A few months before the University of Wisconsin football team opens its season against Notre Dame at Lambeau Field in September, the entire squad will be in town Wednesday, June 17, to tour the stadium.
The players also will hold a Badger Football kids combine from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Emplify Health Field at Titletown. The event is free and will feature football skill challenges, prizes and even an appearance by Bucky Badger.
Among those in attendance will be Wisconsin wide receiver and former West De Pere star Langdon Nordgaard, who will be a redshirt sophomore in 2026.
He is one of four local products on the team, which includes former Bay Port linebacker Landon Gauthier, former Southern Door linebacker Taylor Schaefer and former Bay Port offensive lineman Aiden Dirksen.
“We are excited to have the kids out to the combine,” Nordgaard said. “We are going to do Badgers football skills and stuff like that, and the kids will be able to hang out with us and Bucky Badger.
“It’s going to be a great time. I remember when I was that young, I would always look up to older guys, college or NFL. They are going to have fun.”
Langdon Nordgaard hopes to find role with Badgers
The 6-foot-3, 208-pound Nordgaard is having fun himself these days.
He has already fulfilled his dream of being part of an NCAA Division I team. The next step is getting the opportunity to play.
Nordgaard redshirted his first year with the Badgers, and although he was active in 2025, he didn’t appear in any of their 12 games.
That’s not a big surprise.
Nordgaard faced an uphill battle when he accepted a preferred walk-on opportunity with Wisconsin during his senior year at West De Pere instead of picking one of almost a dozen scholarship offers from DII programs.
Wisconsin was impressed with Nordgaard after a notable performance during one of its offseason camps.
The jump from high school to the Big Ten is never easy, and it’s been especially challenging for a walk-on who hasn’t had the same wide receivers coach for more than one season.
Former associate head coach/wide receivers coach Mike Brown helped recruit Nordgaard to Wisconsin, but he left before Nordgaard even got to Madison after accepting the wide receivers coach position at Notre Dame in December 2023.
Kenny Guiton was the wideouts coach during Nordgaard’s first season in 2024 but was named the team’s quarterbacks coach after that year.
Jordan Reid took over in 2025, only to accept a job in February as an assistant quarterbacks coach in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons.
Ari Confesor was named Reid’s replacement in March after spending last season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“You know, it is what it is, it’s all part of the game,” Nordgaard said. “It’s nice to get to know a new coach every time, but it’s also kind of hard. But the group as a whole, it doesn’t change us. We are still all fighting to play in the same game, it’s just we have a different guy coaching us.”
Nordgaard noticed what most players do after jumping to one of the best conferences in the nation out of high school, one that features defending national champion Indiana.
Everyone is good. Everyone is fast. Everyone is strong.
He practiced last season against a defense that ranked 24th in the nation in yards allowed and 39th in points permitted under Mike Tressel.
It wasn’t easy, but Nordgaard loved it. It only helped make him better.
Still, to go from a star in high school to not seeing the field in college is difficult.
Nordgaard is one of the best receivers in West De Pere history.
He graduated as the program’s all-time leader with 120 career receptions for 1,904 yards and 14 touchdowns, although Judeah Kniskern came along the last few years to surpass him.
Nordgaard still has bragging rights for the best individual game for any Phantoms wideout thanks to his performance against crosstown rival De Pere in September 2023, when he caught 11 passes for 209 yards. It broke the team’s single-game record of 203 receiving yards by Jordan Forrest in 2011.
He’s now just looking for a chance to prove himself again.
“It’s honestly a real big adjustment,” Nordgaard said. “From playing every snap on offense [in high school] to not getting in yet, it’s a lot. But I’m staying in, putting in the work every day, grinding it out. Hopefully, the coaches notice and see what I’m doing.
“I wouldn’t say I doubt myself. There is some second-guessing, I guess you could say. I feel like sometimes I’m doing everything that I should be doing, but it’s not enough.”
Langdon Nordgaard keeps working hard
His best opportunity to play this season might come on special teams. He did not play a single snap on the unit in high school unless it was part of the hands team for an onside kick, but he will do whatever it takes to get on the field.
He’s always been willing to sacrifice his body for the team, considering he was one of the area’s best blocking wideouts at the prep level and often facilitated huge plays for teammates.
One might wonder why Nordgaard has stayed at Wisconsin when he could be playing a bigger role for a DII school, although he comes from a family that has enjoyed success at the DI level.
His father, Jeff, is one of the best basketball players in University of Wisconsin-Green Bay history. His aunt, Chari, is one of the best in women’s history.
His mother, Alexis, was a standout basketball player at Butler. His cousin, Kon Knueppel, was a basketball star at Duke for one season before a big rookie debut for the Charlotte Hornets in 2025-26.
But Nordgaard also doesn’t have to look far to see the success he could have in DII.
His older brother, Dawson, was one of Michigan Tech’s best basketball players as a senior last season, helping lead the Huskies to a 29-7 record and to the Elite Eight of the DII national tournament.
Nordgaard remains determined to stay with the Badgers. He has no interest in going anywhere else right now.
“I think I have the ability to play here,” Nordgaard said. “I want to show and prove to everyone that I can. Madison is a Big Ten school. It’s the Badgers. I love it here.”
There is no better scenario than for Nordgaard to make his collegiate debut at Lambeau in Week 1. Even though he’s a Minnesota Vikings fan, it would be quite the moment.
“I honestly can’t wait for it,” Nordgaard said. “Being literally 10 minutes away from Lambeau Field, I am going to have so many friends and family at the game. Just being in an NFL stadium, playing on the field is going to be insane.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: West De Pere’s Langdon Nordgaard hopes to find role with Wisconsin football
Reporting by Scott Venci, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Scott Venci, Green Bay Press-Gazette | USA TODAY Network
