Phil Longo to leave UNC for Wisconsin

The 54-year old will head to the Big Ten to help revive what has been a struggling offense in Madison.

Bob Donnan/USA Today Sports

After four years as the offensive coordinator at North Carolina, Phil Longo is reportedly leaving Chapel Hill to accept the same position at Wisconsin.

Longo guided the Tar Heel offense from 2019-2022, helping develop Sam Howell and Drake Maye, while produce some of the most successful and talented offenses in program history.

Maye was recently named the ACC Player of the Year, while Howell holds the North Carolina record for 92 touchdown passes and 10,283 passing yards.

In 13 games this season, Longo's offense ranked 15th in the country with 473.6 yards per game and ninth with 317.2 passing yards per game.

Prior to arriving in Chapel Hill, Longo was the offensive coordinator at Ole Miss for two seasons and in the same position at Sam Houston State from 2014-2016.

Implementing his Air-Raid offense, which he learned from Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach, Longo has helped the Tar Heel offense averaged 35 points per game.

Although he has seen success, he has also received criticism for his play-calling in the red zone and lack of execution down the stretch.

North Carolina's loss in the regular season finale to NC State was aided by a questionable third down play call where the Tar Heels would fail to convert and go on to miss the game-tying field goal.

In the ACC Championship Game on Saturday, North Carolina was step-for-step with Clemson until they hit the redzone.

Longo will join new Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell, who departed from Cincinnati, and will be tasked with finding a new quarterback after Graham Mertz hit the transfer portal.