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Wisconsin Badgers Hire Minnesota's Special Teams Coordinator Who Brings Decade of NFL Experience

For the first time in the Luke Fickell era, the Wisconsin Badgers will have a standalone special teams coordinator, with the new coach coming over from Minnesota
Lorin Cox|
Former Minnesota Golden Gophers special teams coordinator Bob Ligashesky is joining the Wisconsin Badgers staff
Former Minnesota Golden Gophers special teams coordinator Bob Ligashesky is joining the Wisconsin Badgers staff | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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Wisconsin BadgersMinnesota Golden Gophers

For the first time in the Luke Fickell era, the Wisconsin Badgers will have a standalone special teams coordinator.

Luke Fickell announced a set of new changes to his coaching staff Wednesday, headlined by the addition of special teams coach Bob Ligashesky.

Ligashesky comes over from the Minnesota Golden Gophers, where held the same role for the past two seasons.

He was not retained on P.J. Fleck's coaching staff for 2026, opening up the opportunity for him to jump to Wisconsin.

The Badgers will be the seventh college program where he has coached special teams, along with Syracuse, Bowling Green, Illinois, Pittsburgh and Kent State.

Ligashesky also spent more than a decade coaching special teams in the NFL. He was previously the coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars, St. Louis Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Houston Texans.

In his most recent stint with Minnesota, the Gophers had some issues at kicker but found success in the return game with Koi Perich fielding kicks.

Since Fickell arrived in Madison, he has entrusted special teams coaching to outside linebackers coach Matt Michell, who remains on the staff and added the title of associate head coach.

This past fall, Wisconsin had mixed results with kicker Nathanial Vakos, and halfway through the season, the Badgers added Sean West into the rotation at punter

Wide receiver Vinny Anthony had an impressive kickoff return touchdown against Alabama, but the return units were otherwise unspectacular.

In addition to hiring Ligashesky, Fickell also announced the hiring of a new wide receivers coach and other assistants on both side of the ball.

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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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