Former Wisconsin nose tackle Keeanu Benton goes through drills as an NFL scouts looks on during the Badgers pro day at the McClain Center in Madison, Wis. on Thursday March 22, 2023 Mark Stewart / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Report: NFL scout accuses Luke Fickell of lying about access to Wisconsin Badgers practices

Originally posted on Wisconsin Badgers on SI
By Lorin Cox | Last updated Oct 20, 2025 2:18 PM ET

The dispute between Luke Fickell and NFL scouts is growing.

The disagreement has become a "he said, he said" situation, now escalating to accusations of lying.

It started Saturday morning when NFL Draft analyst Dane Brugler from The Athletic reported that the Wisconsin Badgers were "shutting NFL scouts out of practice," which was forcing them to have to come to games to scout their players.

Fickell has been shutting NFL scouts out of practice so games are the only chance for teams to get eyes on Wisconsin players in person. https://t.co/BlKgL3vw2S
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) October 18, 2025

Fickell was asked about the report after the game, and he denied it. He seemed surprised that it even came up.

"No, we have NFL scouts there almost every single day," he said. "Maybe they can't watch the whole practice on a Wednesday, but my goodness, we don't even have much of a restriction."

Luke Fickell denied this report: https://t.co/7skVzmLHqL pic.twitter.com/dSYrnYvk7Z
— John Steppe (@JSteppe1) October 18, 2025

Accusation of lying

On Monday, ESPN senior NFL writer Kalyn Kahler added to Brugler's report, confirming with several scouts that have had practices closed to them at various points throughout the year.

She quoted one scout directly, speaking anonymously about Fickell: "He knows he’s lying."

Have confirmed this with several scouts who have been told all of practice is closed to them at various points throughout the year, dating back to August and as recently as last week. Fickell denied Dane’s report in a presser Sat, and one scout said to me: “he knows he’s lying” https://t.co/Nml30uQBsC
— Kalyn Kahler (@kalynkahler) October 20, 2025

That's quite an accusation against an embattled head coach who made it clear that the Badgers have more to worry about right now than trying to limit scouts access to practice.

But now it's coming from multiple sources and multiple scouts, putting their word against Fickell's.

At some point, he'll have another public response to the allegations, and the back-and-forth drama will continue.

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

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