The Wisconsin Badgers recently discussed the idea of hiring two different offensive coaches for the 2025 season and beyond.
Coach Luke Fickell recently spoke to the media about the situation Badgers The 2024 season, the search for an offensive coordinator and the future of the quarterback room after the dust settles from last season. Wisconsin is officially not playing football for the first time in its history, which affects many of the student-athletes who are currently on the team, putting fans in an awkward situation that wasn’t really expected at the beginning of the year.
However, the 2025 season will be “much different” according to Fickell, who wants to turn things around before he faces a potentially costly exit from the program. Previously, the hiring of his original staff was highly criticized as many believed that not only was Fickell improperly hired, but also his individual employees within the program.
Given a second chance to hire an offensive coordinator after the mid-season firing of Phil Longo, Fickell must not only recruit properly, but also find someone to keep him off-balance.
However, it could ultimately be two people as the Wisconsin Badgers are considering hiring a quarterbacks coach separate from the offensive coordinator. Longo had previously served in both roles, but would only serve as offensive coordinator after he was hired by Fickell and joined the program. Shortly thereafter, quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli left the program to take the same role with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and Longo, in turn, took control of the quarterback room as a quarterback guru of sorts.
The Wisconsin Badgers never hired another quarterbacks coach after Guidugli’s departure, either because of faith in Longo as a quarterback programmer or because of a lack of better candidates for the position.
However, in the future, the Wisconsin Badgers are considering adding a quarterbacks coach in addition to an offensive coordinator to properly distribute staff roles.
Could hiring a quarterbacks coach assist the Wisconsin Badgers improve?
Being a coordinator is already a statuesque order, but being a quarterbacks coach and coordinator all in one is a really hard task to accomplish at a high level.
Longo had previously had success doing the same at North Carolina, but he also had the advantage of having an offensive assistant who ultimately became another mind to bounce ideas off of. Additionally, there was another voice that could provide information to quarterbacks, which is often beneficial to teams.
The Wisconsin Badgers are going to provide all the assist they can get, and adding two offensive coaches could open up a better avenue for both play and development outside of the quarterback room. Having a coach work directly with quarterbacks on a daily basis is an vital part of player development and can be seen with many other programs like Kansas State.
The Wildcats may not have had the best record over the last few seasons, but they have developed three successful quarterbacks in that time under the watchful eye of Collin Klein. The quarterbacks coach spent eight seasons with the Wildcats and performed admirably before leaving the program to become the Texas A&M Aggies’ offensive coordinator this past offseason.
Klein not only had a great understanding of the position as a former quarterback, but also had a great relationship with them. The coach was responsible for recruiting every quarterback on the roster and building relationships that likely helped get the most out of the players.
Having the right coaches for the job is only part of the equation, as a quarterback coach separate from Longo probably wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the last two seasons for the Wisconsin Badgers.
Wisconsin still needs to find the right player for whatever offense it chooses, as the wrong play can clearly hurt the team in the long run, as it did in the 2024 season with Braedyn Locke. The quarterback may have had good years in the up-to-date offensive system, but he simply wasn’t cut out for the style of offense Longo was trying to develop in Madison.
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