It was an offseason of change in Madison, Wisconsin. Athletic Director Chris McIntosh surprised the fanbase by hiring former Cincinnati Head Coach Luke Fickell in late November, who then proceeded to shock the college football world by bringing in air raid Offensive Coordinator Phil Longo.
How it all concludes is anybody’s guess. But with the landscape of the Big Ten and the sport as a whole changing dramatically by the year, McIntosh and the Wisconsin brain trust cannot be faulted for trying to adapt to the times.
Brad Crawford of 247Sports recently ran a piece detailing the 23 most impactful coaching hires entering the 2023 college football season. To nobody’s surprise, both Fickell and Longo were listed near the top. Wisconsin’s new offensive coordinator slotted in at No. 9 and as the third-most-impactful coordinator hire, while the new head coach was listed at No. 2 overall — behind only Clemson’s hire of Offensive Coordinator Garrett Riley.
The word ‘impactful’ is an apt descriptor for what Wisconsin did by hiring the two big names. Longo is set to revolutionize how Wisconsin football is viewed, as he’ll bring an air raid offense that has succeeded at every stop thus far. Meanwhile, Fickell has a legitimate chance to bring Wisconsin up to the level of some of its highly-successful Big Ten counterparts. There is a real possibility we only mention Ohio State and USC as programs slotted considerably above Wisconsin once UCLA and USC join the conference in 2024.
That means the two new hires could have Wisconsin in the College Football Playoff annually and possibly contending for Big Ten Championships if all goes well. You’d be hard-pressed to find many more impactful hires from this offseason.