During his weekly press conference, Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell didn’t take much of a deep dive into Saturday’s opponent. Fickell kept things rather tight-lipped and perhaps a bit bland when talking about Rutgers football and head coach Greg Schiano.
Fickell and Schiano overlapped during their time on staff at Ohio State. Schiano was the associate head coach for the Buckeyes that year and Fickell was the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in Columbus.
Fickell became head coach of Cincinnati following the 2017 season. He took over Wisconsin this past offseason.
Now on Saturday, Fickell and Schiano will be on opposing sidelines as Rutgers (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) plays at Wisconsin (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten). Wisconsin has beaten Rutgers in their previous four Big Ten meetings(12:00 PM ET, Peacock).
Fickell was asked about Schiano this week during his media availability.
“It’s one year- we were only together for one year. But nonetheless, I obviously got to spend a lot of time with him. Got to know him well,” Fickell told reporters.
“We haven’t stayed in a whole lot of contact, that’s just the nature of the beast. Unfortunately, there are not a whole lot of guys that I stay in contact with. – it is what it is. We’ve known each, obviously spent a lot of time together.
“I have an incredible amount of respect for him. Even from afar, always kind of watched and studied what they had done. Obviously knowing in the league, not ever playing against him but having that relationship a little bit more. Now studying them and recognizing that I see a lot of him in this entire team and this program.
“Very sound in what they do. Take advantage of every opportunity they get. They are going to know who they are.”
Fickell went 57-18 during his six seasons at Cincinnati, taking the program to five bowl games in his final five years with the Bearcats. That includes 2021 when he coached Cincinnati to the College Football Playoff.
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Wisconsin is coming off a bye week, having beaten Purdue the week prior in their Big Ten opener.
On Monday, Schiano was a bit more effusive when talking about Fickell. He was asked about the Wisconsin head coach after their time together at Ohio State.
“And you know, I know Coach Fickell well, he’s an excellent coach,” Schiano said on Monday.
“We worked together for a year. One of the best coaches I’ve been around, literally, from an X and O standpoint, from a motivation standpoint, just everything and a great man, great family. He really does an awesome job. He did it at Cincinnati, he’ll do it there. Really, like I said, one of the best I’ve been around.”
In the final question of his weekly media availability, Fickell was asked about Rutgers and what they bring as an opponent on Saturday afternoon.
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“I think they do a great job of managing the game. I think special teams wise, you can tell they are very honed to what it is they do. They’re going to challenge, (and) pressure you in every situation, whether it is coming after punts, whether it is the possibility of fakes. They are going to have everything possible on the board which makes you have to really execute at what you’re doing,” Fickell said.
“I think they do a great job of controlling the football. Call it rushing the ball but they are very smart in what it is they’re doing and how and which they do it. They’re going to feature the guys that are their best players.”
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Fickell didn’t really go into any specifics – he also kept things rather bland about his own team – but Fickell ended his press conference by saying that Schiano’s identity at Rutgers is “Being who they are, knowing what they need to do to be successful, week-in, week-out…that’s who Rutgers is in a nutshell.”