Wisconsin Football Play-Caller Sees 'Improvement' From Offensive Line
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It's no secret that the Badgers' offensive line play was horrific in 2025.
Between injuries and flat-out abysmal play, Wisconsin's offensive front crumbled early in the season and only marginally improved as the year wore on.
Among the litany of issues? The Badgers were on their Plan-C left tackle by Week 2, and had a stretch where they couldn't find a center that could reliably execute a shotgun snap.
An opening night injury to starting quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. handicapped the offense from the jump, but Wisconsin's extremely porous line cemented this offense as a doomed unit.
In offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes' scheme, having an at least functional offensive line is a must. The former lineman himself, who played offensive tackle at UTEP between 1987-1990, is a run-first play-caller who builds his offense around the big men in the trenches.
Wisconsin has done plenty to help Grimes' vision come to life this offseason. The Badgers went out and signed five incoming offensive line transfers to replenish a group that needed veteran reinforcements. But the biggest addition to Wisconsin's offensive front might be its new offensive line coach, Eric Mateos.
Eric Mateos hire already paying dividends
Mateos coached with Grimes at BYU and Baylor, and most recently coached Arkansas' offensive line for the past two seasons. He's widely viewed as one of the top up-and-coming offensive line coaches in the country.
"He and I go back to him being my GA first at LSU and then my line coach at two other places along the way. There's a lot of things that we do that he and I sorta came up with together, late nights deciding how we're gonna block a certain front." Grimes said.
"So all that time that we've put together along the way at three different stops, game-planning for different defenses, I think it just makes us more efficient with what we're doing on offense."
"He sees the game the same way that I do. He's an intelligent guy, really creative thinker," Grimes continued. "He's a tremendous teacher. I think he does a great job finding a way to get the information across to every player in the room…I think you're seeing improvement from our line."
With Grimes and Mateos' history together, their pre-existing bond figured to help jump-start this offensive line. Early in spring practice, that's exactly what appears to be happening.
Kevin Heywood returns, switches sides
One of the big catalysts for this offensive line's improvement is undoubtably the return of Kevin Heywood, the former blue-chip offensive tackle who tore his ACL last spring.
Heywood was expected to be the starting left tackle ahead of last season before his catastrophic injury, but this spring, he's flipped to the right side of the line and has manned the right tackle spot, while Ole Miss transfer PJ Wilkins plays left tackle.
"I think they both could play either side, and we're still in the evaluation phase there," Grimes said.
"PJ is interesting because he's played more guard in games, however, as we started to get to know him, we felt like he was a guy who…has tackle feet and an incredible wingspan. Both of 'em are tackles…just trying to find which spot both are comfortable at."
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/wisconsin as Wisconsin Football Play-Caller Sees 'Improvement' From Offensive Line .
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