Oct 26, 2024; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell prior to the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Camp Randall Stadium. Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Luke Fickell: Wisconsin Badgers won't have season-long team captains, new ones picked each week

Originally posted on Wisconsin Badgers on SI
By Lorin Cox | Last updated Aug 26, 2025 10:08 AM ET

The Wisconsin Badgers won't have one set of team captains this season. Luke Fickell sees 14 of them across his roster.

He confirmed on Monday that the team will pick a new set of captains each week as he operates the team under a different leadership structure.

Fickell has talked this offseason about a larger leadership group on his roster, and those 14 players operate as team captains of sorts. The problem is, that many players can't go to midfield for the coin toss every game.

"This is a group led [by] more than just specifically saying who's going to put a ‘C’ on their chest,” Fickell said Monday. “I think the strength is in the pack, and we have a leadership group of 14 guys that I really would say could be any of them."

“For us, [game one] is about playing with some confidence.”@CoachFick meets with the media ahead of our season opener vs. Miami (OH).

Full presser: https://t.co/daH5fwct3X pic.twitter.com/UpEeGZm8WM
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) August 25, 2025

He admitted to the team having some deficiencies in leadership over his first two seasons, so he's made that more of an emphasis entering a 2025 schedule that will be harder than any he's faced.

Fickell is hoping the structure they build on the front end will be strong enough to withstand whatever adversity comes their way this season.

"Just knowing what kind of battles we have and what kind of mountain we have to climb, we have to show the consistency within our own program," Fickell said. "Those that show that will obviously rise, maybe by the end of the year, and if it's 14 of them, then I wouldn't be hard pressed to say, ‘Hey, there's 14 guys that led this team.’"

The head coach hasn't revealed specifically who is and isn't part of the leadership group, though it's not hard to guess who some of the premier faces and voice in the locker room are.

How he chooses captains each week will be an extra dynamic to follow this season, giving us more of a glimpse into who has emerged as leaders of the team.

This article first appeared on Wisconsin Badgers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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