Wisconsin dismisses Phil Longo as offensive coordinator

Wisconsin terminated the employment of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Phil Longo on Sunday, the day after a 16-13 defeat at home against top-ranked Oregon.

The Badgers are currently tied for 97th place in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 23.9 points per game, and rank 91st in total offense with 363.1 yards per game.

In a news release, Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell stated, \"This morning, I informed Phil Longo that he will no longer serve as our offensive coordinator. After continued evaluation of the program, I have determined that we are not meeting our expectations and believe this decision is in the best interest of the team.

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\"I am grateful for Phil's dedication to helping us build our program over the past two seasons and wish him the best in his future endeavors. Our team still has a lot ahead of us and I am committed to doing everything in our power to finish this season successfully.\"

Longo, 56, held the position of offensive coordinator for 23 games after serving four seasons (2019-22) in the same role at North Carolina. He also spent two seasons (2017-18) as the offensive coordinator at Ole Miss.

Fickell has not yet announced a new offensive coordinator.

Wisconsin (5-5, 3-4 Big Ten) has only averaged 12 points during their current three-game losing streak. The Badgers have scored 13 or fewer points in four games this season.

Starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke suffered a season-ending ACL injury in Week 3, and Braedyn Locke has struggled with consistency.

Locke threw for 359 yards in a 52-6 victory over Purdue, but only managed 96 yards against Oregon. Two weeks prior, he threw for 137 yards in a 42-10 loss to Iowa before the team's bye week.

Overall, Locke has completed 55.1% of his passes for 1,514 yards, nine touchdowns, and nine interceptions.

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The Badgers will face Nebraska on the road this Saturday.