Report: Wisconsin targeting Kansas OC Jeff Grimes as replacement for Phil Longo

Wisconsin is looking to hire Kansas offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes to the same role under head coach Luke Fickell in Madison, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. The Badgers recently fired offensive coordinator Phil Longo.

A deal has yet to be finalized, per Thamel, though the talks are expected to intensify in the near future.

Longo was hired by Fickell to bring an Air Raid element to the Wisconsin offense, an evolution that never seemingly took. Grimes, who comes from an offensive line background, would seemingly set up the Badgers to return to a more familiar offensive operation.

Grimes has served as an offensive coordinator since 2018, when he took over the role for BYU. He coached in that position through the 2020 season, at which point he joined the staff under Dave Aranda at Baylor, also serving as OC there for three seasons from 2021-23.

The 2024 season was Grimes’ first with the Jayhawks, and not appears as if it could be his lone year in Lawrence.

Longo was let go with a few weeks left in the season

Fickell opened a Monday press conference shortly after the move by discussing Longo’s firing at Wisconsin. He wanted to discuss it not just since it was his first time to receive questions about it but also so that the Badgers can look to their final two games. As for the dismissal, he felt it was the right choice and right time to make it for their program.

“Alright, well, obviously, I’ll start by, you know, talking about and addressing the situation, the change that we’re going through and then hopefully we can move forward on to, you know, a big football game that’s coming up and make sure that we all get ourselves back into, you know, the task that we have at hand,” Fickell began.

“Just so you know, on Sunday, I made a decision to what we needed to do. Then, you know, came in, obviously had a conversation with Phil. And, you know, pretty much decided that we needed to do it now,” explained Fickell. “This is never something I ever, ever envisioned doing or wanted to do and especially doing it when there’s still games to be played in a season. But felt like, for all involved and, most importantly, for our program and the kids in that locker room, what we needed to do right now was to move forward.”

While the decision to him was right, though, Fickell reminded everyone that it wasn’t. A lot went into it will continue to go into it now for the Longos and those still at Wisconsin.

“This is not an easy thing. Obviously, you guys all understand that. This is a very tough decision. It’s even, you know, one of those things that’s incredibly tough on everybody involved. But I think, first and foremost, for Phil and obviously his family too,” Fickell said. “So, out of respect for them, you know, I probably won’t go as deep.”

“You know, that’s not an easy thing. That’s very difficult. That’s a very tough thing,” said Fickell. “It’s, you know, an unusual situation that everybody is going to have to be able to handle and move forward.”