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Wisconsin to hire top young FCS assistant as running backs coach, per report
By Keith Farner
Published:
Luke Fickell is reportedly bringing a coach to Wisconsin who has a history of working with him, as they worked together at Cincinnati in 2019.
Devon Spalding, who was at Youngstown State the previous 3 seasons, is headed to Wisconsin to reunite with Fickell, FootballScoop reported.
Spalding played at Central Michigan after he came out of Michigan’s John Glenn High School. At Central Michigan, he was a running back/wide receiver from 2014-18, and rushed for 1,457 yards and 13 touchdowns on 307 attempts. He caught 27 passes for 231 yards. He was an offensive graduate assistant under Fickell on Cincinnati’s 2019 team that had an 11-win season.
Spalding then joined the Penguins’ staff of Doug Phillips in 2020, and in that time he helped tutor Jaleel McLaughlin who became a Walter Payton Football Award finalist, the award for the top player in FCS.
The Badgers return a talented duo of running backs in Braelon Allen, a two-time second-team All-Big Ten pick, and Chez Mellusi.
Keith Farner has written about college football for newspapers and web sites since 2005.