Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell takes subtle shot at one Ohio State football player at Big Ten Media Days
Big Ten Media Days got started on Tuesday and Wisconsin Badgers HC Luke Fickell appears to have taken a shot at one Ohio State Buckeye.
Ohio State football opens its Big Ten Media Days schedule on Wednesday, and the 2026 season is officially on the horizon with fall camp approaching. The Buckeyes lost over 30 players to the transfer portal last winter and brought in several key additions to fill the gaps. One of those additions, former Wisconsin linebacker Christian Alliegro, became a talking point Tuesday evening when his old coach was asked a question.
Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell was asked about Alliegro at Tuesday’s Big Ten Media Days session and made it clear he didn’t want to spend much time on the topic. His response, while measured, carried a tone that could be interpreted as a subtle shot at the linebacker who left Madison for Columbus.
“[I’m going to] stick with the guys that are at Wisconsin. I’m going to focus on the guys who are at Wisconsin,” Fickell stated Tuesday evening. “We got a lot of guys here that stuck with the things that we’re doing, that believed in the things that we’re doing, and I think that I owe the utmost respect to those guys to make sure that we’re focused on those guys. No disrespect to anybody or anything, but I’m going to ride with those guys, do or die.”
Breaking down what Fickell said about the Buckeye and what it means
Part of this is coach speak. Fickell’s current players want to hear their head coach go to bat for them, and from that angle, it’s the correct answer. Praising the players who stayed through a portal cycle is fine for a coach to do heading into fall camp.
The other part is harder to ignore. By emphasizing that he respects the players who “stuck with” what Wisconsin was building, Fickell drew a clear line between those who stayed and those who didn’t. Whether intentional or not, that framing positions Alliegro on the other side of that line.
Why Alliegro is so important to Ohio State’s 2026 defense
Ohio State needed an experienced Big Ten linebacker after losing both Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese to the NFL. The Buckeyes targeted Alliegro specifically because of his proven ability to play at a high level in this conference, and the tough schedule ahead made that kind of addition a priority.
Alliegro is set to be a [likely] starting linebacker for Ohio State next to Payton Pierce. The 6-foot-4, 241-pound defender brings pass-rushing ability that showed up consistently at Wisconsin. He recorded four sacks as a junior last season and three sacks the year before as a sophomore. In 2025, Alliegro posted 53 tackles and eight tackles for loss in 10 games played.
That kind of production from a transfer portal addition is exactly what the Buckeyes were looking for when they went searching for depth and experience this offseason. Alliegro gives Ohio State a veteran presence at a position group that lost significant talent to the draft.