MADISON, Wis. — As Kenny Guiton exchanged pleasantries with reporters this week before settling in to discuss his promotion to Wisconsin’s quarterbacks coach, he flashed a wide smile that said everything about what this role meant to him. How was Guiton feeling in that moment?

“Awesome, awesome,” he said. “Living a dream.”

That remark might seem like mindless small talk for some. But for Guiton, it represented his genuine appreciation for a job opportunity more than a decade in the making.

Guiton, 33, spent five seasons as a quarterback at Ohio State from 2009-13, primarily as the backup to Braxton Miller. He became a beloved Buckeye whom then-Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman once referred to as “the best backup quarterback in America.” Guiton played one season for the LA Kiss in the Arena Football League before beginning his coaching career by reuniting with Herman as a graduate assistant at Houston.

The position mostly involved coaching wide receivers and not quarterbacks. But since Guiton wanted to get his foot in the door as a college football coach, he accepted. Guiton went all-in on learning the intricacies of wide receiver play and proved to be quite good at teaching his players. That led him down a path as a full-time wide receivers coach at five different schools in eight seasons: Houston, Louisiana Tech, Colorado State, Arkansas and Wisconsin.

Guiton acknowledged he fell into an enjoyable rhythm coaching the position and loved the job. Still, his curiosity and desire to mold quarterbacks given that he played the position his entire career remained. So when Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell had an opening for a quarterbacks coach this offseason, Guiton couldn’t wait to stand up in front of the staff and present his ideas during the interview process.

Fickell had known Guiton since he was 18 years old, when Guiton arrived at Ohio State and Fickell was the Buckeyes’ linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator. He thought highly enough of Guiton to hire him as Wisconsin’s wide receivers coach before the start of last season. But none of that guaranteed Guiton would earn the quarterbacks coaching job this offseason. He had to earn it on his own merits.

Guiton said he wasn’t sure if he had done enough to convince the staff after leaving his interview and pored over what he could have said in talking afterward to his wife, Rachell. But Wisconsin’s coaches were impressed with Guiton’s passion and vision for shaping the quarterback room.

“We talked to a lot of people about that job, interviewed several in person as well as talked to a lot of guys on the phone,” said Wisconsin offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, whom Fickell hired last month. “But at the end of all that, to a man, our offensive staff — and all those guys sat in on the interviews with me and coach Fickell — but all of us felt like he was the best guy for the job.

“I think you probably have a certain perception of someone based on what his position is at that time. And he’s been a receivers coach. You know that he knows that position. But then you hear him start talking about the quarterback position and immediately you go, ‘Oh wow, this guy really knows.’ It’s not just something that he did a long time ago. You can tell he’s continued to pay attention and learn along the way.”

Wisconsin football announces that Kenny Guiton has been named quarterbacks coach.

🔗| https://t.co/0TKo9rZCMu@CoachGuiton x #OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/5twbJImDWw

— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) January 8, 2025

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Guiton was named in 2020 while at Colorado State to 247Sports’ “30 under 30” as one of the nation’s top young assistant coaches. He was consistently praised during his first season at Wisconsin for his energy and positivity around players. Guiton also showcased his versatility as a coach in each of the last two seasons.

He was the interim offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arkansas in 2023 after head coach Dan Enos was fired eight games into the season. Fickell fired offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Phil Longo last November with two regular season games remaining, which allowed Guiton to coach both the wide receivers and the quarterbacks in what amounted to an additional job interview. Guiton said he believed those two weeks played a small role in providing him a legitimate shot at the job this offseason.

Guiton’s ability to work well with others continues to be on display. New wide receivers coach Jordan Reid, whom Fickell hired from Western Michigan, said Guiton had been “unbelievable in terms of helping me transition in this process” by sharing his knowledge of the players and what to expect.

This marks the first quarterback-specific coach at Wisconsin since Jon Budmayr during the 2020 season. Former Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst worked with the quarterbacks after Budmayr left to become offensive coordinator at Colorado State. During Fickell’s first two seasons at Wisconsin, Longo also served as the quarterbacks coach. Fickell stressed last month the value of having someone work exclusively with the quarterbacks given the time demands and the importance of the position.

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Guiton inherits a quarterback room that will look almost entirely different from last season, save for the return of redshirt freshman walk-on Milos Spasojevic. Wisconsin added two transfer portal quarterbacks: redshirt senior Billy Edwards Jr. from Maryland and sophomore Danny O’Neil from San Diego State. Wisconsin also signed four-star incoming freshman Carter Smith. It is unusual to enter a season with just three scholarship quarterbacks, and Guiton said the staff was having ongoing conversations about whether to add a fourth before the start of next season.

One of the areas Guiton said he shared during the interview process was his philosophical approach to quarterback play, which he noted required intangibles including leadership and toughness to allow teammates to follow the quarterback’s direction. As for the traits he values on the field, Guiton cited decision making and playmaking ability. He wants quarterbacks with a blend of passing talent and athleticism either to run or create a second play by working the pocket and making off-schedule throws.

Guiton said he believed all three scholarship quarterbacks provided those traits. Smith ran for 2,620 yards and 56 touchdowns during his high school career. Edwards amassed 375 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns in three seasons at Maryland, while O’Neil recorded 93 yards rushing and a touchdown as a freshman at San Diego State last season.

“You have to have a guy back there that can kind of be an eraser, and I do see that in all three,” Guiton said. “Right now I see three guys that are eager obviously in a small amount of time that I’ve had a chance to get with them, to learn. I think you’re going to get much better leadership. That’s just the things that I’m preaching to these guys that I think will be good throughout the room.”

Guiton will attempt to elevate a Wisconsin passing game that hasn’t been particularly impressive since the 2019 season with Jack Coan when the Badgers reached the Rose Bowl. Wisconsin’s quarterbacks haven’t completed better than 60 percent of their passes in a full season in any of the past four years. Last season with Longo running the offense and backup Braedyn Locke starting the final nine games, Wisconsin ranked 102nd in passing yards per game, 110th in completion percentage and tied for 118th in yards per completion.

It is no small task to undertake but one Guiton has waited on for a long time.

“Once the opportunity arose, I just knew that this is really what I wanted,” Guiton said. “It was a dream of mine. It’s still fun to be in that wideout room but, man, it’s a lot of fun to coach the quarterbacks.”

(Photo: Mark Stewart / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA Today)