Wisconsin fired offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Phil Longo on Sunday, one day after a 16-13 home loss to top-ranked Oregon.
The Badgers are tied for 97th nationally in scoring offense at 23.9 points per game and 91st in total offense (363.1 yards per game).
“This morning, I informed Phil Longo that he will no longer serve as our offensive coordinator,” Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell said in a news release. “After continuing to evaluate the program, I decided we are not where we need to be and believe this decision is in the best interest of the team.
“I appreciate Phil’s commitment to helping us build our program over the past two seasons and wish him well moving forward. This team still has a lot in front of us and I am committed to doing everything we can to close out this season with success.”
Longo, 56, served as offensive coordinator for 23 games after spending four seasons (2019-22) in the same position at North Carolina. He also spent two seasons (2017-18) as offensive coordinator at Ole Miss.
Fickell didn’t immediately announce a new offensive coordinator.
Wisconsin (5-5, 3-4 Big Ten) has averaged just 12 points during a three-game slide. The Badgers have scored 13 of fewer points four times this season.
Starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke sustained a season-ending ACL injury in Week 3 and Braedyn Locke has battled consistency issues.
Locke passed for 359 yards in a 52-6 rout of Purdue but passed for just 96 yards against Oregon. Two weeks earlier, he threw for 137 yards in a 42-10 loss to Iowa before the team’s bye.
Overall, Locke has completed 55.1 percent of his passes for 1,514 yards, nine touchdowns and nine interceptions.
The Badgers visit Nebraska on Saturday.
–Field Level Media
