Wisconsin Badgers officially announce Mike Tressel as new defensive coordinator

The Wisconsin Badgers officially announced the hiring of defensive coordinator Mike Tressel alongside head coach Luke Fickell’s staff, marking the second official hiring of Fickell’s staff since he was brought on at the end of November.

Tressell appears to be Wisconsin’s linebackers coach as well, which was the role he held at Cincinnati, per his Twitter bio.

Fickell was expected to bring along Tressel, who served as his defensive coordinator at Cincinnati in 2022, to his new staff, which brought speculation about former interim head coach Jim Leonhard’s future with the team. Leonhard eventually released a statement, acknowledging that he wouldn’t return after 2022.

Tressel was named the 2022 AFCA Assistant Coach of the Year at the end of the speculation, and Fickell retained one of his best staff members as he moved on to his new team.

In addition to Tressel, Fickell is expected to bring strength and conditioning coach Brady Collins, safeties coach Colin Hitschler, and wide receivers coach Mike Brown with him to Wisconsin from Cincinnati.

Moreover, Wisconsin is expected to hire UNC offensive coordinator Phil Longo and offensive line coach Jack Bicknell Jr. to their offensive staff at their respective additions.

Longo is listed as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach on Wisconsin’s coaching staff. Him, Tressel, and Fickell are the only named coaches for the 2023 this season thus far.

While the remainder of the moves hasn’t officially been announced, they’ve been well noted, especially in the recruiting world, where several of Wisconsin’s targets have mentioned the new coaching staff as a part of their recruitment.

Stay tuned for updates on the rest of Wisconsin’s new coaching staff!