The Wisconsin Badgers football program has not had the kind of success fans envisioned when head coach Luke Fickell was first hired. As one may recall, Fickell was given the job over Badgers legend Jim Leonhard, who both played and coached at Wisconsin for a long time. The former Cincinnati head coach brought in high-profile coordinators and supporting staff and promised to lead Wisconsin back to its former glory.
But that has not happened. At 5-5, the Badgers are in serious danger of seeing their 22-year Bowl Game streak come to an end. Their offense has been especially disappointing, particularly in the passing game. With Tyler Van Dyke out for the year due to injury, Braeden Locke has failed to provide any kind of consistency on offense.
In other words, his development is not there. And on Sunday, Coach Fickell decided a major change was needed.
Wisconsin Badgers Head Coach Luke Fickell Fires Offensive Coordinator Phil Longo
On Sunday, Fickell and the Badgers football program released the following statement:
“This morning, I informed Phil Longo that he will no longer serve as our offensive coordinator. After continuing to evaluate the program, I decided we are not where we need to be and believe this decision is in the best interest of the team. I appreciate Phil’s commitment to helping us build our program over the past two seasons and wish him well moving forward. This team still has a lot in front of us and I am committed to doing everything we can to close out this season with success.”
Longo, who was also the quarterbacks coach, came under fire for his Air Raid offense failing to look anything like a prolific passing offense.
Wisconsin Badgers Fans React to Phil Longo Being Fired
Fans, who were highly critical of Longo both last season and this year, reacted the way one might have expected when the news was announced:
Luke Fickell to Phil Longo pic.twitter.com/uocxqoTVml
— Dillon Graff (@DillonGraff) November 17, 2024
https://t.co/QV9QlvjjaJ pic.twitter.com/IPuzHRumLK
— Praetorian Pek (@PekJorkins) November 17, 2024
God is so good https://t.co/zhHYesdv1D pic.twitter.com/cu7aQYxw2l
— Not A Basketball Fan (@drewhamm5) November 17, 2024
LFG FINALLY LONGO IS GONE BYE BYE LOCKE https://t.co/Yep28S0vB2
— WisconsinNewEra (@WisconsinEra) November 17, 2024
Wisconsin going air raid with personnel that wasn’t a fit for the scheme didn’t seem to make much sense. Turns out that’s because it didn’t. https://t.co/bzs6uye6fQ
— Heath Cline (@heathradio) November 17, 2024
One has to wonder if this move also means that Locke will be benched when the Badgers try to keep their Bowl streak alive against Nebraska next weekend.
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