Wisconsin Football Shelling out the Big Bucks for Offensive Coordinator

When Wisconsin football head coach Luke Fickell decided to hire Phil Longo as the offensive coordinator, most thought the Badgers had hit a home run. The jury’s still out, but year one left something to be desired considering the team’s sizable investment in the air raid disciple.

FootballScoop reported that Longo is earning $1.25 million annually, ranking him as the 13th highest-paid offensive coordinator in the nation.

Longo enters his second season with the Badgers and hopes to build on a challenging first year for the Wisconsin football program.

The offense underwent a major philosophical change and finished No. 69 nationally in total offense, averaging just 23.5 points per game, its lowest scoring output in nearly two decades.

Further, the team finished 61st in total rushing offense and 69th in passing, leaving plenty of room for improvement heading into 2024. Leading the nation’s No. 69 overall offense won’t cut it.

A mix of reasons led to Wisconsin football struggling, such as injuries to key players, lack of depth, personnel not quite fitting the system, and the adjustment period needed for Longo’s system.

“I think going into the second year, I’m excited about knowing what the advantages of the second year are,” Longo told reporters. “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.

“The other thing is, we’re a lot closer from the get-go from this whole process of playing much more instinctively, which is what the entire offense is predicated on. Obviously, going into year two, you do something for a year, you’re better at it than you were when you first started.”

Despite the disappointing offensive output from last season, there were some encouraging signs, particularly in the passing game. Wisconsin football set new program records with 469 pass attempts and 281 completions in 2023. Also, the Badgers 2,862 passing yards ranked 4th all-time.

Even though the passing numbers inflated with the scheme change, Wisconsin football signal callers only threw five interceptions, tied for the second-fewest INTs in a season.

Longo has an established track record of success in year two at his previous coaching stops. At Sam Houston, the team boosted its scoring average by over seven points, and at North Carolina, it increased by eight points, with both averaging more than 40 points per game.

Nobody is suggesting that Wisconsin football will see a jump to some of those more gaudy scoring totals. Still, there’s reason to believe that the Badgers will take a noticeable step forward under Phil Longo in 2024 — and they’ll need to, given the brutal schedule that lies ahead.

Hopefully, the Wisconsin Badgers’ substantial investment in Longo will pay off this upcoming season in the new-look Big Ten Conference.

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