Wisconsin Badgers 2026 Offseason

Tremelo3 said:

Even if Zajic and Orpana come in next year, we will still have to find a way to make room for them. We have no senior forwards for this upcoming season. Only seniors on the roster will be Schulz and Palodichuk. And then Hensler and/or Osburn could go pro. So we could need 4 new Dmen the following year. Then we are used to have that goalie Winters coming but both Hauser and the new guy will both only be sophomores this next season.

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The wonderful world of NIL and cutting people. Unfortunately for the players and because of the players, it's now a business.

solovsfett said:

I Completely agree with this. People are rationalizing his time at Nebraska saying “well, Pellini was an asshole”…yeah, and Cignetti, Spurrier, Saban and Urban Meyer weren’t/aren’t arrogant assholes? Give me a break. That’s 100% weak coping.

Eichorst set Nebraska football back for at least a DECADE. And to compound issues, look what the aftermath is. They’re hoping for 8-4 now as a ceiling.

His tenure at Miami is hard to judge as they had scandles that pre-dated him. Texas? Well,…Texas is also hard to judge because a corpse can field a good football team with all of the talent they have in-state. And that makes and AD’s job a bit easier.

I wish they would have given the job to Troy Vincent, Michael Finley, Or Mike Richter if they were interested.

I also think this is bad news for Luke Fickell who finally appears to be turning the corner now that he’s got better resources and a good OC and o-line coach.

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He is a Wisconsin guy, played football at UW Whitewater and has experience at major SEC schools as Deputy AD. I'd be shocked if they ever hired someone that wasnt connected to football in some way.

That being said, his hiring of Reilly at Nebraska was considered a strong hire at the time. I dont think Reilly even knew the utter lack of talent that was in the cupboard.

Im just glad they had SOME hockey rep on the search committee, Wsh it would have been Pavs or someone from the 06 or 90 Championship teams.

New AD will be stepping into a new football facility at Kellner, so it is probably easier now than just 5 yrs ago.

My issue with football is the continual obsession on fan experience and creature comforts that jack up prices without realizing the best fan experience is the effing play on the field. The last endzone renovation for premium seating was wholly unecessary. Most every SEC stadium is a dump, but the fans pack in bc the product on the field is better.

If Fick doesnt won 8 or 9 games this year, he is gone.

I'll stick to hockey.

solovsfett said:

I also think this is bad news for Luke Fickell who finally appears to be turning the corner now that he’s got better resources and a good OC and o-line coach.

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The new AD is stale bread. They should have hired the guy running the Dallas Stars. He understands the business end of the donkey and his minions could have guided him along with the run of the mill AD things that go on. This is all about business now. They made a safe hire, not an inspired hire.

Whether or Football has turned the corner will be for us to witness live. All this resource talk is meaningless. They have to 1) be competitive in every game and 2) win most of the games. Anything less, can him and get someone who understands how WI needs to play and the players needed to play that way.

Seems to me they got another "I'm not a hockey guy."

TJ77 said:

Seems to me they got another "I'm not a hockey guy."

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Don't disagree at all, but I do kind of feel like Hockey can be successful if just left alone for the most part. I won't pretend to know all the exact funding, revenue, and financial details, but idk if the team will need huge additional financial support from the AD. Hastings seems to be doing well with current resources.

Granted, maybe there's a chance he'd see hockey revenue as some easy cash for the football/basketball teams, and then we would have a problem.

UW student and hockey fan said:

Don't disagree at all, but I do kind of feel like Hockey can be successful if just left alone for the most part. I won't pretend to know all the exact funding, revenue, and financial details, but idk if the team will need huge additional financial support from the AD. Hastings seems to be doing well with current resources.

Granted, maybe there's a chance he'd see hockey revenue as some easy cash for the football/basketball teams, and then we would have a problem.

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I agree. But if they want hockey to be a revenue generator (it's basically net zero rt now), scheduling will be key. Conf games in October and Nov kill ticket sales and crappy non conf opponents do the same.

If I were Asst AD for a day, Id want strong non conf games vs old WCHA teams, not just the blue bloods, during home weekend football games or basketball games on Sat/Sun in Oct/Nov. The fans are already there.

I cant imagine they don't have metrics on ticket scans based on what else was going on. Then again with attendance dipping noticeably at Camp Randall ever since covid, Im sure new ADs prime directive is to fill Camp Randall. Sigh...

And judging from the football schedule, they only have 2 "marquee" home oppenents in Madison this year in Southern Cal and the goofs, so there will be plenty of fan poaching available if the boys come out strong on the ice!

GoBucky18 said:

And judging from the football schedule, they only have 2 "marquee" home oppenents in Madison this year in Southern Cal and the goofs, so there will be plenty of fan poaching available if the boys come out strong on the ice!

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It's horrific that the rodent game is considered marque. That should be a mop the floor with their carcass every year game.