2023 Badger Football Thread
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Wisconsin quarterback Chase Wolf, who announced in December after the team’s bowl game that he would return for a sixth season, is no longer with the program or enrolled in school, The Athletic has learned.
Wolf previously decided to come back and pursue a master’s degree in Real Estate & Urban Land Economics after conversations with Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell and offensive coordinator Phil Longo. According to a source with direct knowledge of the situation, the Badgers’ new coaching staff initially told Wolf that it intended to bring in two or three transfer quarterbacks in an attempt to add depth and upgrade the position but that Wolf would have an opportunity to compete for the starting job.
The source said Wolf was on board with that decision. But as he prepared to return, having already signed an apartment lease in Madison, he spoke to Longo again on Jan. 15, two days before players were due to report to campus. The source said Wolf was told that coaches already intended to go with SMU transfer Tanner Mordecai as Wisconsin’s starting quarterback. As a result, Wolf chose to move on from the program.
“The only thing he wanted to do was compete,” the source said. “That’s all he wanted to do. He didn’t want to be offered the job. He didn’t say, ‘I want to be the starter.’ He may have never been the starter. But they told him he’s not going to be able to compete because they’ve already named a starter.
“He was only going to come back and play because he liked Fickell and he thought Fickell would give him an opportunity. And it was the direct opposite.”
Fickell declined to comment Monday through a team spokesperson. Wolf declined to comment when reached via text message. The source said Wolf was still weighing his options about whether to pursue one more college season as a graduate transfer.
Wolf spent the majority of his five seasons in the program as a backup, including the last three behind starter Graham Mertz. He appeared in 13 career games and finished his Wisconsin career completing 33-of-57 passes (57.9 percent) for 292 yards with three touchdowns and five interceptions.
Wolf suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee during preseason practice in August and missed the first eight games of the season. He earned his first career start in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl after Mertz entered the transfer portal and helped lead Wisconsin to a 24-17 victory against Oklahoma State. Wolf completed 16-of-26 passes for 116 yards with one touchdown, one interception and one lost fumble. Fickell said after the game that Wolf was on track to return.
“I think he feels like he’s got some unfinished business,” Fickell said then. “And it’s hard to walk away from a place like this. And when you’re afforded some of those extra years, in the last three weeks, that’s what this place has showed me. … Having an opportunity, if they want to come back, want to be a part of this, don’t want to leave it and walk away, that’s shown me a lot.”
Wolf acknowledged then that Fickell’s hiring was important because he represented “a familiar face.” Wolf, a Cincinnati native, earned a scholarship offer out of high school from Fickell when he coached the Cincinnati Bearcats. Wolf also said he was intrigued after talking to Longo about his approach with an offense that would allow quarterbacks to control more of the game, including certain checks in the passing attack.
“It was more of a feel thing for me,” Wolf said after the bowl game. “I just wanted to see how I felt the passion for the game. I didn’t want to regret anything. I didn’t want to call it quits and then a couple months down the road regret not playing another year. I’ve got the rest of my life to work.
“I think just with what’s coming to Wisconsin, I’m excited to get to work with Brady Collins, the new strength coach. It’s just kind of matched together and I was like, ‘This is the sign I needed to come back.'”
At the time, Wisconsin already had added one quarterback, with Oklahoma transfer Nick Evers publicly announcing his decision on Dec. 17. Mordecai followed three days after the bowl game on Dec. 30, and Mississippi State’s Braedyn Locke announced his transfer Jan. 10. All three players were four-star prospects out of high school whom Longo was familiar with already. Mordecai will be a sixth-year senior while Evers and Locke will be redshirt freshmen.
Wisconsin is set to enter spring practice with five scholarship quarterbacks: Mordecai, Evers, Locke, redshirt freshman Myles Burkett and true freshman Cole LaCrue. In two seasons as a starter at SMU, Mordecai completed 596-of-897 passes (66.4 percent) for 7,152 yards with 72 touchdowns and 22 interceptions. Mordecai played against Fickell’s Cincinnati teams in both of those seasons.
“We didn’t feel like we ever wanted to let him sit back there because he was very talented and really good,” Fickell told reporters last week before a Wisconsin alumni event in Milwaukee. “I think what we saw this past year that made me even more nervous was his athleticism. Not that it just created and developed over one year. But I just think this past year he showed some other things that I think make him even a bit more dynamic as not a dual-threat guy but a guy that can create and extend plays — different than what I’d even seen in the past.”
The four players behind Mordecai have limited or no college experience. Burkett played in two games last season for Wisconsin and completed 4-of-5 passes for 84 yards. Evers appeared in one game for Oklahoma and threw one incomplete pass, and Locke did not play during his redshirt season at Mississippi State.
Wolf previously decided to come back and pursue a master’s degree in Real Estate & Urban Land Economics after conversations with Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell and offensive coordinator Phil Longo. According to a source with direct knowledge of the situation, the Badgers’ new coaching staff initially told Wolf that it intended to bring in two or three transfer quarterbacks in an attempt to add depth and upgrade the position but that Wolf would have an opportunity to compete for the starting job.
The source said Wolf was on board with that decision. But as he prepared to return, having already signed an apartment lease in Madison, he spoke to Longo again on Jan. 15, two days before players were due to report to campus. The source said Wolf was told that coaches already intended to go with SMU transfer Tanner Mordecai as Wisconsin’s starting quarterback. As a result, Wolf chose to move on from the program.
“The only thing he wanted to do was compete,” the source said. “That’s all he wanted to do. He didn’t want to be offered the job. He didn’t say, ‘I want to be the starter.’ He may have never been the starter. But they told him he’s not going to be able to compete because they’ve already named a starter.
“He was only going to come back and play because he liked Fickell and he thought Fickell would give him an opportunity. And it was the direct opposite.”
Fickell declined to comment Monday through a team spokesperson. Wolf declined to comment when reached via text message. The source said Wolf was still weighing his options about whether to pursue one more college season as a graduate transfer.
Wolf spent the majority of his five seasons in the program as a backup, including the last three behind starter Graham Mertz. He appeared in 13 career games and finished his Wisconsin career completing 33-of-57 passes (57.9 percent) for 292 yards with three touchdowns and five interceptions.
Wolf suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee during preseason practice in August and missed the first eight games of the season. He earned his first career start in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl after Mertz entered the transfer portal and helped lead Wisconsin to a 24-17 victory against Oklahoma State. Wolf completed 16-of-26 passes for 116 yards with one touchdown, one interception and one lost fumble. Fickell said after the game that Wolf was on track to return.
“I think he feels like he’s got some unfinished business,” Fickell said then. “And it’s hard to walk away from a place like this. And when you’re afforded some of those extra years, in the last three weeks, that’s what this place has showed me. … Having an opportunity, if they want to come back, want to be a part of this, don’t want to leave it and walk away, that’s shown me a lot.”
Wolf acknowledged then that Fickell’s hiring was important because he represented “a familiar face.” Wolf, a Cincinnati native, earned a scholarship offer out of high school from Fickell when he coached the Cincinnati Bearcats. Wolf also said he was intrigued after talking to Longo about his approach with an offense that would allow quarterbacks to control more of the game, including certain checks in the passing attack.
“It was more of a feel thing for me,” Wolf said after the bowl game. “I just wanted to see how I felt the passion for the game. I didn’t want to regret anything. I didn’t want to call it quits and then a couple months down the road regret not playing another year. I’ve got the rest of my life to work.
“I think just with what’s coming to Wisconsin, I’m excited to get to work with Brady Collins, the new strength coach. It’s just kind of matched together and I was like, ‘This is the sign I needed to come back.'”
At the time, Wisconsin already had added one quarterback, with Oklahoma transfer Nick Evers publicly announcing his decision on Dec. 17. Mordecai followed three days after the bowl game on Dec. 30, and Mississippi State’s Braedyn Locke announced his transfer Jan. 10. All three players were four-star prospects out of high school whom Longo was familiar with already. Mordecai will be a sixth-year senior while Evers and Locke will be redshirt freshmen.
Wisconsin is set to enter spring practice with five scholarship quarterbacks: Mordecai, Evers, Locke, redshirt freshman Myles Burkett and true freshman Cole LaCrue. In two seasons as a starter at SMU, Mordecai completed 596-of-897 passes (66.4 percent) for 7,152 yards with 72 touchdowns and 22 interceptions. Mordecai played against Fickell’s Cincinnati teams in both of those seasons.
“We didn’t feel like we ever wanted to let him sit back there because he was very talented and really good,” Fickell told reporters last week before a Wisconsin alumni event in Milwaukee. “I think what we saw this past year that made me even more nervous was his athleticism. Not that it just created and developed over one year. But I just think this past year he showed some other things that I think make him even a bit more dynamic as not a dual-threat guy but a guy that can create and extend plays — different than what I’d even seen in the past.”
The four players behind Mordecai have limited or no college experience. Burkett played in two games last season for Wisconsin and completed 4-of-5 passes for 84 yards. Evers appeared in one game for Oklahoma and threw one incomplete pass, and Locke did not play during his redshirt season at Mississippi State.
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This was a good decision by Wolf. He wouldn't have hit the field. Now, if he really wants to play, he can take that extra year to play somewhere else.
For the Badgers, it clears another scholarship, and would be nice to have in hand. As far as the QB room, it's still quite full. Nothing to be concerned about, unless none of them fits the program. Personally, I think Burkett would be smart to seek a spot on a roster elsewhere, and LaCrue might do it in a year. He has that red shirt, to use to gauge where he stands. Unless they explode, the pecking order is exactly like GBP shows, for year one, and in year 2, the job is Evers, unless he fails to impress.
For the Badgers, it clears another scholarship, and would be nice to have in hand. As far as the QB room, it's still quite full. Nothing to be concerned about, unless none of them fits the program. Personally, I think Burkett would be smart to seek a spot on a roster elsewhere, and LaCrue might do it in a year. He has that red shirt, to use to gauge where he stands. Unless they explode, the pecking order is exactly like GBP shows, for year one, and in year 2, the job is Evers, unless he fails to impress.
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As each new transfer committed, I had to wonder how open the coaching staff was with the previous commits about their intent of getting multiple commits at the position from the portal.
The undercurrent in the Chase Wolf situation that I find just a little disturbing is this:
“The only thing he wanted to do was compete,” the source said. “That’s all he wanted to do. He didn’t want to be offered the job. He didn’t say, ‘I want to be the starter.’ He may have never been the starter. But they told him he’s not going to be able to compete because they’ve already named a starter.
Assuming what's being said above is true, it seems like Mordecai has simply been handed the starting job with no competition allowed. I don't think Wolf was "expecting" to start, just wanted an open competition. Losing Wolf is hardly a big deal, but I wonder how this plays in the locker room and how many other transfers have been handed starting jobs.
“The only thing he wanted to do was compete,” the source said. “That’s all he wanted to do. He didn’t want to be offered the job. He didn’t say, ‘I want to be the starter.’ He may have never been the starter. But they told him he’s not going to be able to compete because they’ve already named a starter.
Assuming what's being said above is true, it seems like Mordecai has simply been handed the starting job with no competition allowed. I don't think Wolf was "expecting" to start, just wanted an open competition. Losing Wolf is hardly a big deal, but I wonder how this plays in the locker room and how many other transfers have been handed starting jobs.
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Yeah! I found that disturbing too. But, when the statement was made to Wolf, was it made before the bowl game? Before Mordecai agreed to transfer? Then, did he approach the coaches and ask them where he stood, or did they go to him, and tell him that they would have to trust in guys who understood the offense in the first year, not risk it with someone who was learning it, and be gone, by the time he understood it?
I don't like the look of it either. But, at the same time, I think it was important for Fickell to be honest with Wolf, not feed him a line of BS that would cost him his last year of eligibility elsewhere. It's just the look being bad.
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If he in fact was told that he wouldn't have an opportunity to compete, he should be eligible for a waiver which the UW AD will need to sign after missing the portal window, and be able to compete immediately.
This is where you have to wonder... they named a starter before spring camp. The only guy that really has the MO to be that QB was named, rather than take this approach Wolf should have competed his butt off in spring and fall camp and proven them wrong.
To be blunt...the rotting fruit fell off the vine.
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Or maybe our coaches gave Wolf an honest assessment of what they perceived his chances to be of winning a competition with a very stacked quarterback room.
And, the guy that never beat out Bucky's previous quarterbacks accepted slim to none meant the coaches assessment was that he wasn't going to win regardless of how hard he competed. It sucks when you find out that you're not all world. But, I'd rather have an honest assessment of my chances.
Based only on:
I have no problems with Wolf going somewhere to try and have one last fling and some fun playing football.
And, the guy that never beat out Bucky's previous quarterbacks accepted slim to none meant the coaches assessment was that he wasn't going to win regardless of how hard he competed. It sucks when you find out that you're not all world. But, I'd rather have an honest assessment of my chances.
Based only on:
- Everything I've read about the new regime,
- the fact they are getting quarterbacks that wouldn't have looked at Wisconsin to come in and compete to an advertised stacked quarterback room,
- the fact that Wolf didn't beat out - and wasn't close to beating out - previous Bucky quarterbacks, and
- My Bucky colored glasses
I have no problems with Wolf going somewhere to try and have one last fling and some fun playing football.