Wisconsin football hires new director of scouting and player personnel

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

Coming off a 4-8 (2-7 Big Ten) 2025 campaign, the Wisconsin Badgers football program is entering a pivotal season. Head coach Luke Fickell is sticking around, and that’s something the program has made abundantly clear.

That said, the same head coach doesn’t mean other staff changes can’t be made. Matt Zenitz reported on Thursday that the Badgers are hiring Darius Hicks to be their new director of scouting and player personnel.

Hicks previously had the same role with Michigan State. The Spartans football program is arguably in a worse state than the Badgers, so his move should be considered an upgrade.

According to his profile on the Spartans website, Hicks’ first role with MSU saw him as a defensive analyst. He joined the team in 2023, fresh off a one-year stint as the assistant defensive backs and cornerbacks coach at Southeast Missouri State.

Wisconsin’s latest hire played collegiately at Morningside University in Sioux City, Iowa. He stayed with the Mustangs as a student coach, defensive backs coach, and special teams coordinator from 2014-17.

In 2018, Hicks went to Emporia State to be their cornerbacks coach and special teams coordinator. He later returned to his alma mater, where he was their defensive backs coach from 2019-21. He was promoted to assistant defensive backs and cornerbacks coach in 2022.

Hicks will take over a position previously held by Ethan Russo, who spent just one year with the Badgers before leaving for Oklahoma State. There’s been a ton of coaching turnover within this organization lately, something that has become quite normal in the transfer portal and NIL era.

Wisconsin would love to have Hicks committed for the long haul, as this team desperately needs to bring in recruits that help reshape what this football program was built on.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.

This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Wisconsin football hire Darius Hicks recruiting player personnel

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos