Wisconsin entered a new era this offseason when it hired Luke Fickell as head coach. The move came as a big surprise, as he isn’t a ‘Wisconsin Guy,’ and didn’t have any real ties to the state or program before being hired.
But he was the most sought-after Group of Five head coach for years. Getting him to Madison was a massive win for Chris McIntosh and the athletic department.
With Fickell’s arrival also came the hire of OC Phil Longo. In short: Longo’s air raid offense is greatly separated from what we’re used to seeing from a Wisconsin team. If you’ve kept up with anything Wisconsin over the last 6-8 months, you know what to expect when the team takes the field in September.
How it all works is anybody’s guess. But scrolling Twitter, or ‘X,’ yesterday I came across a clip that perfectly embodies the offense that is being replaced.
Yes, it was an attack that became stale during its final years when quarterback and offensive line play eroded. But the purpose here is to not forget the roots of what made Wisconsin football what it is today. And what made the program such an attractive destination for a top coach like Fickell.
The date was November 18, 2017. I was in the building that day as No. 5 Wisconsin hosted No. 19 Michigan.
Alex Hornibrook had the Badgers at 10-0 on the season and poised for a trip back to Indianapolis after 2016’s gut-wrenching loss to Penn State. Jonathan Taylor was breaking on the scene as a true freshman and causing complete havoc for defenses.
There was so much beauty in how Paul Chryst utilized the running game to set up everything else, whether it was an end around, play-action or leaking a fullback out into open space.
Towards the end of the third quarter that day Wisconsin led 14-10, and needed a big blow to create some separation. To find that, Chryst drew up a beauty:
Paul Chryst Artistry. pic.twitter.com/epVmDQPUV6
— Ben Kenney (@benzkenney) August 2, 2023
There’s so much going on here, from the offensive line pulling in two directions simultaneously, to three tight ends all finding critical blocks, to the entire Michigan defense crashing on Taylor, to Kendric Pryor scampering 32 yards to the end zone untouched.
The new Longo offense will be fun to watch, and should bring Wisconsin back to annual national prominence. But even in that case, nothing will be more fun to watch, or more visually appealing, than when the Paul Chryst offense put the defense on skates.
Call me a traditionalist, or stuck in the past. There’s nothing I loved watching more than the 2017 and 2019 Wisconsin offenses when everything was clicking.