As part of Wisconsin football's speed rebuild, new head coach Luke Fickell elected to bring in North Carolina offensive coordinator Phil Longo to design the Badgers' offense. Longo had been with the Tar Heels since 2019 as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He's known Fickell for years, and reportedly was tempted to join his staff at Cincinnati.
What are the keys to a Longo-led offense? BadgerBlitz.com breaks down what you need to know below:
Air Raid Philosophy
Longo is most notable for his loyalty to the air raid offensive philosophy, which heavily emphasizes downfield passing concepts and quarterback progressions. Longo is from the Mike Leach coaching tree, who himself became synonymous with the air raid at Washington State and now at Mississippi State.
"Mike Leach is the greatest impact for my career, in the passing game. I don't know if there's a better way to throw the football, that's my own opinion," Longo said on the Intentionally Grounded podcast. "I fully believe in the air raid philosophy."
A mere few weeks ago, an air raid in Madison would've seemed ludicrous. Then, Chris McIntosh decided to completely rebuild Wisconsin football, and everything became on the table.
