Wisconsin changes coaching approach after learning hard lessons from 2018 disappointment
CHICAGO – Football coaches self-scout after every season, whether their team wins a championship or plummets into last place.
Wisconsin’s coaching staff had plenty of opportunities to learn some hard lessons in the wake of the Badgers finishing 5-4 in the Big Ten and 8-5 overall.
“If you’re doing your job well, you are getting them to perform at their best,” Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said at the Big Ten preseason meetings. “And I don’t know that we did that.”
Wisconsin was projected to win its third consecutive Big Ten West title and, ranked in the top seven of both major preseason polls, was a popular pick to reach the College Football Playoff.
The Badgers instead suffered a humbling 24-21 non-conference loss to visiting BYU in their third game and then had four double-digit Big Ten losses to finish three games behind Northwestern.
Chryst and his assistants reached two conclusions.
Their message to the players – focus on the present and avoid looking too far down the road – remained consistent. However, perhaps they needed to adjust the delivery to accommodate for a large group of younger players.
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The staff also used the spring to practice certain game situations differently.
“We’ve got to practice some things differently so the situations come a little more real,” Chryst said. “It is an idea and you try it in the spring and you think it’s got a chance. You can continue to build on it.
“You’ve got to find ways that you can help them. You care about these kids and you want them to have success.
“There were times we didn’t play good football.”
Perfect trio
Chryst explained briefly why senior linebacker Chris Orr, redshirt junior center Tyler Biadasz and junior tailback Jonathan Taylor were chosen to represent Wisconsin at the Big Ten meetings.
“I’m pumped with the three we’ve got…all for different reasons,” he said. “Tyler is much of what this program is. Chris was going to be here regardless. Right? And J.T. is really, really good.”
Orr, a fifth-year senior from Texas, has become one of the team’s leaders since the end of last season. But Chryst’s comment was a playful shot at Orr’s gregarious nature. No one on the team enjoys engaging members of the media than Orr, who loves the camera.
“Chris would come,” Chryst said. “If you didn’t invite him, he’d be here. …He is beautiful.”
Chryst talks transfer policy
Wisconsin has been on both sides of the transfer debate. The Badgers have lost players who have decided to leave the program and they have added players when needed.
Chryst has no issue with players leaving but he would like to see a consistent policy used regarding eligibility.
“We had a good discussion at our Big Ten meetings,” Chryst said. “I think everyone has gotten to the point where if someone wants to transfer, they should be able to transfer. I think the thing that is driving everyone nuts, including myself, is who is (immediately) eligible and who is not?
“I think right now it is so random. And if you hire the right (attorney), you’re in. It doesn’t make sense to me. It seems really random.”