coaches have 15 minutes in main press conference & he went for 13 of the 15 minutes. Much higher ratio than South Carolina's Shane Beamer at SEC last week, whose opening statement only ate up 17 of available 30 minutes
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 23, 2024
Fickell with a Tressel-quality filibuster here
— Marcus Hartman (@marcushartman) July 23, 2024
Questions for #Badgers coach Luke Fickell during his news conference here at Big Ten Media Days: Only one. Why? Because Fickell nearly ran out the clock with a 13-minute opening statement. Veteran move.
— Jim Polzin (@JimPolzinWSJ) July 23, 2024
Most of the necessary information about roster updates, what he thinks about specific players and the upcoming training camp is always given in a smaller, non-televised presser. The podium press conferences tend to be broad and mostly performative.
For that reason, Fickell deserves some credit for entering the press conference with a clear game plan of speaking for as long as possible and executing that plan perfectly. Records are not kept on the length of head coaches’ opening statements at media days. But if they were, Fickell’s performance may rise toward the top.
Here is the entire 13-plus minutes:
Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.