PLATTEVILLE – Looking to strengthen the bond of this year’s squad and leave behind the distractions of Madison, first-year head coach Luke Fickell brought his Wisconsin Badger football team to the campus of UW-Platteville, where they kicked off the first six days of fall camp.
Arriving last Tuesday night, the Badgers held their first practice Wednesday morning, and concluded their stay with their final practice this past Monday night.
All practices were closed to the public, though fans and spectators could often times be seen along the fence of the North end zone watching from the hill.
The draw to UW-Platteville undoubtedly came down to the premier facilities the Platteville campus has to offer, as well as the accommodations and convenience of housing and feeding such a large group of athletes.
Prior to their arrival on the UW-Platteville campus, coach Fickell was obviously excited to begin fall camp, and showed his appreciation toward the university for making it happen.
“We are extremely grateful to partner with UW-Platteville on this opportunity,” said coach Luke Fickell prior to his arrival last week. “This is a tremendous way for our team to start fall camp and focus on coming together as a group both on and off the field. I think it will greatly benefit us as we prepare for the season.” At the conclusion of their final practice this past Monday evening, coach Fickell was quick to sing the praises of the UW-Platteville campus and its entire staff.
“This was an awesome trip for us. I think that everybody here did an unbelievable job,” coach Fickell said. “I think our guys, I’m sure they’re ready and they’re excited to go back to campus, but I think they really enjoyed it, they’ve asked several times can we stay here for another week.”
“I’m the same way, I think if we could stay here another week I would love it,” Fickell added.
The Badgers held practices each morning beginning at 9 a.m., which was followed by lunch, meetings and weight room sessions, before having a walk through on the field each night.
They stayed in dorms on campus and ate all their meals at the dining hall. They lifted at the newly renovated Pioneer Fitness Center and sharpened their skills on the ProGrass in-fill turf field of Butch Leitl Field. “We got a lot done and it will be a challenge to go back for us to campus and change up the routine a slight bit,” Fickell said. “Now it’s a little bit more about being disciplined when we travel, going home and going to bed.”
“All in all, I’d say it was a really, really good first six days,” Fickell added. “It was really competitive to the edge where guys were challenged to a point where they would almost lose their emotions, but they did a really, really good job.”
“Obviously it will get more challenging as we get to days seven, eight, nine, ten, but I probably couldn’t be more excited about what has gotten done in our seven days here,” he added.
The burning question everyone wants to know is if this is something coach Fickell would like to do again in the coming seasons, either back here in Platteville or somewhere else.
“There’s no doubt, I think when we go back and start to talk to our guys about the evaluation of this six days, I would imagine we get a very similar feedback,” Fickell said. “I’ve already heard a few guys say ‘hey we should stay here longer.’ It is something that is very valuable to us. Obviously we’ll see, and hopefully we can do this as kind of a start and then make sure we can take it to the next level as we go back to campus. Because as you go back to campus there’s a little more distractions, but I think all in all, this is something we’ve got to continue.”
The Badgers kick off their 2023 schedule on Saturday, Sept. 2, when they host the University of Buffalo at Camp Randall Stadium. The Badgers enter the 2023 season ranked 21st in the preseason Coaches Poll behind Big Ten rivals Michigan (No. 2), Ohio State (No. 4) and Penn State (No. 7). Georgia is ranked No. 1.
