The Wisconsin football program underwent a litany of changes this offseason, from personnel to coaching staff to front office moves.

All of these changes preface a critical year for the program. In the third year of head coach Luke Fickell's tenure, it may be difficult to gauge success based on wins and losses alone (considering a stacked schedule that features road games against Alabama, Michigan, Oregon and Indiana, plus a home tilt with Ohio State). Still, the Badgers must display progress in terms of their identity and toughness, and all of these offseason moves have been critical in shaping Wisconsin's 2025 performance.

Below, BadgerBlitz.com ranks Wisconsin's top 10 offseason moves by significance, with No. 1 being the most important move and No. 10 being the least.

The firing of Phil Longo is of course the inverse of this, but that move happened in-season. The hiring of former Kansas play-caller Jeff Grimes is easily the most significant move Wisconsin made this offseason. It represents a desire to get back to the Badgers' ground-and-pound roots (Kansas finished No. 13 in the nation in rushing yards per game in 2024). Grimes, who's also called plays for BYU and Baylor, made sure to harp on physicality — a glaring weakness in recent Wisconsin offenses — in his debut presser as well:

"If a guy is out there and isn't giving his best effort, isn't playing tough and physical, turning down opportunities for contact, they're gonna hear about that from me and the rest of the staff," he said.

Not all of these moves are initiated by Wisconsin. Though this wasn't the Badgers' choice, the loss of newly minted general manager Max Stienecker to Big Ten rival USC is most significant move that happened outside of personnel or coaching staff changes.

The 24 year-old is considered a rising star in the college football front office world, and for good reason. He was an ace recruiter for the Badgers, as prospect after prospect cited his relentless, contagious energy and excitement. He helped Wisconsin reel in back-to-back top 25 recruiting classes in 2024 and 2025. He'll reunite with Chad Bowden — USC's general manager — with whom he worked closely at Cincinnati. Wisconsin figures to conduct a lengthy, thorough search to fill this increasingly-important position.

This was easily the most significant — if not the most publicized (we'll get to that next) — personnel move the Badgers made this offseason. Why? Billy Edwards Jr. is the runaway favorite to start at quarterback for Wisconsin this fall. Given the obvious importance of the position, coupled with the Badgers' unsatisfactory play at said position in recent years, this signing was massive.

Edwards spent 2024 as Maryland's starting quarterback and while the team struggled to the tune of a 4-8 record, he had himself a very solid year, tossing for 2,881 yards on 65 percent completion while scoring 20 total touchdowns against nine interceptions. The redshirt senior will now spend his final year of eligibility in Madison, where all signs point to him as the Week 1 starter.

Much ink has been spilled over Xavier Lucas' transfer to Miami without ever entering the portal. Lucas dragged the program publicly on X, as did his lawyer. Wisconsin alleged tampering by the Hurricanes, and the Big Ten rushed to its support. This became a national story in the College Football landscape, one that has implications for transfers, NIL contracts and much more. But the bottom line: Lucas, an extremely talented cornerback with the NFL written all over him, elected to leave the Badgers after his true freshman season.

This move certainly stings. It's assuaged a little bit by the retention of Ricardo Hallman and possibly Nyzier Fourqurean, but Lucas projected as one of the future cornerstones of this defense. Given the fact that Lucas ranked among Wisconsin's most talented players, and given how much national attention this entire ordeal generated, it checks in as a highly significant move.

Wisconsin's defense was middling at best in 2024, but a definite bright spot was the pass defense, which ranked 14th nationally in terms of yards-per-game allowed. That was largely due to the exceptional play of the starting senior cornerbacks Hallman and Fourqurean. Hallman is locked into another year in Madison, but the NCAA is still appealing a judge's decision to grant Fourqurean another season.

Even with Fourqurean's status up in the air, Hallman's return alone is a huge deal for defensive coordinator Mike Tressel's unit and cornerbacks coach Paul Haynes' room. The Badgers can now feasibly bank on another stingy pass defense, and 2025's secondary could be even stingier if Fourqurean returns as well. A room that at one point looked barren this offseason now has proven talent once again and could return both of its high-quality starters.

Outside of the corners and the quarterback, this is arguably the most important personnel move Wisconsin made. Yes, the Badgers signed 19 total transfers, but one of their biggest moves in the portal was convincing Trech Kekahuna, who initially decided to leave the program, to return.

Kekahuna is a special talent. When he had the ball in his hands in 2024, anyone could see that. The problem that initially made him seek greener pastures, however, is that happened far too little last fall. His 25 catches for 339 yards and two scores was criminally low for how he consistently demonstrated that he likely has the best hands and wiggle on the team. Grimes' first big recruiting win was getting the slippery wideout to stay in Madison, and this move should pay big dividends for the Badgers' offense in 2025.

With Longo out the door, Wisconsin needed a new quarterbacks coach as well as a brand new offensive system. The Badgers cut ties with every gunslinger affiliated with Longo and moved Kenny Guiton from their wideouts coach to the quarterback room. Guiton, who played quarterback at Ohio State from 2009-2013, has never coached quarterbacks in his career.

Still, this move was an important internal hire. Guiton is a rising star in the coaching profession who could be on his way to an offensive coordinator gig, and this move keeps him on track to potentially eventually assume that role in Madison. He's an energetic young coach who connects well with his players and recruits; he's an important member of this staff and keeping him a Badger by moving him to quarterbacks was significant.

Wisconsin made another young hire with former Western Michigan receivers coach Jordan Reid, and kept the leadership of that room young as well. It wasn't long ago Reid — who played wideout for Ohio from 2013-2016 — played this sport himself. This move represents Wisconsin's continued effort to build a young, energetic coaching staff.

Reid will be tasked with getting right to work on the recruiting trail. Wisconsin took just one receiver in the 2025 cycle, though it was a blue-chipper in Eugene Hilton. Still, the Badgers need bodies in that room and Reid's first class will be an important one — he'll need to prove that his youth and energy as a recruiter can translate to some signatures.

Of the assistant coach roles the Badgers needed to fill this offseason, Jack Cooper's promotion from assistant secondary coach to safeties coach feels less significant because Cooper already worked closely with the safeties and was a contact for many safety recruits. Still, his promotion is notable for several reasons.

For starters, Cooper brings intriguing experience. He was a defensive coordinator with FCS Rhode Island from 2020-2022; he has experience overseeing an entire defense. He's another younger coach who stresses relationship-building in recruiting, and it'll be interesting to see what direction he can take the safety room.

Scott Power, who, like Reid, also comes from Western Michigan, is a sneaky good hire for the Badgers. Any time you can add a former FBS coordinator to your staff in a support role, you tend to pounce on that opportunity. As Wisconsin did with Cooper, it's good to keep capable coaches in the staff pipeline as well. Power feels like a guy that could get a promotion in a year or two.

_________________________________________________

*Chat about this article in The Badgers' Den

*Check out our videos, interviews, and Q&As on our YouTube channel

*Subscribe and listen to the BadgerBlitz.com podcast (as seen on Apple, Google, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts)

*Follow us on Twitter: @McNamaraRivals, @TheBadgerNation, @_Perko_, @seamus_rohrer, @DonnieSlusher_

*Like us on Facebook