Ari Confessor has coached for a pair of NFL franchises and had an extended run as an assistant coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference as well.
If Wisconsin closes the deal, Confessor will add Big Ten Conference experience to his track record as well.
Multiple sources tell FootballScoop that Luke Fickell's Wisconsin Badgers program is targeting Confessor as its next wide receivers coach.
No deal is complete but sources told FootballScoop President Scott Roussel that the goal is to have a deal completed by Monday with Confessor and have him report to begin work on campus in Madison, Wisconsin.
Confessor would replace Jordan Reid, who left the Badgers within the past week to join the first-year coaching staff of new Atlanta Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski, whom the Falcons hired after Stefanski, a two-time NFL Coach of the Year, was dismissed by the Cleveland Browns.
In addition to his work with the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars, Confessor has coached at Wake Forest under two different head coaches and for Troy Calhoun at the Air Force Academy.
A former star player at Football Championship Subdivision program Holy Cross, where he twice earned All-America honors, is the school's career receiving yards record-holder and has been enshrined into the Crusaders Hall of Fame, Confessor also coached at his alma mater under then-head coach Bob Chesney. After guiding James Madison to the Sun Belt Conference Championship and a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff, Chesney was hired after the 2025 season to take over the UCLA Bruins.
Confessor hasn't just coached wideouts, the position at which he starred; he's also logged collegiate work as co-special teams coordinator during a stint with the Rhode Island Rams. Confessor is a Providence, Rhode Island, native.
At Wisconsin, Confessor would coach wideouts in the offensive system of coordinator Jeff Grimes.
The Badgers are coming off an 4-8 campaign and have lost 13 of their last 15 games in Big Ten Conference play.
Wisconsin is scheduled to open its 2026 campaign, a pivotal year as Fickell enters his fourth season at the helm, on Sunday, Sept. 6 against Marcus Freeman's Notre Dame Fighting Irish inside Lambeau Field, home of the NFL's Green Bay Packers.
The Badgers then face a pair of directional schools -- FCS Western Illinois and Eastern Michigan -- in back-to-back home games that conclude their non-conference schedule. Wisconsin then will seek to reverse its Big Ten fortunes when league play opens Sept. 26 at Penn State, with the Nittany Lions guided by first-year head coach Matt Campell.