Report: Luke Fickell, Wisconsin set to hire Devon Spalding as new running backs coach

Wisconsin is hiring Youngstown State running backs coach Devon Spalding to the same role, according to multiple reports. He began coaching in 2019 as a graduate assistant under Luke Fickell at Cincinnati.

Spalding then coached for the Penguins for three seasons from 2020-2022. There, he worked with star running back Jaleel McLaughlin, who ran for more than 1500 yards and punched in 13 touchdowns.

Spalding played college football at Central Michigan from 2014-2018. He rushed for 1450 yards and 13 touchdowns in his career. He put up his best numbers in 2016, playing in 11 games and rushing for 758 yards and six touchdowns.

Wisconsin officially announced Phil Longo, Mike Tressel as coordinators earlier in January

Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell has two key positions on his coaching staff filled out with the school officially announcing the hires Phil Longo and Mike Tressel as offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively. Longo comes from North Carolina where he held the same position under Mack Brown; Tressel is following Fickell from Cincinnati, where he served as defensive coordinator.

Longo, in particular, will bring a major stylistic change to how Wisconsin plays football. While he doesn’t have a quarterback like Drake Maye work with, expect the Badgers to lean more heavily on spreading out the field and throwing the ball down it.

It’ll be a big overhaul for a program so accustomed to packed boxes, big linemen and bruising running backs. While that won’t be entirely a thing of the past, nor an immediate change, it’s safe to assume the Wisconsin offense will certainly have a different flavor under Longo.

Tressel has coached under Fickell since 2021, when he came to Cincinnati after a lengthy tenure as a defensive assistant coach at Michigan State, where he held several positions on the staff. Tressel had actually been a defensive assistant at Cincinnati prior to taking the job at Michigan State — that time following Mark Dantonio.

He’s also the nephew of former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel.