MADISON, Wis. — The second offseason of the Luke Fickell era at Wisconsin began with a sense of urgency and understanding that the on-field product had much room for growth following an underwhelming 7-6 campaign. In his quest to inspire and motivate, Fickell brought in a speaker to address the team. For offensive coordinator Phil Longo, one line from that speech resonated so much that he wrote it on the whiteboard in his meeting room for players to see.
You’ve got to have the greed to be perfect.
While attaining true perfection in any craft can be elusive, the idea of striving to close the gap and working toward meaningful progress for more success has great merit. That is the goal Longo has for himself and his players as he attempts to increase Wisconsin’s offensive production in Year 2.
“You’ve got to be able to go after it,” Longo said Tuesday. “You have to be able to identify, ‘Hey, look at yourself and say I am subpar at these areas’ and then go attack it. Don’t take it personally. Attack it, get better at those areas. And if you keep improving your weak link, you become a better overall player. It’s the same thing we’re doing with the offense. What did we not do well? Let’s make it better.”
Wisconsin is coming off a season in which its offense averaged just 23.5 points per game, the worst mark for the program in 19 years. There were a variety of factors that contributed to those struggles, including injuries to several key players, depth shortages, personnel not fitting the scheme and the overall learning curve required to adjust to Longo’s Air Raid system. But as Wisconsin prepares for its first of 15 spring practices to be held on Friday, Longo expressed optimism that the Badgers offense will be much better positioned for success this time around.
“I always say we’ve got 35 coaches coming back the second year,” Longo said. “So last year at this time, we’re coaching coaches. We’re all learning. I’m just trying to figure out how to get around the building, much less put the offense in. Our players are doing the same. … So hopefully this second year here looks like the second year that I’m used to at most places.”
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Longo has shown a history of improvement in Year 2 at his previous stops. His Sam Houston team increased its scoring average by more than seven points and his North Carolina team by eight points. Both averaged more than 40 points per game. But he also didn’t have as substantial of a challenge in his first season as he did at Wisconsin, which lost four of five games at midseason with an offense that cratered amid injuries to quarterback Tanner Mordecai and running back Chez Mellusi.
Longo mentioned improved efficiency on fourth down and in the red zone as two specific goals. Wisconsin’s fourth down conversion rate was just 25 percent (five for 20), which ranked 129th in the FBS. The red zone offense ranked 64th with a conversion rate of 84.8 percent, with 29 touchdowns and 10 field goals in 46 trips.
Miami transfer Tyler Van Dyke is the frontrunner at QB for Wisconsin. (Megan Briggs / Getty Images)
Longo expects that he’ll have a better sense of the strengths of his players and that there will be more continuity at certain positions this spring. He said he was encouraged that Wisconsin’s offense closed the season playing much better than when it started, in his estimation. Wisconsin beat Nebraska 24-17 in overtime, gained 412 yards of offense in a victory against Minnesota and 506 yards of offense in a ReliaQuest Bowl loss to LSU. During that game, returning receivers Will Pauling and Bryson Green became the first Badgers duo to each record at least 100 receiving yards in the same game since the 2012 Rose Bowl.
“We were playing more instinctive football,” Longo said. “That instinctiveness doesn’t go away. So what happens is we were installing a lot of things. We were learning a lot of new things. Well, there’s no new learning outside of the new guys that are here. So now, the beauty to the second season is our guys all know it and they’re just working at perfecting it.
“It’s not, ‘I’ve got to learn how to run this route. I’ve got to learn how to figure out who I’m blocking on this particular play.’ They already know that. They’re much more instinctive with it. They get the signal, they can line up and go play without thinking. And the focus this year can be even more on proper technique, physicality, route integrity.”
At quarterback, Wisconsin brought in Miami transfer Tyler Van Dyke as a one-year replacement for Mordecai. Longo said Van Dyke had “exuded and exemplified what leadership is all about here.” Van Dyke and Braedyn Locke are the two quarterbacks on the roster with the most experience. Although Van Dyke is considered the frontrunner to start, Longo said he would start whoever is most consistently productive in practice.
Wisconsin returns four offensive linemen who started in the bowl game: left tackle Jack Nelson, left guard Joe Huber, center Jake Renfro and right tackle Riley Mahlman. Renfro, who did not play last season until the bowl game due to injury, surrendered a key sack late but also provided enough speed on his snaps to help the offense play with better rhythm. Joe Brunner, the top-rated player in Wisconsin’s 2022 class, is a candidate to take the place of departed right guard Michael Furtney. Longo said he was happy with how the group performed in pass protection overall but hopes it can be more physically dominant in the run game.
“It’s nice to have veterans coming back, especially the twin towers at tackle,” Longo said. “The thing that I’m starting to see with those guys is some leadership. Maybe a little bit more than we had last year in terms of just handling the room. It’s not often an O-line takes over the leadership role of an entire team, but it’s possible.”
Longo believes more depth at running back and tight end will allow the offense to be more diverse. Although Mellusi isn’t likely to participate much, if at all, during the spring while working back from a broken left leg, five scholarship running backs will be available. Two four-star freshmen — Dilin Jones and Darrion Dupree — will arrive this summer and have an opportunity to break into the rotation next season.
Longo lamented the depth issues at tight end last season, noting Wisconsin lost multiple players before preseason practices. Riley Nowakowski was playing well in camp but suffered a fractured foot that sidelined him for the first four games, forcing true freshman Tucker Ashcraft into action. Longo’s hope is that more stability, as well as the additions of LSU transfer Jackson McGohan and two freshmen, will lead to improved production at the position.
One position group that clearly excites Longo is the wide receivers because eight of the 10 players on scholarship this season were on the team last year. He said he saw a “a really good month of preparation” from the wide receivers leading up to the bowl game and liked how they were able to gain separation.
Longo specifically cited the improvement this offseason of receiver C.J. Williams, the former four-star prospect who transferred to Wisconsin from USC. Longo said Williams was challenged this offseason to get stronger so he could maintain his route stems, create more route integrity and be a more physical, violent blocker.
“C.J. Williams right now I think is about 15 pounds heavier than he was when he played,” Longo said. “And he’s all rocked up right now and the veins are out everywhere and he looks fantastic and he’s working his butt off here. So you love watching individual guys respond to the challenge to get better.”
Longo was asked about redshirt freshman receiver Trech Kekahuna, who caught four passes for 64 yards during his first offensive snaps all season in the bowl game. Kekahuna figures to be a dangerous weapon in the slot alongside and behind Pauling.
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“He wants to be the best one out there,” Longo said. “He wants to prove he’s better than Will Pauling. That’s what’s in his mind. That’s how he competes. He’s never said that. But I feel that way because that’s how he practices every single day. If we could just get those three things, that’s asking a lot of a human being. But that’s what we need out of them if we’re going to take the program where coach Fickell wants it to go.”
There is plenty of work to be done for Wisconsin’s offense to consistently play at a higher level, and the path forward will come with a greater measure of skepticism from the outside given the Year 1 struggles. But Longo is approaching this spring with the confidence that he and the players can get there.
“Looking back now that the year is over, we know our team much better,” Longo said. “We know what those guys are capable of and what they’re not capable of.”
(Top photo: Mark Hoffman / USA Today)
Source link : https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5354533/2024/03/20/wisconsin-offense-phil-longo-tyler-van-dyke/
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Publish date : 2024-03-20 03:00:00
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