Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell says he never expected to make a major staff change with the season still going on.

Fickell didn’t go into details Monday about why he changed course and fired Phi Longo as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach a day earlier. Fickell also remained circumspect on the plan for the rest of the season.

“I’ll just tell you the basic gist of what I told the team,” Fickell said. “It’s not about play calls. It’s not about points scored. It’s not about touchdowns. It’s moving forward with leadership. That’s to me what we have to do and why we’re doing it right now.”

Fickell didn’t specify who would call plays Saturday at Nebraska (5-5, 2-5 Big Ten) beyond indicating it would be a collaborative process. Wisconsin (5-5, 3-4) is trying to snap a three-game skid and clinch a 23rd consecutive season of bowl eligibility.

“Why does it matter?” Fickell said. “An offense will be run and those guys will do a lot of things collaboratively together, and I don’t think it really is important as to who’s calling it. I guess it gives you the ability to point a finger at somebody, if that’s the case. It’s not one of those things I think is that important.”

Fickell did say that wide receivers coach Kenny Guiton would now work with the quarterbacks as well.

Asked whether Braedyn Locke would remain Wisconsin’s starting quarterback on Saturday, Fickell replied, “Never a doubt.”

Locke has completed 55.1% of his passes for 1,514 yards with nine touchdowns and nine interceptions since taking over for Tyler Van Dyke, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the Sept. 14 loss to Alabama.

“Braedyn’s had a lot on his plate,” Fickell said. “He’s got to continue to grow and get better, and he knows that.”

Wisconsin is ranked 91st among all Football Bowl Subdivision teams in yards per game (363.1) and is tied for 97th in points per game (23.9). In the Badgers’ first season with Fickell as head coach and Longo as offensive coordinator last year, Wisconsin went 7-6 and scored 23.5 points per game for its lowest scoring average since 2004.

“This is never something I ever, ever envisioned doing or wanted to do — especially doing it when there’s still games be played in a season,” Fickell said. “But I felt like for all involved, and most importantly for our program and the kids in that locker room, what we needed to do right now was to move forward.”

Briefly

>> Florida Atlantic fired coach Tom Herman with two games left in his second season at the school, neither of which resulted in a winning record. Special teams coordinator Chad Lunsford will lead the Owls in their final two games.

>> Massachusetts coach Don Brown has been fired and offensive coordinator Shane Montgomery will serve as interim coach starting this week when the Minutemen play at Georgia, athletic director Ryan Bamford announced.

>> Charlotte coach Biff Poggi was fired after going 6-16 in two seasons. Associate head coach Tim Brewster will serve as interim coach for the remaining two games of the season.

>> The Southwestern Athletic Conference has issued one-game suspensions to a total of 16 Jackson State and Alabama State players over a postgame altercation and fined both schools.