Coaching – Syndication Server

BREAKING: Wisconsin fires offensive coordinator Phil Longo

Wisconsin football fired offensive coordinator Phil Longo on Sunday, according to a release from the program.

The Badgers make the move after struggling offensively in a 16-13 Week 12 loss to No. 1 Oregon. The offense held the team back from a program-defining victory, continuing a worrying trend that dates to the start of Longo’s tenure with the program.

“This morning, I informed Phil Longo that he will no longer serve as our offensive coordinator,” Fickell said in the program’s release. “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’s unit ranked 91st in the nation in total offense (363.1 yards per game) and 98th in the nation in scoring offense (23.9 points per game) through 12 weeks in 2024.

There is context. The unit dealt with a season-ending injury to starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke. But it still failed to make any significant progress after showing spurts of success during a midseason winning streak.

Wisconsin has fired OC Phil Longo. https://t.co/PiGly6cTQc

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 17, 2024

Wisconsin makes the move 23 games into the Luke Fickell era.

His move to hire Longo was a significant departure from the program’s history and identity. This decision marks a significant moment for Fickell as he works to build his program. It goes without saying his next offensive hire will need to be the right one.

The Badgers close with games against Nebraska and Minnesota. They need one win to gain bowl eligibility for a 23rd consecutive season.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.

Former Wisconsin assistant, son of Badgers program legend surprisingly announces retirement

Former Wisconsin assistant, championship-winning coach surprisingly announces retirement

Former Wisconsin basketball assistant and longtime Virginia head coach Tony Bennett is announcing his retirement from coaching at a press conference on Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

Tony Bennett, who is the son of former Wisconsin head coach Dick Bennett, coached with the Badgers from 1999-2003. He began on his father’s staff in 1999 — a year that saw Wisconsin’s first Final Four run in over 50 years — before staying on after Bo Ryan took over in 2001.

Bennett surprisingly announces his retirement after 15 years as head coach at Virginia. His resume includes a 433-169 overall record, four ACC Coach of the Year awards, two Naismith Coach of the Year honors, eight ACC titles and a national championship in 2019.

He is the latest college basketball coach to retire far before their career twilight — Villanova’s Jay Wright being the other prominent example.

Bennett was 3-2 against the Badgers in his Virginia career — the latest a 65-41 Wisconsin victory in last year’s Fort Myers Tip-Off.

https://twitter.com/UVAMensHoops/status/1847012207684366683

From a Wisconsin perspective: Bennett was always a popular name brought up by fans when discussing a potential move off of Greg Gard. That move obviously has not happened, and I wouldn’t predict it to in the coming years.

But Bennett’s retirement does take one primary replacement candidate off the board for whenever the Badgers are next searching for a head coach.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion.

Notre Dame isn’t on list of top college football jobs

Notre Dame isn’t even in the top 10 when it comes to best jobs in the country.

The Athletic did some checking around to see what the best job in college football is. Notre Dame did not make the top five.

The outlet polled 50 people working in the sport, including head coaches, assistant coaches, analysts and recruiters. First-place votes were worth five points and second-place votes were worth four, and on down the line. There were a few teams tied for fifth place, in that case, 1 extra point was added on.

The list ended up being Georgia, Texas, Ohio State, Alabama and LSU.

No big surprises there.

What is perhaps surprising is that Notre Dame was ranked 12th with just six points — meaning the school only managed six votes for 5th place.

Every photo from Notre Dame’s triumph over Louisville — Sep 28, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard (13) leaves the field after defeating the Louisville Cardinals at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

It’s not said why the Irish aren’t higher, but we suspect the school’s tougher academic standards play a part. The top five schools have also been in national title contender mode more often in recent years.

The top five teams also have strong NIL and vast recruiting bases from their home states, and all are national brands.

Notre Dame, of course, is a national brand and isn’t necessarily lacking in resources, including NIL, but it may not be quite at the level of those top 5.

That may change if Marcus Freeman can make the program into a consistent playoff contender.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Tim on X: @tehealey

Tamba Hali on coaching Chiefs’ young pass rushers in the offseason

In an interview with KC Sports Network, #Chiefs legend Tamba Hali spoke about working with George Karlaftis and Felix Anudike-Uzomah in the offseason.

Kansas City Chiefs fans get excited when they hear the name Tamba Hali and they should be glad to hear the All-Pro defensive end is still involved with the team in his retirement.

Hali played his entire professional career in Kansas City and has been working with the Chiefs’ newest crop of pass-rushing talent in the offseason.

During an interview with KC Sports Network, Hali described the training he has done with George Karlaftis and Felix Anudike-Uzomah.

In his comments, Hali revealed that Karlaftis was the first to reach out to him to ask for help and that he later involved Anudike-Uzomah in the offseason program.

Judging from his comments, Hali sounded like he was impressed with the young pass rushers and seemed confident in their ability to continue progressing in Steve Spagnuolo’s defense.

Keep your eye on Karlaftis and Anudike-Uzomah during Kansas City’s Week 1 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens on September 5.

NBA ranking: The youngest head coaches to win the title

In winning the 2024 NBA title with the Celtics, Joe Mazzulla has become the sixth youngest head coach to accomplish that in league history. Mazzulla is actually the youngest to win it since Bill Russell captured the title at 34 years old in 1968. …

In winning the 2024 NBA title with the Celtics, Joe Mazzulla has become the sixth youngest head coach to accomplish that in league history. Mazzulla is actually the youngest to win it since Bill Russell captured the title at 34 years old in 1968.

Take a look at the all-time ranking below.

Former Iowa OC Brian Ferentz finds new Big Ten coaching role

Former Iowa Hawkeyes offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz did not take long before finding another coaching job in the Big Ten. The Maryland Terrapins hired him as an analyst.

The role is not quite at the level of his offensive coordinator position with the Hawkeyes. But the often-criticized OC has a strong record as an offensive line coach and lower-level assistant.

Ferentz was in the headlines throughout 2023 after Iowa forced him to average 25 points per game to keep his job. The Hawkeyes averaged 15.4 points per game, one of the nation’s worst offensive units once again. Iowa announced the son of head coach Kirk Ferentz would not return for the following season at the end of October.

For clarity: We at Badgers Wire wrote on Nov. 2 that every Big Ten West offensive coordinator would’ve been fired with the 25 points-per-game baseline. It was not a great year for Big Ten West offenses, as is usually the case.

SOURCE: Maryland is expected to hire Brian Ferentz as an analyst for the Terps. The 41-year-old, a former Patriots assistant, spent a decade at Iowa working as the Hawkeyes OL coach and later OC. He’d also coached TEs, RBs and QBs there. Pat Harty first reported the move.

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) April 26, 2024

Either way, Ferentz didn’t have trouble finding a new landing spot in the Big Ten. He’ll work to rise back up the coaching ranks, this time without his father in charge of the program.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

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Watch Notre Dame Linebackers Coach Max Bullough Mic’d Up at Practice

Talk about a hands on approach…

There are coaches that are hands on and then there is flat-out hands coaching.

Notre Dame linebackers coach [autotag]Max Bullough[/autotag] is clearly part of the later.

Bullough, who was on the Cleveland Browns roster as recently as 2018, has climbed the coaching ladder since getting into the profession. After being a graduate assistant at Cincinnati and Alabama from 2019-2022, Bullough came to Notre Dame in 2023 in the same role.

This past off-season he was promoted to linebackers coach in a reshuffling of assistants after safeties coach Chris O’Leary left for a job with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Bullough was mic’d up at a recent Notre Dame spring practice. It wasn’t as much as what he had to say while coaching that gets your attention, instead it’s about how he does it and that’s by being as hands-on as one possibly can.

See for yourself below:

Bullough was listed at 6-3, 249-pounds during his playing days and it’s safe to say the former Michigan State standout hardly appears to look any different than his playing days.

Not that it doesn’t happen on plenty of other staffs across the country but this approach absolutely has to be a selling point if you’re a star high school linebacker trying to make your college choice.

[lawrence-related id=84795,84790,84784]

UNC football adds coach to unit that needs improvement

The UNC football team will be getting some much-needed coaching help on the special teams staff. Who did the Tar Heels hire on Monday?

We’re still over five months away from the start of college football season, but on Monday, the North Carolina Tar Heels have added another staff member.

And it addresses a unit that struggled in 2023 for the Tar Heels.

Per Inside Carolina, the Tar Heels are adding Eric Mele as a special teams analyst. Mele comes from Mississippi State, where he was the special teams coordinator in the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

In terms of kickoffs and punts, North Carolina was among the ACC’s worst in 2023. They ranked 13th in kickoffs, second-worst among all programs, plus dead-last in punting.

“Put a good gameplan in, hope we can execute, and change the game in a positive fashion,” Mele said about the impact of special teams in an interview last year with 247Sports. “Get us on the board and get that momentum. Special teams is all about momentum, so if we can it in our favor that would be a good deal.”

Mele has a solid kicker to work with in Noah Burnette, who made 19 field goals and all 43 of his extra-point attempts. If Ben Kiernan is healthy for Week 0, Mele will likely spend more time coaching him than Tom Maginness.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

The youngest coach is going viral and he’s adorable

4-year-old Christopher “Coach CB” Bess is going viral for his coaching styles of Tarboro High School boys basketball in North Carolina.

Many youngsters dream of being on the hardwood. To score game-winning baskets. To carry teammates to a championship. To be elected into the Hall of Fame.

This young child looks like he has a different sort of plan for his basketball career.

Over the weekend, 4-year-old Christopher Bess went viral for a video serving as a coach on the sidelines of a Tarboro High School game in North Carolina. The son of head coach Reggie Bess, little “Coach CB” has all the right moves as he paces the sideline, tosses a drink to a player on the bench, and takes a knee just like his father. Take a look:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Gabby Sartori (@gabbysartori)

The elder Bess told WNCT that he first noticed last year when who he called his mother-in-love showed him a picture of CB kneeling behind him in a similar pose. Bess said now when he’s watching game film, he’ll be “captivated by him walking up and down the sidelines.”

Other cute things Coach CB does, according to Bess and WNCT:

When college basketball is on at home, he’ll get his coaching board and draw up Xs and Os.
He gave a riveting locker room speech with a quote along the lines of “‘I’m gonna coach my whole butt off — you’re gonna play y’all gonna play your whole butt off.”
Received warnings from referees at the games to stay in his own coaching box.

Just four days after posting the first video, Coach CB’s Instagram account reached 50,000 followers.

Wisconsin legend appears ready for his next coaching move

Longtime Wisconsin defensive coordinator and program legend Jim Leonhard has flown under the radar since leaving the program after the 2022 season.

Leonhard spent the 2023 season as an analyst on Bret Beilema’s staff at Illinois. An immediate jump back into the head coach or defensive coordinator ranks wasn’t in the cards; his name was seldom mentioned among hot candidates during the latest coaching carousel.

A recent comment by Bielema gives clarity to Leonhard’s status entering the 2024 season. 247Sports’ Jeremy Werner posted to X that Leonhard is still on the Fighting Illini staff, and he could stay there entering the season if he doesn’t get a job elsewhere. The disclaimer: Leonhard is looking for a job not in college.

#illini Bret Bielema said Jim Leonhard is still on his staff. Leonhard has an opportunity to come back to Illinois if he doesn't get a job he wants elsewhere. Bielema said he wants a job "not in college," so likely the NFL.

— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) February 7, 2024

Connecting the dots, Leonhard is looking to jump to an NFL coaching staff and work his way up the ranks at that level. The league doesn’t require year-round recruiting or name, image and likeness licensing related headaches so it’s easy to see why it’s an attractive next step for his coaching career.

Here’s Bielema’s full quote on Leonhard’s future:

“In theory, he is (on our staff), but we signed him with the idea that if he wants to do this then it would be open to come back to him,” Bielema said. “If he doesn’t have the things that he wants … not in college, I think we would be back at it. He literally sent a report a couple weeks ago that was unbelievably detailed and great ideas and thoughts. I reached out to him Tuesday night. I know he’s got some irons in the fire. That’s his business. Jimmy has been awesome. A very gifted coach in a lot of ways.”

The NFL is getting to the later stages of its coaching carousel. Most coaching staffs are in the process of being filled out after the head coaching carousel stopped.

Bielema said Leonhard has “some irons on the fire,” though. So maybe we should expect some news on the matter.