Badger of Honor
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Just-fired head coach could be Wisconsin's Phil Longo replacement as OC in 2025

Could Fickell reunite with an old friend in Madison?

By Braulio Perez

Nov 1, 2024; Boca Raton, Florida, USA; Florida Atlantic Owls head coach Tom Herman walks on the field before the game against the South Florida Bulls at FAU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images
Nov 1, 2024; Boca Raton, Florida, USA; Florida Atlantic Owls head coach Tom Herman walks on the field before the game against the South Florida Bulls at FAU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images / Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images
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While there are still two games left in the season for the Wisconsin Badgers, it's already time for head man Luke Fickell to start thinking about who's going to run his offense in 2025. Right after the loss to No. 1 Oregon, Fickell fired Phil Longo as his offensive coordinator.

Since then, loads of names have been floated around as possible candidates. From our chair, a dream target would be Ohio State assistant Brian Hartline, who is known as being a rockstar recruiter. Will Fickell give him a call?

Another name that has been mentioned quite a bit has been Tom Herman. Herman was the OC for Ohio State before taking over as head coach at Texas. He didn't last long there and he was recently fired as head coach of Florida Atlantic too. So, could his next stop be in Madison?

Tom Herman is a name to watch for Wisconsin's offensive coordinator job

Despite things not going to plan for Herman at Texas and FAU, don't forget about the great work he was able to get done running the offense for the Buckeyes during his time in Columbus. He was a brilliant play-caller and had OSU scoring at will.

There's a reason plenty of analysts have linked him with Wisconsin in recent days. At the same time, Fickell is quite familiar with Herman too, as they were both on staff together at Ohio State. Fickell was the co-defensive coordinator for Ohio State before taking the Cincinnati job. He then joined Wisconsin in 2023.

You've got to figure Herman will get a call from Fickell, right? Several other candidates have been mentioned, including Ben Arbuckle, Gino Guidugli, Andy Kotelnicki and many more. The fact of the matter here is that Fickell needs to make a home-run hire.

The Wisconsin defense has been tremendous at times, but they keep getting held back on offense. Longo's system was never a good fit, which is why he's out of a job. However, Fickell can fix things by making sure the right guy takes over for him. Herman would be an interesting person to step in. It remains to be seen if he'll have interest in the job, but Fickell would be wise to reach out.

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