MADISON — When Mike Brown’s departure for Notre Dame left a vacancy in Wisconsin’s coaching staff at wide receiver, head coach Luke Fickell reached out to a familiar face to fill the void.

“When you see his (Fickell’s) name come across your phone, it’s a different feeling,” Badgers’ new wide receiver coach Kenny Guiton said. “Especially with a man that’s known me since I was 17 years old and saw me grow into a man. Seeing that call coming in, it was obvious that I was gonna answer and see what’s up.”

When Guiton first met Fickell, he was a quarterback at Ohio State while Fickell was the defensive coordinator.

“I just always thought him, coach Jim Tressel back then, they were great men. Great men of character. God fearing, tough guys that just did everything the right way and helped shape me, who I was, coming from Houston, Texas,” Guiton said.

Guiton has coached wide receivers since 2017 at Houston, and held the same position at three other schools before coming to Wisconsin. Most recently, he was the wide receivers coach at Arkansas from 2021-2023.

Now, Guiton finds himself coaching receivers in an offense orchestrated by coordinator Phil Longo. One of the principles Longo’s scheme is predicated on is granting wideouts a lot of freedom in their routes. It’s a much different offense than what was run a season ago in Fayetteville, but Guiton is familiar with the concepts.

“I’ve been a part of it in two places I’ve been. It’s a fun deal,” he said. “You have to look at it as, you have the right of way to always be right as a wideout. What more would you want? I can be right no matter what. As long as I’m open, I’m probably right.”

It’s no secret that Longo’s system is designed to allow pass-catchers to feast. Get your best players the ball in space, and let them do the rest. Guiton knows, however, that there’s work to be done in order for Longo’s philosophy to come to fruition.

“We’ve got some guys that’ve got some really good production in the past, and then we’ve got some guys that I think are ready for their moment. They’ve gotta develop a little more and step up and be ready when their time comes next fall.”

Wisconsin’s receivers were largely a disappointment in 2023, save for slot specialist Will Pauling’s breakout year. Chimere Dike and Skyler Bell accounted for a good portion of the Badgers’ production at receiver, but both have found new homes by way of the transfer portal. Speaking of transfers, two highly touted ones — Bryson Green and CJ Williams — combined for 47 catches, 628 yards and two touchdowns last season. That’s well beneath the ceiling of both players.

The good news for the Badgers is they have a bevy of intriguing players at wide receiver. But therein also lies the issue; too many of them are simply ‘intriguing’ right now, in the sense that they have an obvious skill set but have yet to put it together on the field.

“It’s a few of them, a few young guys that have played sparingly. Maybe caught a few balls. But now it's time to be counted on a little bit more. Obviously, through spring ball, you go earn that,” Guiton said.

Speedster Vinny Anthony and slot weapon Trech Kekahuna both flashed at the end of the year, and both figure to have an excellent shot to crack the two-deep in 2024. But Wisconsin needs players like Tommy McIntosh, Quincy Burroughs and Chris Brooks Jr. to take a leap next fall. All are at least 6-foot-2, and the Badgers need more playmakers on the outside. If even just two of them can crack the rotation, Wisconsin will be in better shape.

“I wanna know how many can produce. If I have a room full of guys that can produce, then we’ll play more. If the top five are the guys that's the guys, we’re gonna roll with that,” Guiton said.

Part of taking over a new room as a coach is identifying leaders. Guiton says a few players have stood out early in that regard.

“Obviously Will Pauling. When you’ve got the production, it’s easy to speak up. Guys will listen. I think Bryson Green will step up and be that guy as well, because he’s a guy that’s been out there and had a chance to do it…CJ as well, CJ has stepped up. And he’s more of an actions kinda guy, but I’m proud of him as well,” he said. “Probably a name that’s slept on a little bit is Haakon Anderson. He’s a guy that does everything right, goes 1,000 miles per hour, and I told him, ‘man you need to speak up. It ain’t about if you out there on a Saturday or not, it’s really not. It’s about somebody that does it right 24/7, and the minute you speak up guys will listen.’”

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that Wisconsin’s pass-catchers must be better in 2024. In order for Longo’ system to fire on all cylinders, someone not named Pauling needs to become a consistent receiving threat as well. Guiton is keenly aware of this, and it’ll be fascinating to watch this position group come spring and fall camp.

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