The University of Wisconsin football team’s defense stands to look a little different next season, as four starters will be lost to graduation this year. Though replacing all-conference players such as Alex Lewis and Jeff Mack will be key, the biggest change this year will come on the sideline. When defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove left to join the Cornhuskers of Nebraska, the Badgers brought in Bret Bielema to right the ship and bring the Badgers’ defense back to the dominating unit of years past.
Finishing in the middle of the Big Ten in most major defensive categories, including sixth in total defense and eighth in scoring defense, the Badgers under Bielema are aiming to improve those marks with increased energy and emotion.
“I’ll do anything we need to do to win, and that is the bottom line,” said Bielema, who comes to Wisconsin from Kansas State, where, as co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, he led the Wildcats to the second and sixth-best defenses in the nation in his two years — including the nation’s No.1 scoring defense in the country in 2002. To achieve similar success with UW’s defense, Bielema believes tenacity is the main ingredient.
“Obviously, we have to play smart and we have to play within the schemes we are trying to do, but on defense you are always looking for the guy that maybe is trying to start trouble over at the water fountain … defensively, we are gonna try to bring that out of our personality. We want to be the more aggressive unit on the field at any given time.”
The extra aggression could add an edge and mean streak to the Badgers that has been absent of late, and lead to increased success on Saturdays.
“You put 11 guys against 11, we are looking to be the more tough, physical unit on the field, and anytime that happens, you’ve got a chance now. If you play within the schemes, play smart, play fast, now you’ve got a chance to win a ballgame, and that is all we are trying to do,” Bielema said.
Bielema is dedicated to moving the defense forward, not rebuilding or starting over. The first order of business for the new defensive coordinator is to find the defense’s weaknesses and improve upon them.
“The only thing I am trying to figure out at this point is what we can do better,” Bielema said. “[Former Iowa] Coach [Hayden] Fry taught me a long time ago, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Anything that we did well, we are going to continue to do it, maybe at a little bit faster tempo or [with] more authority, but anything we didn’t do well [we need to improve].”
Bielema also stresses the importance of big plays and emphasizes scoring on the opponent, not just stopping them.
“As a defensive coach, you are always worried about preventing a score, but I think something I have learned in the last couple of years especially is to be takeaway oriented and then to score and convert off of that. If you take the approach that not only are we going to make a stand and make a stop, but we can convert a score ourselves on defense, that is when something special can happen.”
One of the challenges that Bielema faces is the loss of seniors Jeff Mack and Alex Lewis, who constitute two-thirds of UW’s starting linebackers. Bielema’s expertise in coaching linebackers should pay immediate dividends as he grooms new players to fill the big shoes of two of the biggest playmakers the Badgers had last year.
“Everybody has told me now, ‘We have got everybody back except the linebackers,’ so that is something that I am excited about,” Bielema said of the prospect of coaching a new group of linebackers to fill the spots left by Mack and Lewis. “At my last time in Iowa and my last couple years at Kansas State, we have had a pretty good tradition there. Some guys have accomplished some things at the linebacker position. That first practice, when I have the first individual drills with the linebackers, that is what I am looking forward to.”
Along with the change the team will see this year, Bielema himself will experience some changes due to coaching at UW. Bielema has been in the Big Ten for much of his career, as he played and coached at Iowa from 1989-2001, but it will be a little different for him heading into Camp Randall sporting the cardinal and white.
“It has been a little bit of a transition. It was probably a little bit of a shock the first time I put that red on in the locker room.”
In Bielema’s initial meeting with the Badgers’ defense, he made very clear that all other initiatives aside, there is only one objective in his sights: to win.
“The one thing I want to establish to them, they will see quickly, is that anything we do is gonna be done for one purpose only, and that is win one more ball game. The only thing that I am concerned about is playing as good a defense as we can at Wisconsin. That is my first priority.”