Wisconsin already has an A.J. Blazek replacement lined up after firing him

Wisconsin has moved on from AJ Blazek, and offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes went after his hand-picked guy. A coach he worked with back at Baylor, and had his most success with, Eric Mateos. He comes to the Badgers from Arkansas, where he was well respected and credited with the team's offensive overhaul. In fact, those are the words that the Razorbacks use in their write-up of him.

"The Hogs’ offensive overhaul in 2024 was impressive as the offense improved in nearly every statistic compared to 2023. Mateos’ contribution to that overhaul was evident up front."

Eric Mateos is reportedly the new offensive line coach for the Wisconsin Badgers

Related: Luke Fickell fires 1st Wisconsin coach in offseason move that needed to be done

One of the things that Arkansas also gives him a ton of credit for and will greatly matter for the Badgers starting today is his ability to recruit in high-profile transfers to the line. The Razorbacks page on Mateos says, "Mateos’ recruiting work yielded three transfer starters, in addition to Carmona, Addison Nichols and Keyshawn Blackstock both started multiple games. Mateos also developed E’Marion Harris into a valuable piece of the line with the redshirt sophomore starting the first six games at left guard before starting the final seven games at right tackle."

Oh, development along the line, too? If you read this article about why Blazek was fired, the biggest reasons were on-field play, recruiting, and development. It looks like Mateos may check all those boxes.

He's someone that Grimes trusts and has worked with him both at Baylor and BYU. When they were at Baylor together, Mateos played in multiple seasons (2021 and 2022) when the Bears' offensive line was considered among the best in the nation. In 2019, when he was at BYU, he also had the No. 12-ranked offensive line.

Mateos seems to be a big hire for Luke Fickell and Jeff Grimes, and will hopefully and finally fix the offensive line under Fickell. It hasn't been good since he's arrived, and next year will be the prove-it year for Fickell, Grimes, the offensive line, and literally everything else.