Wisconsin Needs Phil Longo to Drastically Improve the Badgers Offense

The Badgers need to take a big step on offense next season.

Luke Fickell had big plans for the Wisconsin Badgers offense when he became head coach of the football program. Fickell hired Phil Longo to revamp the Badgers' offense and turn their ground-and-pound pro-style running scheme into a high-octane "air raid" attack. 

Many were expecting Longo to construct a dynamic and explosive offense. His past successes and the influx of talented additions from the transfer portal fueled some of that anticipation. The prospect of an up-tempo system and a high-scoring offense seemed to be on the horizon.

However, the Wisconsin Badgers finished 7-6 on the season and averaged a mere 23.5 points per game, marking its lowest scoring total in 19 years. 

The Wisconsin football team's rankings in key offensive metrics—60th in rushing, 72nd in passing, 79th in yards per play, 108th in passing efficiency, and 91st in scoring—paint a clear picture of underperformance.

Injuries to key players, such as starting quarterback Tanner Mordecai and running back Chez Mellusi, were significant. Those injuries forced UW to change its offensive identity mid-season, to varying degrees of success. 

"I don't know that I've ever experienced as many injuries as we had this year," Longo told reporters down in Tampa. "Those are just excuses, but they were very impactful injuries."

Either way, year one under the new regime didn't deliver the anticipated Big Ten West title or the explosive offense fans hoped for. While valuable lessons may arise from this season, there's no denying that the offensive production will now be under a microscope, needing to deliver results.

The Badgers Offense Must Take a Substantial Step Forward

It's worth acknowledging that it is no small task to have a new coaching staff come in, manage relationships, establish a culture, implement new systems, and tailor schemes to its inherited personnel. 

But the Wisconsin football team had more than enough pieces to produce a better result than the No. 68 finish they had in total offense. 

Nonetheless, Phil Longo has typically produced a better product in the second year of running his offense. While at Sam Houston State, they increased their per-game scoring total by more than seven points. It wasn't substantial during Longo's stop at Ole Miss, but the Rebels went from 34.6 points per game to 36.2 in the following campaign. At North Carolina, their points per game improved by eight the subsequent season.

"Year two, usually it's pretty good," Longo said. "Because you have so many people returning now that understand what it is we're doing.

"I'm excited about knowing what the advantages of the second year are. That's when we line up in spring ball; we've got eight guys in line that can turn around and tell the two young guys exactly why we're doing the drill, what we're doing, how often we're doing it, how fast we're doing it. That's 35 coaches that we didn't have last year."