Devon Spalding, who worked under Luke Fickell at Cincinnati in 2019 and has climbed quickly through the coaching ranks, is headed to Wisconsin to reunite with Fickell.
Sources tell FootballScoop that Spalding is expected to become the Badgers' new running backs coach after spending the previous three seasons on staff at Youngstown State.
A former versatile offensive player at Central Michigan who had an All-State playing career at Michigan's John Glenn High School, Spalding served as an offensive graduate assistant under Fickell on Cincinnati's 2019 squad that roared to an 11-win and set the stage for the program's most successful multi-year stretch in school history.
Spalding then joined the Penguins' staff of Doug Phillips in 2020, and in that time he helped tutor Jaleel McLaughlin -- a Walter Payton Football Award finalist.
Fickell was hired away from the Bearcats last month to take over at Wisconsin after the Badgers fired Paul Chryst less than midway through the 2022 season.
Wisconsin is scheduled to formally open the Fickell Era Sept. 2 at home against Maurice Linguist's Buffalo team before it hits the road a week later to another non-conference matchup against Washington State.
The Badgers open Big Ten play Sept. 23 against Purdue.