Turns out Pittsburgh can’t have them all.
Wisconsin football head coach Bret Bielema announced Monday the addition of Eddie Faulkner as the program’s new tight ends coach. The move for Faulkner comes nearly one month after accepting a job to coach running backs for Paul Chryst at Pittsburgh.
Faulkner’s arrival at Madison marks the end of Bielema’s coaching carousel, which began just before the Jan. 2 Rose Bowl when Chryst, then UW’s offensive coordinator, announced he was accepting Pittsburgh’s head coaching position.
Chryst eventually took three of Wisconsin’s assistant coaches with him. Two other assistants later departed as well, leaving as few as six positions unfilled.
Faulkner is the fifth coach Bielema hired from outside the program, although he played running back for the Badgers from 1996-2000. Faulkner spent the 2011 season as Northern Illinois’ running backs coach and special teams coordinator.
In returning to his alma matter, Faulkner will again work alongside Matt Canada, who took the reins of UW’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in January. Canada spent the previous season as offensive coordinator at Northern Illinois.
“I’m very excited about the chance to come back to Madison and coach,” Faulkner said. “Being an alum and coming back to the university I graduated from, I think that’s an opportunity most coaches look for.
“I want to thank coach Bielema for this chance. I worked for Matt Canada last year at Northern Illinois, and he is a great coach and someone I really respect. I can’t begin to say how excited I am about coming back, and I’m looking forward to getting to work.”
Prior to joining the Huskies, Faulkner worked in various capacities for Ball State between 2003-2010. He began as a graduate assistant and moved on to coach running backs for six seasons, special teams for four and acted as offensive coordinator for two (2009-10).
He worked alongside Brady Hoke, now the head coach at Michigan, until 2008 and served as the Cardinals’ interim head coach at the end of the 2010 season prior to leaving for the Huskies.
Faulkner presided over All-MAC running back Jasmin Hopkins at NIU last season, who ran for 956 yards and 15 touchdowns. Overall, the Huskies possessed the nation’s No. 12 rushing game with an average of 234.14 yards per contest.
The 2008 Ball State team went undefeated during the regular season and featured running back MiQuale Lewis, who rushed for a school-record 1,736 yards.
Faulkner accumulated 1,064 yards and seven touchdowns himself as a running back for two Big Ten championship teams at Wisconsin. After his college career, he went on to sign a free agent contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers before moving on to the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League.
“I’m excited to be able to bring Eddie back to Madison,” Bielema said. “It’s always special to be able to hire a former letter winner.
“In addition to coaching our tight ends, Eddie brings great experience coaching special teams and has tremendous talents as a recruiter. He’s obviously worked with Matt, and he is highly-respected among the coaches on our staff.”
