Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell made a notable change to his coaching staff this week, hiring Robert Steeples as the new cornerbacks coach and moving Paul Haynes to secondary coach.

Steeples spent the last two seasons as a defensive analyst at Iowa State. He’s been in the coaching ranks since 2016. After a brief NFL career, the former Memphis cornerback took the head coaching role at De Smet Jesuit High School (2016-20). He then jumped to the NFL level in 2021, joining the Minnesota Vikings as an assistant special teams coach. Steeples finally coached cornerbacks at LSU from 2022-23, before the latest move to Iowa State.

The new assistant will look to help improve a Wisconsin secondary corps that ranked No. 63 nationally in pass defense in 2025, allowing 218.3 yards per game. He will likely usher in turnover at his cornerback position, with Geimere Latimer set to enter the transfer portal and Ricardo Hallman likely off to the NFL.

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The Wisconsin Badgers have been seeing quite a few departures into the transfer portal so far, as they head into what will be the most crucial offseason of head coach Luke Fickell’s career.

At the top of the agenda is a quarterback, who will likely start a domino effect on the rest of the additions in the transfer portal. Wisconsin is very likely to take at least one signal-caller in the transfer portal class, and its commitment to an increased financial investment will be tested.

The Badgers need a serious upgrade at the position after sub-standard play derailed the offense for two straight years. But, who will actually want to come to Wisconsin, which has been one of the worst Power 4 offenses under Luke Fickell?

In a recent article, The Athletic’s Manny Navarro predicted the starting quarterback for every Power 4 program in 2026, making transfer portal predictions for all the quarterbacks heading elsewhere.

Who he has starting at Wisconsin is a bit of a surprise: redshirt freshman Carter Smith.

“Smith started the last three games of the season for the Badgers, who went 4-8 in Year 3 under Luke Fickell,” Navarro wrote. “It makes sense that Wisconsin would want an experienced transfer on the roster. But does anyone worth a damn really want to go to Madison right now?”

For what it’s worth, I don’t envision Smith being the team’s starter in 2026, although Wisconsin does want him back to continue furthering his development. But, it does beg the question if the Badgers can actually attract a top transfer in the market.

While Wisconsin says they’ll have more money, there are several other top programs with elite resources that will also need a quarterback. And their offensive infrastructures are much better than what the Badgers have. It would be a disappointment if Wisconsin missed out on a top quarterback, but there is also a reality where that happens because of their issues the last few years.

Wisconsin is an ‘early school to watch’ for Oklahoma transfer wide receiver Jayden Gibson, according to On3’s Pete Nakos. The Badgers were given that designation along with South Carolina.

Gibson will officially enter the portal when it opens on Jan. 2. The former four-star recruit left the Oklahoma program in October. He was then officially reported to be entering the portal earlier this month.

Gibson joined the Sooners as one of the top wideouts in the class of 2022, ranked specifically as the No. 27 at his position and No. 22 from his home state of Florida. He caught just one pass for 12 yards as a true freshman in 2022. The receiver’s breakout season came as a sophomore in 2023; He appeared in all 13 games, catching 14 passes for 375 yards and five touchdowns.

The receiver could not continue that momentum in 2024, as he suffered a season-ending injury during training camp. He then did not see the field at the start of the 2025 campaign before leaving the program.