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Report: Leonhard turns down offer from Packers

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Jim Leonard

Wisconsin Badgers defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard has reportedly turned down an offer to become the next defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers.

The Wisconsin State Journal was the first to report Leonhard’s decision.  It was confirmed by Wisconsin Radio Network on Saturday morning.

Leonhard reportedly talked with Packers head coach Matt LaFleur by way of zoom on Tuesday and then in person on Thursday before turning down the job on Friday.

Leonhard told the State Journal, “it was me choosing UW.  I want to stay at UW.  I want to be at this level right now.  Extremely flattered.  Awesome opportunity.  But it was not the right time for me to go back to the NFL.”

Leonhard staying at UW is huge for Paul Chryst and the Badgers.  Leonhard was a three-time All-American safety at Wisconsin and has served as the school’s defensive coordinator for the past four years.

LaFleur now must now move forward with his search.  Likely at or near the top of his list is Los Angeles Rams safeties coach Ejiro Evero.  Evero was a quality control assistant coach for the Packers in 2016.

 

Budmayr leaving UW for coordinators job at Colorado State

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Wisconsin Badgers coach Paul Chryst is losing his quarterbacks coach, Jon Budmayr.  Budmayr is expected to be named the offensive coordinator at Colorado State.

Budmayr had been on the Badgers staff for the last six years, the last three of which as the teams quarterbacks coach.

As a player, Budmayr helped the Badgers win the 2010 Big Ten title but had to quit football after that season because of injuries.  He served as a grad assistant in 2015 and a quality control assistant in 2016 and 2017 before taking over as quarterbacks coach.

Budmayr will take over an offense that averaged just 22 points a game.

Budmayr is the second assistant coach to leave the Badgers.  Defensive line coach Inoke Breckterfield left for Vanderbilt and was replaced by former Badger player and football strength and conditioning coach Ross Kolodziej.

Badgers go with familiar face as new defensive line coach

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Ross Kolodziej – Photo Courtesy of UW Athletics

Ross Kolodziej helped lead the Wisconsin Badgers to a pair of Big Ten championships as a player and has led the highly-regarded strength and conditioning program at his alma mater for the last six seasons.  Now, the Stevens Point, Wisconsin native has been promoted to Paul Chryst’s coaching staff as UW’s defensive line coach for the 2021 season.

Kolodziej has spent the last seven seasons as a head strength and conditioning coach under Chryst, including the last six at Wisconsin.  He spent the 2013 season as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Pittsburgh before being promoted to head strength coach a year later.  He has served in the same capacity since returning to UW in 2015.

Prior to joining Chryst’s staff, Kolodziej served as a graduate assistant at Wisconsin in 2012, working with the Badgers’ defensive line.  That followed a professional career that spanned seven seasons in the NFL and three in the United Football [Read more…]

Badgers Come From Behind To Win Duke’s Mayo Bowl

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Paul Chryst

It wasn’t looking good early for the Wisconsin Badgers, who fell behind Wake Forest 14-0 in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Wednesday in Charlotte.  The Badgers had two empty possessions, while the Demon Deacons put two scores on the board just 7:39 into the game.

The Badgers (4-3) settled down from there and scored 14 points in each of the next three quarters to go on and beat Wake Forest 42-28.

Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman had thrown just one interception coming into the game, but he threw four picks against the Badgers, who finished the season with a two-game winning streak.  The Badgers got interceptions from Noah Burks, Scott Nelson, Jack Sanborn and Collin Wilder.  Sanborn finished with 10 tackles, two tackles for loss and the pick.

Wisconsin improved to 5-1 in bowl games under coach Paul Chryst.  The 42-points scored is the highest scoring output for the Badgers in a bowl game, surpassing the previous record of 38 against Utah in the 1996 Copper Bowl.

The Badgers improved to 17-15 in bowl games overall and have won 6 of their last 7 bowls, dating back to the 2014 season.

Quarterback Graham Mertz finished 11 of 17 for 130 yards and a touchdown.  He also scored on a pair of 1-yard runs.

Hartman finished 20 of 37 for 318 yards and three touchdowns for Wake Forest (4-5).

Coan To Transfer From Wisconsin

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Jack Coan

Jack Coan would have been Wisconsin’s starter if not for a foot injury on Oct. 3, which was followed by surgery a few days later.  Graham Mertz took over as the starter and stayed there, even after Coan returned in uniform on Dec. 5 against Indiana.

Coan didn’t play against the Hoosiers or the Iowa Hawkeyes the following week.  Then Saturday, after Mertz left the game with an injury, Paul Chryst went with Chase Wolf and the Jack Coan era is over with in Madison.

Coan passed for 2,727 yards with 18 touchdowns and five interceptions in 14 games last season.  His final game came in the 2020 Rose Bowl contest against Oregon, a 28-27 Wisconsin loss.  During his time in Madison, Coan started 18 games and played in 25.

Now he’ll look for one final opportunity to lead a football team other than the one in Madison.

UW Football Adds 21 On National Signing Day

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Paul Chryst

The Wisconsin Badgers signed 21 players to National Letters of Intent on National Signing Day Wednesday.  The class received the program’s highest ranking nationally, 15th by Rivals and 16th by 247 Sports.

According to UW’s director of player personnel, with the 21 freshmen and seniors that are set to come back next year, the school no longer has any scholarships left.

The Class features one 5-star talent and ten 4-star recruits.  By position, UW adds three running backs, three offensive linemen, three outside linebackers, two inside linebackers, one player that could work inside or outside, two safeties (both in-state), two cornerbacks, two wide receivers, one quarterback, one tight end and one defensive end.

Wisconsin offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph said there’s a good chance that senior wide receivers Danny Davis and Kendric Pryor will return to the program next season.  In the pandemic, the NCAA developed a rule that allows seniors to return in 2021 if they so choose.

The 21 player class follows:  UWBadgers.com/NSD2021

 

 

 

UW Quarterback Jack Coan making progress (AUDIO)

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Paul Chryst

Wisconsin quarterback Jack Coan is no longer wearing a protective boot on his broken right foot and is making progress after undergoing surgery on Oct. 7.

“Hopefully sooner than later we can get it to where he can start doing some field work,” said head coach Paul Chryst.

The Badgers return to action Saturday night (6:30 p.m. ABC) in Ann Arbor against the Michigan Wolverines.  It’s the Badgers first game in three weeks after seeing games against Nebraska and Purdue cancelled due to high COVID numbers in the program.

Starting quarterback Graham Mertz is eligible to return to action for Saturday’s game after testing positive for coronavirus and working his way through the protocol.  But Badgers coach Paul Chryst wouldn’t say whether it’ll be Mertz at quarterback on Saturday night against the Wolverines.

AUDIO: Paul Chryst says Jack Coan is still rehabbing but getting closer :16

AUDIO: Paul Chryst said there’s no timeline for Jack Coan returning, but he’s progressing :15

AUDIO: Paul Chryst says they’re preparing all three quarterbacks as if they’ll play :15

Football Badgers getting ready for Michigan

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The Wisconsin football team is inching closer to a return to Big Ten action against the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor on Saturday.  The Badgers began their regular game week preparations Monday morning.  The team will practice each day this week and continue to monitor the program’s COVID-19 testing results closely to determine the team’s activities moving forward.

The football program currently has five active COVID-19 cases, two student-athletes and three staff members.  Since Nov. 2, one staff member and one student-athlete have bested positive.  Five of the last six days have yielded no positive cases.

“We had no new positives on Tuesday and Wednesday which was a great sign,” UW Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez said.  “That’s when we started thinking Friday could be a day we could get the team together to start doing things with an eye towards having a regular practice week.  So we were cautious on Friday and Saturday, split guys into groups, and just did conditioning.  The team then got together and held its regular Monday practice this morning.

“We feel confident that we have a handle on the situation and are excited to play this week at Michigan.  As we have done throughout, we will continue to monitor our testing results and base our decision on those results.”

The Badger football team first paused team activities on Oct. 28 and saw games at Nebraska (Oct. 31) and at home against Purdue (Nov. 7) canceled.

Three more added to Wisconsin football COVID-19 list

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The Wisconsin football program has confirmed more positive PCR tests for COVID-19.

The Wisconsin Athletic Department released the additional numbers Thursday afternoon.  One positive result was received late Wednesday, while two others were confirmed on Thursday morning.  All three were the pending results referenced in Wednesday morning’s initial announcement.  There are currently 16 active COVID-19 cases in the program, including 15 positive tests since Oct. 24.

The program was placed in a seven day hold and while there is no definitive timeline for a return to in-person football activities, the earliest return is Wednesday, Nov. 4.  A return to activity depends upon the success of ongoing mitigation efforts.  Head coach Paul Chryst, per CDC and Big Ten guidelines, can return to the team in person following a 10-day isolation period, on Saturday, Nov. 7 at the earliest.  That is the day of the Badgers next scheduled game, at home against Purdue.

Wisconsin Athletics has secured rooms at a local hotel for football players that have not recorded positive tests in an effort to further separate those who live together and mitigate the spread of the virus.  Each of the players in the hotel has his own room and the rooms are located in the same area of the hotel so as to limit exposure to other hotel guests.

Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez, who referenced taking a PCR test on Wednesday, received his results Thursday and tested negative for COVID-19.

Members of the football program continue to take part in daily testing.

Badgers could be down to fourth string quarterback

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Danny Vanden Boom: PHOTO Courtesy of Kelli Steffes / UW Athletics

The Wisconsin Badgers are busy preparing for Saturday’s Big Ten matchup at Nebraska and they could be down to their fourth quarterback for the matchup.

Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported this week that quarterbacks Graham Mertz and Chase Wolf have both tested positive for coronavirus.  Wolf wasn’t at the teams workout on Monday.

Both quarterbacks will require a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to confirm the first positive result.  If that test turns up negative for either player, then they could be available for Saturday’s game.  A second positive test would mean they would have to miss 21 days, according to the Big Ten Conference’s protocol.

Starter Jack Coan is already sidelined after foot surgery and Mertz replaced him with a five touchdown performance against Illinois last Friday.  If Mertz and Wolf are not available, then the next in line is redshirt junior Danny Vanden Boom.

Vanden Boom is the son of former Badger defensive back Matt Vanden Boom, who was an All-American back in 1981. [Read more…]