Wisconsin fired offensive coordinator Phil Longo a day after the Badgers lost to No. 1 Oregon.
The Badgers announced Sunday that head coach Luke Fickell had made a coordinator change following the Ducks’ 16-13 victory. Wisconsin had fewer than 230 yards of offense in the loss, as quarterback Braedyn Locke was 12 of 28 for 96 yards.
Longo has been Wisconsin’s offensive coordinator since Fickell was hired prior to the 2023 season. No interim coordinator was announced.
“This morning I informed Phil Longo that he will no longer serve as our offensive coordinator,” Fickell said in a statement. I appreciate Phil’s commitment to helping us build our program over the past two seasons and wish him continued success in the future. This team still has a lot ahead of us and I am determined to do everything I can to finish the season successfully this season.”
Wisconsin’s offense has struggled in 2024 without QB Tyler Van Dyke. The transfer from Miami suffered a season-ending knee injury against Alabama and Locke has been the team’s starter ever since. Wisconsin is 5-5 and the Oregon loss is the Badgers’ third in a row, although two of those losses have come to opponents ranked in the top five.
Fickell came to Wisconsin from Cincinnati and immediately wanted to change the run-dominated philosophy that had defined Wisconsin football for the past two decades. That step did not go smoothly. Wisconsin was 7-6 in 2023 and the Badgers ranked just 93rd in points per game.
After throwing more than rushing a season ago, the Badgers now run the ball on more than 50% of their plays in 2024. However, the offense is only averaging 4.5 yards per play and turning it over 1.6 times per game.
The Badgers still have games against Nebraska and Minnesota in 2024 to become bowl eligible. If Wisconsin fails to win either of these games, the Badgers will miss the postseason for the first time since 2001.
Before arriving at Wisconsin, Longo was the offensive coordinator at North Carolina for four seasons and led the offense at Ole Miss in 2017 and 2018.
