3 Wisconsin Football Players Who Benefit From Phil Longo Becoming OC
Here are three Wisconsin football players who should benefit from Phil Longo becoming the Badgers new offensive coordinator in 2022.
Madison, Wis. – As if the hiring of Luke Fickell as head coach of the Wisconsin football program wasn't shocking enough, he wasted little time choosing a transformative offensive coordinator of his own.
Coach Fickell convinced Phil Longo, who led four consecutive top-15 offenses (nationally) at North Carolina, to leave Chapel Hill and take the same position at the University of Wisconsin.
With him, coach Longo brings a modified air-raid offense. He's done a terrific job adapting to his personnel at every stop – so UW traditionalists can relax – the Badgers won't be throwing the ball 50+ times a game.
While the Badgers are more likely to bring in a dual-threat quarterback, Wisconsin will still be a power running football team – they'll simply do it from a spread formation.
That said, coach Fickell has done an excellent job of player retention, at least in terms of keeping key contributors, since the transfer portal opened.
Here are three players who should benefit from Phil Longo becoming UW's next offensive coordinator.
Braelon Allen, RB
Despite all of the rumors surrounding Braelon Allen, he confirmed he's returning for his junior season in Madison. He's coming off back-to-back All-Big Ten second-team performances, but the best is yet to come for the 6-foot-2, 238-pound running back.
How does adding an offensive coordinator that runs an air-raid offense benefit a bruising runner like Allen? By spreading out the opposing defense – that's how. The sophomore tailback faced more eight-man boxes than almost any other Power 5 school – all because teams didn't respect their passing attack.
Next season that should all change. I suspect that Allen, with an improved offensive line, and spread offense, will see the biggest running lanes of his young career. I wouldn't be shocked to see him wind up on the All-Big Ten first team with a clean bill of health.