Wisconsin football is obviously flying under the radar before the 2026 season.
Wisconsin was aware that it needed to make adjustments after a 4-8 season, which was the Badgers’ worst on the gridiron since 1990. And with a transfer portal class of more than 30 players and some significant coaching additions, the Badgers seem to have put themselves in a position to improve this fall, even if it’s only slightly.
However, the rest of the nation, as well as the Big Ten, will need to be persuaded.
Athlon Sports recently produced their list of Big Ten coaches, who spoke anonymously about each team in the league. Wisconsin was subjected to unrestricted takes:
Is it more than just the quarterback that is causing problems?
“They scored 81 points in nine conference games. Regardless of your quarterback, I don’t give a damn. That addresses a lot of problems that are more pressing than the quarterback. Some teams in the conference could score more than nine points each game without making a single pass. Furthermore, it talks about your capacity to produce turnovers defensively and your ability to make kicks for special teams. “I figured it was an entire package thing. ” Wisconsin: An anonymous Big Ten coach comments.
It’s difficult to dispute this opinion because Wisconsin had a lot of issues unrelated to the quarterback.
For the Badgers, on the other hand, the quarterback was without a doubt the most significant and pressing problem. The play at that position was often comically bad, and the constant flipping between Danny O’Neil, Carter Smith, and Hunter Simmons seemed to define insanity.
The offensive line in Wisconsin was also a disaster, with frequent changes, lack of unity, and occasionally a center who was unable to perform a shotgun snap.
The defense, particularly the secondary, suffered several issues. And as this coach shrewdly noted, special teams might also need some improvement. However, it’s rather naive to claim that I don’t care who your quarterback is, given the dismal performance the Badgers received from their gunslingers last autumn. Three of the four FBS teams that had a worse passing offense than Wisconsin last year in terms of yards per game use the triple option offense.
Although Wisconsin has additional areas that need to be addressed, this seems rather disrespectful to transfer quarterback Colton Joseph. The jury is still definitely out on the old Old Dominion Monarch, but if you witnessed the Badgers’ terrible quarterback play from last season, you’ll see how conceited it is to ignore what Joseph can contribute to this team.
