Wisconsin

2024 Wisconsin Badgers Positional Review: Quarterbacks

Published

1 year ago

December 13, 2024

2024 Wisconsin Badgers Positional Review: Quarterbacks

Wisconsin football saw its season end without bowl practices for the first time since 2001. The Badgers hit a new low this century in year two of the Luke Fickell era, and will face a critical get-right year in 2025.

Over the next two weeks, BadgerBlitz.com will examine the 2024 Badgers position by position. Today, we’ll start with the quarterbacks, a unit that saw its position coach and offensive coordinator Phil Longo fired with two games to go in the season.

2024 HIGH: Week 6 vs. Purdue

Braedyn Locke‘s Week 6 showing against Purdue was one of the best passing performances we saw in Longo’s tenure, save for Tanner Mordecai‘s ReliaQuest Bowl outing against LSU. Locke tossed for 359 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions (one of which bounced out of the hands of Will Pauling), and completed 64.5 percent of his passes.

It wasn’t just Locke’s numbers, it was the way he facilitated the offense. He played confidently and efficiently, executing a variety of concepts and going through his reads with a purpose. He also threw multiple long touchdown passes, a 52-yarder to Vinny Anthony and a 69-yarder to Trech Kekahuna.

Of course, it’s telling that the Badgers’ best quarterback performance came against the worst team it faced all season, a Purdue squad that went 1-11 and didn’t beat an FBS opponent. But Tyler Van Dyke didn’t move the needle in his two starts, and Locke was unable to provide reliable quarterback play in his stead.

It’s also worth noting that while the quarterback play was overwhelmingly poor in 2024, Locke did develop a nice deep ball, and had an especially good connection with Anthony downfield. It was too inconsistent to upgrade this offense significantly, but Locke certainly put some gorgeous long balls on tape this fall.

2024 LOW: Interceptions in bunches

Locke had lots of issues in 2024, such as happy feet in the pocket, batted passes at the line of scrimmage and poor accuracy on hittable throws. Still, turnovers were the most maddening part of his game, as they persisted all season long.

Locke went eight straight games throwing an interception. He nearly threw a pick in every game he started, but managed to protect the football in what was still a brutal showing against the Gophers. He finished with 10 total picks after throwing just one the season before.

Oftentimes, the interceptions were ugly. They appeared to result from simply seeing ghosts in coverage. There were multiple picks in which Locke threw the ball right to the defender (the Iowa game comes to mind), and he easily could’ve throw a handful more, as he had plenty of throws hit defenders in the hands or chest plate.

This passing game was broken schematically and from a signal caller perspective, but Locke’s interception streak became representative of all that was intolerable about this offense.

ONE STORYLINE TO FOLLOW BEFORE THE 2025 SEASON: WHO WILL BE WISCONSIN’S STARTING QUARTERBACK IN YEAR THREE OF THE FICKELL ERA?

Once again, the pressing question is who Wisconsin’s starting quarterback will be next fall. Last season when we did this exercise, it was after the transfer portal madness had mostly settled down, and Van Dyke was already on the roster and appeared guaranteed to be the starter.

At this juncture, it’s highly unclear who Wisconsin’s starter will be under center. He likely isn’t on the roster, unless the Badgers plan on starting one of two true freshman (Carter Smith, Landyn Locke) or a redshirt freshman whom they didn’t feel comfortable enough subbing in for Locke in the depths of his struggles (Mabrey Mettauer).

What’s more, Wisconsin is still in the midst of its quarterbacks coach search. That name will go a long way in determining what quarterbacks populate the Badgers’ roster in 2025.

The program has managed to keep any offers to quarterbacks relatively quiet, although it was reported that Wisconsin is a contender for former California quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who tossed for 3,004 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions while completing 68.7 percent of his passes. There’s been smoke about other quarterbacks around the nation, some of whom aren’t even in the portal yet. Ultimately, the starting quarterback will still be in question when the roster is filled out, let alone before the Badgers reel in a transfer or two.

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Wisconsin

School debt repayment should be a priority, not deferred | Opinion

Published

9 hours ago

February 21, 2026

Press Room

School debt repayment should be a priority, not deferred | Opinion

Debt is not inherently irresponsible. Schools need safe, functional facilities. But when debt becomes permanent, it stops being a tool and starts being a constraint.

Will Flanders
| Special to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Each year, Wisconsin property taxpayers contribute more than $6.5 billion in local school levies. Those dollars are commonly understood to support classrooms, teachers and student services. In reality, a large — and growing — portion is diverted to debt service, a non-negotiable financial obligation before a single classroom dollar is spent.

In fact, the debt-service share of the local levy continues to grow, not because students are receiving more, but because past borrowing decisions increasingly dictate today’s budgets. Fortunately, at least one school district is showing that a debt free future is possible.

Statewide, nearly 18% of all local school levies — about $1.18 billion each year — are used to service debt. In practical terms, almost one out of every five local school tax dollars is unavailable for instruction or student support because it has already been committed elsewhere. Unfortunately, long-term debt has become a routine feature of school finance rather than an exception.

Looking at debt on a per-student basis makes the impact clearer. Across Wisconsin, districts levy an average of $1,483 per student each year simply to service existing debt. In districts that carry any debt at all — roughly 85% of districts statewide —that figure rises to $1,550 per student, before any money is spent in a classroom.

At the same time, Wisconsin is experiencing sustained enrollment decline, and while per-pupil revenue limits may decline with enrollment, existing district debt does not shrink when enrollment falls. The obligation stays fixed, and the burden shifts. Even if no new debt is added, fewer students are left to carry the same costs.

Over a ten-year period, a 1.5% statewide enrollment decline — far slower than the actual current rate of decline — would result in a 16% increase in per-student burden without a single new referendum, project, or improvement.

Debt-free school districts are rare

Against that backdrop, debt-free districts have become rare — especially among larger systems. Among the 100 largest school districts in Wisconsin, only four operate without any debt service levies. When the Waukesha School District retires its final obligations on April 1, 2026, it will be the largest debt-free school district in the state — by a lot.

Serving 10,600 students, Waukesha will be more than 6,000 students larger than the next-largest debt-free district. The next few —Tomah (67th), followed by Merrill Area (92nd) and Arrowhead (98th) — sit near the bottom of the top-100 by enrollment or just beyond it. No other district operating at Waukesha’s scale is debt-free.

That matters. It shows that operating without long-term debt is not a function of being small or rural. It is a function of choices: how projects are scoped, how debt is structured and whether repayment is treated as a priority rather than deferred indefinitely.

Homeowners shocked by schools’ part of tax bills

While many homeowners have been shocked to see the school portions of their property tax bills increase exponentially in recent years, Waukesha’s has declined, on average, with fluctuations that reflect the year-to-year complexity of the funding formula.

The school tax levy increased by 2.25% this past year because of shifts in state aid allocation beyond the district’s control, including millions more going to Milwaukee for passing it’s own massive referendum. While the board could have taken steps to keep the levy flat, instead, they followed through to retire debt and recognized a 26% savings on total borrowing costs ($1.5M less than the anticipated $6 million 10-year repayment).

Meanwhile, referenda themselves have become routine. Last year, dozens of operating and capital referenda passed across Wisconsin. This spring’s ballot again includes districts seeking additional authority — often not for discrete, time-limited projects, but to cover ongoing maintenance, capital costs, or basic operations. Increasingly, districts are asking voters for more money simply to operate. Over the past three election cycles (spring 2024-spring 2025), Wisconsin districts have placed $3.8 billion in operating and capital borrowing referendum requests on local ballots.

There are consequences to this approach. When districts rely on recurring referenda and long-term debt to sustain basic functions, strategic consolidation and shared-service models become far more difficult. Few communities are willing to absorb another district’s long-term debt, particularly when those obligations were incurred under different assumptions and governance.

Debt is not inherently irresponsible. Schools need safe, functional facilities. But when debt becomes permanent, it stops being a tool and starts being a constraint. And when nearly one-fifth of all local school taxes are treated as a non-negotiable obligation before student and classroom needs are even considered, flexibility disappears.

Fiscal discipline is not measured by how easily costs are added. It is measured by whether leaders are willing — and able — to start paying them off.

Will Flanders is the Research Director for the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.

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Wisconsin

Ski trails for Birkebeiner in Wisconsin ready to go, organizers say

Published

21 hours ago

February 20, 2026

Press Room

Ski trails for Birkebeiner in Wisconsin ready to go, organizers say

The weather is looking a bit more cooperative for Saturday’s American Birkebeiner ski race in northern Wisconsin. Officials earlier this week had to change the date and location of a few events due to the unusual warmth. NEXT Weather meteorologist Adam Del Rosso spoke to an executive director about the condition of the race trails.

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Wisconsin

7 events happening in Wisconsin Feb. 20-22

Published

1 day ago

February 20, 2026

Press Room

7 events happening in Wisconsin Feb. 20-22

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) -Here’s a look at the 7 big events happening this weekend in Wisconsin.

Marshfield Area Cultural Fair

The Marshfield Area Cultural Fair kicks off at 10 a.m. on Saturday. People of all ages and from many cultures will share stories, music, performances, and food. It’s happening at the UW-Stevens Point at Marshfield campus.

Ben Mulwana at the Grand Theater

Ugandan-born artist Ben Mulwana is taking center stage Friday night at the Grand Theater. Expect soulful lyrics and a diverse range of musical inspiration. You’ll be up close, on-stage with the artist for the show, in a cabaret-style setting. The show starts at 7:30 p.m.

Celebrate commUNITY

Get ready to celebrate diversity at the Fond du Lac County Fairgrounds. The Celebrate commUNITY event will be an exciting day of cultural immersion. You can check out more than 50 booths, representing different countries, religions, and community organizations. It starts at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Oshkosh Boat Show

Head on over to the EAA Grounds Friday through Sunday for the Oshkosh Boat Show. Check out a lineup of boats, new and used. You’ll also be able to learn more about RV rentals, campgrounds, docks, lifts, and more.

American Birkebeiner

It’s time for North America’s largest and most prestigious cross-country skiing marathon. 12,000 skiers of all ages, genders, and nationalities will take part in the American Birkebeiner. The adventure continues Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Manawa Snodeo

Snowmobile racing is taking center stage at the Bear Lake Campground and Resort Saturday and Sunday, at the Manawa Snodeo. You can check out four racing tracks, a vintage snowmobile show, hot air balloons, and much more. You can check out all the excitement for $20 a day, or $30 for the full weekend.

Disney on Ice at the Resch Center

The magic of Disney is making its way to Green Bay this weekend. You can see Disney on Ice at the Resch Center. Enter the magical worlds of ‘Frozen’ and ‘Encanto’ as they come to life like never before. sing-along to your favorite songs, while watching world-class skating, aerial acrobatics, and more.

For more local events across central and north central Wisconsin, check out our Community Calendar.

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