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Wisconsin fans want to see former player return to Badgers as new RB coach

Luke Fickell lost his running backs coach to Michigan State, and Wisconsin fans want to see the position filled by a former Badgers running back and Super Bowl champion.
Lorin Cox|
Wisconsin Badgers fans want to see former running back James White (20) hired as the team's RB coach for the 2026 season.
Wisconsin Badgers fans want to see former running back James White (20) hired as the team's RB coach for the 2026 season. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

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Wisconsin Badgers

The Wisconsin Badgers need a new running backs coach, and the fanbase already has a former player or two in mind as the replacement.

Whether the ex-Badgers running backs are actually interested, though, is another story.

On Monday, Michigan State hired away Wisconsin running backs coach Devon Spalding to the same position under new head coach Pat Fitzgerald.

He spent the previous three seasons in the role for the Badgers, joining the staff with Luke Fickell in 2023.

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During that time, former Wisconsin running back James White got into the college coaching game, spending this past season as an assistant running backs coach under Bret Bielema at Illinois.

That has made him an enticing option for Badgers fans looking to see the running back position in Madison get back to the glory days it had when White played.

White left the Illini staff late in the year to become head coach at Benet Academy in Lisle, Illinois, so he might not be interested in abandoning his new team before he even got started.

Still, the jump back to the college level could be attractive to him, especially returning to his alma mater to do so.

Related: Wisconsin Badgers next transfer portal running back could come from within the Big Ten

The other former Wisconsin running back who has caught fans attention is Brian Calhoun, who is currently the head coach at his alma mater, Oak Creek High School just south of Milwaukee.

The big unknown is whether either would want to work on a Luke Fickell-led coaching staff that will be on the hot seat in 2026.

They will be coaching for their jobs, and young coaches like White and Calhoun might prefer to wait for a more stable opportunity.

Fickell and offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes may also have other candidates in mind that they have more familiarity with.

The Badgers have no shortage of quality former running backs to lean on as they seek a new position coach, but Spalding's replacement isn't likely to be a player who previously played for Wisconsin.

It's fun to dream, though.

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Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the managing editor of Wisconsin Badgers on SI. He has been covering Badgers sports since 2014, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin. He previously wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today Sports Media Group, and he is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus.

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