Newly hired Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell took a big risk by leaving Cincinnati, but it seems like he has big plans in place to restore the once prominent Badgers program with a huge signing on Wednesday.
College football insider Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports and The Athletic revealed on Wednesday that North Carolina Tar Heels offensive coordinator Phil Longo will be leaving UNC to join Wisconsin, where he will serve in the same position.
SOURCE: Phil Longo is leaving UNC to go to Wisconsin to become the Badgers OC. He had a prolific offense in Chapel Hill and helped develop Drake Maye into a star this year. He's had a strong relationship with Luke Fickell for awhile and he interviewed for the Cincy OC before.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 7, 2022
Longo has had a profound impact since becoming the Tar Heels offensive coordinator in 2018, especially this season with star quarterback Drake Maye under center in his sophomore year.
Under Longo, the Tar Heels had a top-15 offense in yards-per-game in the FBS. Maye excelled in Longo’s system, ranking third in passing yards on the year with 35 passing touchdowns on the year with only seven interceptions.
It is certainly a significant loss for the Tar Heels, but many are praising Luke Fickell and Wisconsin for this hire on Wednesday.
Wow!
Wisconsin football is going to look a lot different than it has for the last 30 years. https://t.co/v74uTxxrpD
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) December 7, 2022
Well, this sure ain't three yards and a cloud of dust. https://t.co/5HabMUB4uS
— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) December 7, 2022
Wisconsin football is going to look a whole lot different moving forward. This is the attempt to move into the future. https://t.co/Mqa2eBuBK8
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) December 7, 2022
Huge love for Luke Fickell and tough loss for Mack Brown and UNC. https://t.co/HcbOYIp7fR
— Matt Murschel (@osmattmurschel) December 7, 2022
Big Ten just got a lot more interesting. What a night/day change of offenses for the Badgers. https://t.co/635wgJLupn
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) December 7, 2022
Along with Longo, UNC offensive line coach Jack Bicknell Jr. is also expected to join Wisconsin’s staff as their new offensive-line coach.
SOURCE: UNC offensive line coach Jack Bicknell Jr. also is expected to join the Wisconsin staff as the Badgers new O-line coach. He and new OC Phil Longo coached together at Ole Miss and at UNC: https://t.co/7rR0mYYfDL https://t.co/oHAmylR2gA
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 7, 2022
Two key coaches at UNC leaving for Wisconsin has also led to some speculation around the CFB world about Drake Maye potentially entering the transfer portal and leaving for Wisconsin as well.
All bets are off on Drake Maye and rumored transfer away from Carolina in my opinion https://t.co/b3Qm8JMnf4
— Mike McDaniel (@MikeMcDanielSI) December 7, 2022
Bring Drake Maye along https://t.co/sS90MOw5tb
— Ryan Wing (@RyanWingFOX11) December 7, 2022
The Badgers have been known to typically have an offense that focuses heavily on running the football. It certainly appears like that’s set to change with this hiring of Longo on Wednesday.
