Former Ohio State defensive coordinator and current Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell is expected to take the open Wisconsin head coaching position, sources tell The Silver Bulletin. The possibility was first reported by Pete Thamel of ESPN.

Sources: Wisconsin has targeted Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell to be the school’s next head coach. https://t.co/FNAKRcu5Vb

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 27, 2022

According to sources, Wisconsin has made Fickell an offer similar to the one that Matt Rhule just received from Nebraska (8 years, $72 million), which would be a significant raise from the $3.4 million that Fickell is currently making at Cincinnati. Nothing has been accepted by Fickell, but the two camps are in deep talks and it is thought that an official announcement could be coming soon.

Fickell has re-built the Cincinnati program which was in relative shambles following the departure of Tommy Tuberville. The Bearcats went 4-8 in Fickell’s first season, but followed that up with back-to-back 11-win seasons. Following a Peach Bowl berth in the shortened 2020 season, Cincinnati finished 13-1 in 2021, capped off by a playoff appearance, with Cincinnati becoming the first non-Power 5 team to reach the College Football Playoff.

Following a mass exodus of players to the NFL after 2021, the Bearcats slightly regressed this year, finishing the regular season with a 9-3 mark and a 6-2 AAC record. Cincinnati will be headed to the Big 12 in the coming years, but Fickell has strong Big Ten roots from his many years at Ohio State and likely prefers to recruit geographically in the midwest, rather than the southwest, where the Big 12 will still have their strongest roots.

Other names that had been linked to Wisconsin included current interim coach Jim Leonhard, Kansas coach Lance Leipold, and Baylor coach Dave Aranda, among others.