How bad are things at Wisconsin and Florida State? ‘Vote of confidence’ season is here

Once upon a time, it was extremely rare for schools to fire a coach in the middle of the season. Now, it’s become so common that athletic directors feel the need to explain why they aren’t firing a struggling coach on the spot.

Florida State AD Michael Alford (in support of Mike Norvell) and Wisconsin AD Chris McIntosh (in support of Luke Fickell) both felt compelled to issue statements Monday to let everyone know, I’m not firing anyone. Yet. Norvell’s 3-4 team just suffered an inexplicable loss at Stanford and is 1-11 in ACC play since the start of last season. Fickell’s 2-5 team has lost its last two games 37-0 (to Iowa) and 34-0 (to Ohio State), the Badgers’ first back-to-back shutout losses since 1977.

Waiting until the end of the season to cobble together the buyout money — or as Alford put it, “a comprehensive assessment of the football program will be completed at season’s end” — is a perfectly reasonable decision. But good luck convincing your fans of that when they see Penn State throw $45 million at James Franklin after three straight losses or Florida spend $21.7 million to oust Billy Napier the morning after a Gators victory.

My main take after comparing the two statements: The fewer words you use, the better.

Alford delivered his message in the form of one long paragraph that checked all the P.R. boxes.

Please win some games and don’t make us fire you. pic.twitter.com/FKwhQw2Lfo

— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoATH) October 20, 2025

1. Butter up your fan base. Florida State football benefits from unmatched passionate support from the entire FSU family, and the commitment to our football program is unwavering.

2. Affirm to them that starting 0-4 in the ACC, on the heels of going 1-7 last season, is unacceptable. We rightfully have high expectations in everything we do to represent Florida State in the manner that built our reputation as one of college football’s best programs, cultivating an extraordinary group of supporters nationally and globally. We embrace those expectations while also sharing the deep disappointment when results on the field are short of that standard.

3. Acknowledge the elephant in the room. As we continue to move forward this season, our comprehensive assessment of the football program will be completed at season’s end.

4. Pay lip service to the fact there’s still lots of football left. Meanwhile, we are fully committed to helping coach Norvell and the 2025 Seminoles strongly rebound in the coming weeks.

If Alford were Jim Carrey in “Liar Liar” he’d also throw in:

5. Please, please pretty please take this next month to write us a big donation because we don’t have $59 million just sitting in our Venmo account.

Perhaps Norvell still digs himself out of this hole and saves his employer the money. His team did beat Alabama by two touchdowns. The Noles are off this week and should get back several injured players before a winnable home game against Wake Forest (though Pitt and Stanford were also quite winnable). And road games against Clemson and Florida, both 3-4, aren’t as daunting as they seemed before the season.

Fickell, on the other hand, is a dead man walking. The third-year coach is 15-18 overall, 8-14 in the Big Ten, and his 2025 team is truly terrible. All of which makes McIntosh’s statement Monday a two-page masterclass in gaslighting.

#Badgers AD Chris McIntosh with a message to fans. Talks about supporting Luke Fickell and additional financial investment in the program. pic.twitter.com/zA1gz6O3MN

— Zach Heilprin (@ZachHeilprin) October 20, 2025

Let’s see what format he chose. (Some sections cut for brevity.)

1. Remind everyone he was a great player before he was an AD. On Saturday at Camp Randall, I was honored to join my former Rose Bowl champion teammates and coaches on the field as the University community celebrated our collective successes. My years as a student-athlete at Wisconsin were among the best of my life. …

2. Affirm that losing consecutive home games by a combined 71-0 is unacceptable. It is with those experiences, along with my love and deep respect for our university, that I share in the disappointment with this football season to date; it has fallen well short of our standards. At Wisconsin, we do not shy away from setting lofty expectations. … We embrace them and accept the responsibility of meeting those goals.

3. Acknowledge the elephant … wait, what? While our coaches, staff and student-athletes continue to demonstrate the work ethic and values that represent UW Football, the results simply are not where any of us want them to be. Coach Fickell sees the potential in what this team can be, as do I, and he shares the same disappointment and frustration. …

4. Shift the onus back on the fans’ wallets. While we still have a lot of football to play this season, with the support and significant involvement of Chancellor (Jennifer) Mnookin, Athletics is committed to elevating the investment into our football program to position us to compete at the highest level. As a department, we must provide our coaches the tools necessary to succeed. That means more Athletics-funded investments into infrastructure, staffing and, most importantly, student-athlete recruiting and retention. In this new era of collegiate athletics, the clear reality is that high expectations must be matched with an equal level of support. …

5. Rah, rah, rah sign-off.  I bleed red and white, and I will not rest in the pursuit of our goals …

You lost me at “Coach Fickell sees the potential in what this team can be, as do I.” Unless by that he means the potential to finish 2-10. So, to turn right around and not-so-subtly ask people to help finance their “athletics-funded investments” (ie, buy players) is a bold ask. They may want assurances first that a different coach will be accessing it.

But perhaps Fickell can start turning things around this week against … oh dear, they’re playing at Oregon.

Nine schools have already fired their coach since the start of the season. Some may wonder what that accomplishes. It’s in part because some teams, like UCLA, do get better under their interim coach.

But also: You get to cut out the charade. Save yourself another word salad.