The Wisconsin Badgers shocked their football team and their fan base Sunday night when they announced Cincinnati's Luke Fickell as its new head coach.

It had appeared to be interim head coach Jim Leonhard's coach to lose after joining the Badgers' coaching staff in 2016 as its defensive backs coach before taking the reins of the defense a year later. The Badgers went 4-3 with Leonhard at the helm, including Saturday's 23-16 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers. He was able to keep the Badgers' bowl streak alive at 21.

Enter Fickell, who had been coaching the Bearcats to a 9-3 record after taking the team to the College Football Playoff last season. He was 57-18 in six seasons with the Bearcats. He passed on several notable jobs in the past, including Notre Dame and Michigan State, before settling on the Badgers job.