Report: Luke Fickell, Wisconsin hire NFL executive Morocco Brown as Badgers' GM

Wisconsin is expected to hire longtime NFL personnel executive Morocco Brown as the football program’s new general manager, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Brown has worked with multiple NFL programs, most recently as the Indianapolis Colts‘ chief personnel executive.

Brown has also served as the Colts’ director of college scouting, as well as the vice president of player personnel for the Cleveland Browns and director of pro personnel for the Washington Commanders. He’s also provided consulting work for prospective NFL prospects to prepare them for interviewing with NFL teams, according to his website.

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Brown spent much of the past decade in Indianapolis, first hired as the team’s director of college scouting in 2017 before being promoted to the Colts’ chief personnel executive in 2022. He was let go by the Colts ahead of the 2025 season.

Brown played a significant role in Indianapolis’ decision to draft former Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, infamously comparing Richardson to Michael Vick at the time.

“(Richardson) had like a bounce to him as he was just running up and down the field and rolling out, whatever he’s doing during the course of practice,” Brown said in 2023. “It just had like a different kind of balance and rhythm to it, and then the ball just came out of his hand — the closest think I’ve seen is Michael Vick.”

As Wisconsin’s GM, Brown will be tasked with helping fourth-year Badgers head coach Luke Fickell further modernize the football program ahead of a pivotal 2026 season. Fickell has faced serious scrutiny this offseason amid back-to-back losing seasons in Madison, marking the first time Wisconsin has failed to achieve bowl eligibility in consecutive seasons since the early 1990s under legendary Badgers head coach and athletic director Barry Alvarez.

Fickell is just 17-21 in three seasons with the Badgers, with his only winning season coming in 2023 — his first — when the Badgers went 7-6 overall and 5-4 in Big Ten play. Otherwise, it’s been a disappointing start for Fickell, who left Cincinnati in 2022 just one year removed from leading the Bearcats to the College Football Playoffs in 2021.

Despite the mounting pressure, Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh publicly backed Fickell this offseason, signaling the university still believes he can eventually rebuild the program into a contender in the expanded Big Ten landscape.

— On3’s Steve Samra contributed to this report.