Urban Meyer admits that he is "worried" about Luke Fickell's future with Wisconsin despite Badgers having "no chance" of buy out

Three-time national champion coach Urban Meyer expressed concern about Luke Fickell's future with the Wisconsin Badgers. The former Ohio State chief tactician believed the school wouldn't pay $25 million to remove Fickell from his post.

The Badgers had a rousing start in the first two weeks of the season, winning over Miami (Ohio) (17-0) and Middle Tennessee (42-10). However, their campaign hit a snag, losing to Alabama (38-14) and Maryland (27-10) in Weeks 3 and 4, respectively.

The losses have ignited calls to fire Fickell, who is 15-15 in four seasons with the Big Ten Conference program and the former college football coach turned Fox Sports analyst is worried about the situation.

"I’m worried about this one," Meyer said in "The Triple Option" podcast with Mark Ingram II and Rob Stone on Wednesday (Timestamp 22:18). "But I’ll say this again: Wisconsin doesn’t have that money. There’s no chance they’re writing a check for $25 million. It’s not happening this year."

Meyer and Fickell worked together at Ohio State, with the latter serving as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach from 2012 to 2016, before Cincinnati hired him to coach the Bearcats in 2017.

After an excellent six-season stint with Cincinnati, where he went 57-18, Fickell signed with Wisconsin in November 2022 and guided the Badgers to victory in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.

Fickell went 7-6 in his first full season with the Big Ten school, losing to LSU in the 2024 ReliaQuest Bowl. He guided the Badgers to a 5-7 record in the 2024 college football season and failed to be chosen in any Bowl game.

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Urban Meyer feels for Wisconsin's struggles in Big Ten expansion, transfer portal, NIL era

Urban Meyer said he sympathizes with Fickell's coaching struggles in Wisconsin, which were further exacerbated by the Big Ten expansion and changes in recruiting players.

Meyer noted he expected his former coaching staff member to face a steep challenge when he signed up for the Badgers, who weren't able to find a game-changing talent from the transfer portal and high school.

“I was a little worried when he (Fickell) first went there because Wisconsin is not the same job it was before the four teams from the Pac-12 came in,” Meyer said (Timestamp 21:26). “And then they moved the West division to now it’s just the best two. Wisconsin was a very good job, is a very good job, but it’s not the same job. As a result, I think they’re in trouble.”

Wisconsin looks to bounce back from its losses to Alabama and Maryland when it visits No. 19 Michigan (3-1, 1-0 in Big Ten) on Oct. 4 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan.