Zach Heilprin

Badgers: Jon Dietzen feeling good, playing well after a year away

It was June of 2019 that Jon Dietzen started having the itch to play football again. It had been roughly six months since he’d taken part in the Pinstripe Bowl, what he thought would be his final game for Wisconsin despite having a year of eligibility left. Injuries had taken their toll over his 32 starts and he just couldn’t go any further.

But by the time the Badgers were going through summer conditioning and getting ready to go to fall camp, Dietzen was having second thoughts. Those intensified as the season got underway and he was watching from home. By October, and after starting to work out again and feeling good, it had had gotten to the point where Dietzen wanted back in.

“In the beginning, I tried to stay away from it,” Dietzen said of watching football. “Obviously, growing up playing football, and playing high level football, you’re going to end up sitting around watching football all the time. The more I watched it, the more I started to miss it. Between June and October, the more I talked to my family about it, the more it started to develop. Once I saw Wisconsin playing, specifically, it’s something that really motivated me.”

It was then that he approached coach Paul Chryst and offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Joe Rudolph about the possibility of rejoining the team. He stayed in touch with them throughout the spring but wasn’t cleared to return until weeks before fall camp. Once camp started, he jumped right back in working at a number of positions along the line.

“I feel pretty good, actually,” Dietzen said. “I feel better and more healthy than I have in previous years, knock on wood. I’m definitely the old guy out there, but it doesn’t quite feel like it sometimes.”

Dietzen's personality is made for a college football locker room and he's got the respect of every player because of what he fought through to keep playing. Seeing him back on the field, and his red hair flowing out of his helmet, has been enjoyable for guys like tight end Jake Ferguson.

"As soon as you see him in pads, it's awesome. And then he's got the flow going, nothing better than seeing that," Ferguson said. "It's almost like nothing has changed. He's still a leader, still out there kicking butt. It's awesome to have him out there."

Chryst and Rudolph have both said he’s moving and bending as well as he ever has. The thought was to limit his reps early in camp, but he said he’s felt good enough that they haven’t done much of that.

“I think Dietzen looks great,” left tackle Cole Van Lanen said. “I know he’s feeling a lot better than he did when I played with him a couple years ago. He’s looking strong and it’s good to have another older guy in the room, guy with experience on the line. It’s been fun.”

Dietzen started 12 games at left tackle in 2018, splitting reps with Van Lanen, who is now entrenched at the position. While comfortable at either spot, Dietzen’s most experience came at left guard, where he started 20 games over two seasons.

“I’m really excited for him personally, to play with him,” Van Lanen said. “We were splitting reps and now we can actually on the line play together as a group."

by Zach Heilprin

Wisconsin focuses in on replacements for All-Big Ten LBs Chris Orr and Zack Baun

Wisconsin's defense returns eight starters off of last year's unit that finished fourth in total defense and 10th in scoring defense in the country. There is optimism among the returnees that they can be even better in 2020.

The only way that happens is if the guys they choose to fill the vacancies left by inside linebacker Chris Orr and outside linebacker Zack Baun play at a high level. That duo combined for 24 sacks and 33 tackles for loss a year ago before heading off to the NFL. No one is saying the new guys must duplicate that production but they can't afford to have a monumental drop off in play.

With fall camp essentially done, and just a week before the season opener against Illinois, here’s where the two positions stand:

Outside linebacker

Position coach Bobby April said Thursday he feels he’s got five guys he can use right now. Those include senior Noah Burks, junior Izayah Green-May, sophomores CJ Goetz and Marty Strey, along with redshirt freshman Spencer Lytle.

“Those are the five I’ve got a lot of confidence in,” said April, who noted that trust in them stemmed from those guys being around the program for awhile.

But April said the young guys at the position — Nick Herbig, Aaron Witt, Kaden Johnson and walk-on Riley Nowakowski — are right behind the older players.

“Those four guys are pushing, man,” April said. “It’s a young competitive group.”

Burks and Green-May are expected to be the starters at the position. It'll be the second year starting for Burks and he's ready to have his breakout moment similar to that of Baun a year ago.

"Looking at myself in the mirror, and seeing what (the guys before me) have been through, knowing I could do the same," Burks said. "Whether it's taking care of my body more, getting in the film books more. It's all about the little details that will really separate you. I've been trying to push myself harder in that respect. Hopefully that's going to pay off for me this year."

Green-May started one game last season before a hand injury derailed his development. He played in 11 games but it was mostly on special teams. A 6-foot-6, he weighed just 215 pounds in the spring. However, he added 17 pounds between then and fall camp, and the expectations are high entering the season.

"I'm expecting great things from Green-May," said Burks, while noting the different kind of body type the junior brings to the position. "I think he's going to take a huge step forward this year.

The belief is that Goetz and Lytle, if healthy, would be the next two in. In the past, April has used two guys heavily and then had a third rotate in.

If one of the young guys were to break through, it would probably be Herbig. The four-star recruit has garnered plenty of attention from fellow players and his name has been brought up plenty in Zoom interviews with reporters the last few weeks.

“He plays fast, he’s physical. All the stuff you saw from his high school highlights and tapes have come to fruition for us. I love where he is trending,” April said. “He’s a guy that’s got everything we’re looking for. He’s smart, tough and dependable. He checks all three boxes. I can see why people are talking about him, because the kid is a playmaker.”

Herbig came to Wisconsin from Hawaii as one of the highest-rated commits in the Badgers’ 2020 recruiting class. His talent is showing up but so is his work ethic.

“I think the biggest thing with Nick is he’s got such a high motor. The guy just never stops,” Burks said. “He doesn’t ever want to stay blocked or anything. He’s a pretty relentless finisher.”

Whether any of the young guys see the field early or not, Burks is impressed with the group as a whole.

“I would say this is probably the most physically gifted group of freshmen that we’ve gotten,” Burks said. “It’s probably the strongest and fastest group of true freshmen that I’ve seen since I’ve been here for the outside linebacker group.”

Inside linebacker

The Badgers get their leading tackler back in Jack Sanborn for his second season as a starter. Next to him will likely be sophomore Leo Chenal. A physical freak in the weight room, the 6-foot-2, 255-pound Chenal is still young as a player even though he got some action as the third inside linebacker a year ago.

“He has some power and some suddenness and speed to go along with size. Just that combination alone, that’s a pretty good combination,” inside linebackers coach Bob Bostad said. “Now it’s just putting it together. Really, when you look at him, he doesn’t have a lot of reps under his belt. It’s just taking those traits that he has and trying to get him to feel really comfortable with the scheme to be able to use those really high level traits.”

Senior Mike Maskalunas can play both inside linebacker spots and had a really good fall camp, according to Bostad.

“I think he’s playing as fast as he’s ever played. He sees things, he’s confident,” Bostad said. “I’m really excited to see him play.”

Behind those three, things get a bit murky. Bostad would like a fourth guy to step up but it hasn't happened yet.

Redshirt freshman Maema Njongmeta was out early in fall camp, though Bostad said he’s “coming along fine,” while they also have three intriguing true freshmen in Malik Reed, Jordan Turner and Preston Zachman.

“Right now, I look at having three guys that I feel rock solid about,” Bostad said of Sanborn, Chenal and Maskalunas.

Bostad does like the young group behind those three.

“Does that mean they’re ready to play Big Ten football? That’s a stretch,” Bostad said.

by Zach Heilprin

Badgers say revenge for loss to Illinois last year not on their minds

Two weeks ago Wisconsin running back Nakia Watson made some waves when he said Illinois deserved a “butt-whooping” after handing the Badgers an embarrassing loss last season. A number of Illini players took notice of his words, with one even calling the sophomore an “internet gangsta.”

Since then, multiple other UW players have been asked about potential revenge in next Friday's season opener for their lone Big Ten West lost a year ago and none have come out as strong as Watson. In fact, they’ve come out just the opposite.

“Getting revenge on Illinois is the last thing we want to think about,” cornerback Faion Hicks said. “It was disappointing what we did last year but that’s in the past. We’ve got to move forward. It’s a new year.”

Wisconsin was ranked No. 6 in the country and were 31.5-point favorites going into that game in Champaign last October. The Badgers turned the ball over twice in the final quarter and ended up losing on a last-second field goal.

“It really isn’t a revenge game,” outside linebacker Noah Burks said. “It’s a new season, a new focus. We’re just happy about the chance to play and we’re going to treat every game as like it’s its own game that we’ve got to win.”

The Badgers are 23.5-point favorites in the game, according to BetOnline.ag.

by Zach Heilprin

Badgers looking forward, not back as they get ready for a new season

Former Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan was always focused on what’s next. Whether his team did something good or something bad, it was always 'Next.' The mantra was even printed on the inside collar of the postseason jerseys the team wore in 2014. His longtime assistant, and now current head coach, Greg Gard has kept the saying alive as he enters his fifth full year on the job. So it was no surprise that on the first day of actual full contact basketball activities since their season was cut short due to the coronavirus outbreak seven months ago, the Badgers were focused more on what’s in front of them than what they missed out on.

“We aren’t going to teleport back to March 7 and become that team right away,” Gard said. “We have to basically wipe the slate clean and we start over. We use those experiences and what it took for us to get there, but nothing is more important than the first drill of the day. We can’t get caught fast-forwarding our mind because we see how the approach to the every day process or the stick to the process mentality paid off for us.”

The last time fans saw the Badgers they were carrying the Big Ten trophy into the Kohl Center after a remarkable run that included eight straight wins to grab a share of the conference title — their first in five years. They were among the hottest teams in the country, the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament and a school that many felt could make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. All those hopes came crashing down days later with the conference tournament getting canceled and March Madness following soon after.

In the weeks after that, in an effort to fill a void, ESPN started running a simulated NCAA tournament and the Badgers won the national title. Some fans celebrated the fake championship on social media and t-shirts declaring them the 2020 national champions made the rounds. But that moment also proved to be a turning point for one of players on the team.

“I woke up and was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’” guard Brad Davison said. “That kind of flipped my mindset. Alright, I’m done thinking about last year because we want to make that a reality. The only way we can do that is by flipping the switch to maximizing what’s in front of us.”

Davison said he’s not sure he’ll ever get over not having the chance to figure out what the rest of that season could hold, but the Badgers also know they have an opportunity to make another run with a very similar cast of characters. Sharpshooting Brevin Pritzl is gone and won't be easily replaced, but they do return 79% of their scoring and could feature a starting lineup of five seniors. They also add a six-man recruiting class that features some talented players that could see the floor in their first year.

“We’re going to look at defining roles and finding where we fit and kind of putting the puzzle pieces together,” Davison said. “I kind of look at it like, yeah, we lost a piece of Brevin but also we have a whole new puzzle this year. We just have to make it work, put the pieces together and make the most beautiful picture we can make.”

Still, it’s a new year, something that Gard will hammer home as much as possible.

“When I started (Wednesday's practice), after we stretched, it was nothing is more important than this first drill,” Gard told reporters. “We can’t get caught or consumed in what could happen down the road or what lies ahead, because if you don’t take care of today, that won’t come to the same fruition you want it to.”

It sounds like the players have been listening.

"We haven't talked much about (not getting to finish last season) since we've been back," guard D'Mitrik Trice said. "Really we're focused on this season, we're focused on getting better each and every day. We know there is a lot out there to get, and we know we're going to be on a high pedestal coming into this season, ranked in the top-10 or whatnot. I'm super excited about that. I think the guys are super excited.

"We try not to look at last year, really. We know we had a lot of momentum last year, but it's a new season and we've got to build that back up from the start."

The outside expectations are significant for the Badgers. Various preseason polls have them in the top-10 in the country and they are considered to be among the contenders for not only a Big Ten title but also making a run to the program's fifth Final Four. Inside, though, the expectations are the same this year as they have been for much of the last 20.

"We want to win the Big Ten regular season, we want to compete for the Big Ten tournament and want to make a run in March," Davison said. e"Those are the same goals we make every year for the program because of the sustained success and tradition we have here at Wisconsin. That's the standard, that's the standard we want to live up to and the standard we want to continue to push forward."

by Zach Heilprin