Greg McElroy had some high praise for how Wisconsin handled its coaching search. The Badgers are going with Luke Fickell from Cincinnati.

McElroy was shocked and noted how he didn’t see this hire coming. Like many people around the country, he thought that Jim Leonhard was going to get the job after coaching the Badgers to a bowl game.

“I didn’t even see this coming,” said McElroy. “I thought most of us looked at the job and figured it’s probably Jim Leonhard’s. Just felt like it was going to be the real easy thing for Wisconsin to do was remove the interim tag and go forward.”

McElroy then lauded Wisconsin for how it handled the whole process. He even took a dig at Auburn. The Tigers hired Hugh Freeze on Monday.

“This is how you run a coaching search. You don’t let emotions get in the way of hiring the best candidate. I’m looking at you Auburn. Take notes of what Wisconsin just did. (The Badgers) just told their All-American safety who had been the DC for years and years and years that hey, we appreciate it, but we have a better candidate that we’re gonna pursue at this point. This to me was a remarkable move.”

It’s too early to tell how Fickell will do in Madison, but the new Wisconsin HC has McElroy’s support.