Badgers’ Fickell hopes Vrabel can be around group

• Pete Thamel, ESPNFeb 8, 2024, 10:12 AM ET Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell informed ESPN on Thursday that he is wanting to have Mike Vrabel, his friend and previous colleague, “around as much as possible” with the team in a casual role the upcoming season.Vrabel was fired by the Tennessee Titans last month and did not land an NFL job in this year’s working with cycle. Vrabel and Fickell were teammates at Ohio State and coached together there as assistants.”I like Mike and want him around as much as

  possible,”Fickell told ESPN.”I wish to see just how much he ‘d like to be around, in the spring for sure. And we’ll go from there.”Fickell joked with ESPN that he is not intimidated by Vrabel’s 6-foot-4 frame, laughing as he referenced a confidential quote to The Athletic that Vrabel’s physical existence might be intimidating to someone in an organization.Editor’s Picks 1 Related Fickell was a nose take on at Ohio State. Vrabel played linebacker for the Buckeyes, and the 2 have

remained close

both personally and professionally because their time there in the 1990s. It’s common in college football and the NFL for coaches who run out work to hang out with friends and associates to use opinions and an extra set of eyes.Fickell first mentioned Vrabel’s possible presence in a radio interview today.”I spoke with him, I believe, on Saturday

, and we had not interacted for most likely a week or so even if the procedure was going,”Fickell told ESPN Wisconsin’s “Wilde & Tausch.” “He sounded like a brand-new male. And I’m not sure precisely if this was his choice, or what it is the future appear like, but I understand that we’re going to have a visitor here that’s going to invest a bit of time, hopefully around us. Starting, turning up in the spring and some things like that, see just how much, how deep we can get involved with my pal and get him around here.”Fickell went 7-6 in his first season at Wisconsin. He led Cincinnati to the College Football Playoff in 2020.