Wisconsin football hires Michael Cibene as assistant special teams coordinator
Wisconsin football hires Michael Cibene as assistant special teams coordinator to help improve the unit's consistency after an up-and-down 2024 season.
The University of Wisconsin football team has officially added another assistant to its coaching staff in an attempt to help improve its special teams operation.
The program announced the hiring of Michael Cibene as Wisconsin’s new assistant special teams coordinator, marking another notable off-field move in Luke Fickell’s ongoing staff reshuffle.
The Fort Lauderdale (FL.) native takes over for Eric Raisbeck, who originally joined the program as a special teams analyst in March 2024 before being promoted to assistant special teams coordinator in July. Raisbeck spent just one season in Madison before moving on to pursue another job.
Cibene arrives at Wisconsin after coaching the edge rushers at Florida Atlantic in 2024. He joined FAU’s staff in 2023 as a defensive analyst under Tom Herman before getting promoted. Prior to that, Cibene worked with the defensive line at Boston College (2021-22) under Jeff Hafley and spent two seasons as a defensive assistant at Ohio State (2019-20).
Strong ties to Wisconsin’s staff
Cibene is no stranger to coach Fickell. The two crossed paths at Ohio State, where Cibene was a walk-on safety from 2013-16, overlapping with Fickell’s time spent as Urban Meyer’s defensive coordinator.
Cibene was part of the Buckeyes’ 2014 national championship team and was recognized as a four-time Scholar-Athlete Award winner.
Notably, his coaching career also started under Matt Mitchell, Wisconsin’s outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator. Cibene was a graduate assistant at Grand Valley State from 2017-18, working directly with linebackers and defensive backs. That connection and relationships helped pave the way for him to join the Badgers coaching staff.
During his time at Ohio State, Cibene worked with the linebacker room, where he played a role in the development of Tuf Borland, who is now an assistant linebackers coach for Wisconsin.
A special teams unit looking for improvement
Cibene will begin working with a Wisconsin special teams unit during spring football practice that had mixed results in 2024
The Badgers ranked third in the Big Ten in kick return average, averaging 24.5 yards per return and punting average, 45.3 yards per attempt, thanks to strong seasons from Gavin Lahm and Atticus Bertrams. However, the punt return unit struggled, finishing last in the conference at 6.1 yards per return, with multiple muffed punts causing Wisconsin to make changes.
Kicker Nathanial Vakos had an inconsistent year, converting 12 of 19 field goals, including 0-for-3 from 40-49 yards and 6-for-10 from 30-39 yards. His mid-range struggles made field goal situations frustrating and far from automatic.
The Badgers bring back Atticus Bertrams at punter, Nathanial Vakos at kicker, and Gavin Lahm as a kickoff specialist, giving them some continuity to build on. They also added Michigan transfer punter Stone Anderson for depth.
The real challenge, though, will be replacing long-snapper Cayson Pfeiffer. For the second straight offseason, Wisconsin turned to the transfer portal, bringing in Eli Stein from Arkansas, a Cambridge (Wis.) native with two years of eligibility to fill the role. Stein will compete with Deed Capper to start.
With Cibene’s diverse coaching background and familiarity with Wisconsin’s staff, he brings a fresh set of eyes to a special teams unit that needs to tighten things up if they want to become an asset and allow the Badgers to play complimentary football more consistently.
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