Yum.
While the Badgers learned that they will have Montee Ball back at running back next year after his announcement yesterday that he’s returning to UW for his senior season, it looks like Wisconsin will lose two more members of its program, with center Peter Konz opting to go to the NFL (no surprise) and recruiting coordinator and assistant coach Joe Rudolph reportedly joining Paul Chryst at Pitt:
Chryst has already hired two assistants from the UW staff — linebackers coach Dave Huxtable and offensive line coach Bob Bostad. Huxtable will be Pittsburgh’s defensive coordinator; Bostad reportedly will be the offensive coordinator, though Chryst is expected to call the plays.
It is possible Rudolph, who grew close to Chryst and Bostad during his four seasons on the UW staff, could be given the title of co-offensive coordinator with Bostad.
The loss of Konz, who started 31 games at UW, means the Badgers must replace three starters from the offensive line. Right guard Kevin Zeitler and right tackle Josh Oglesby played their final games for UW in the Rose Bowl.
Some Badgers fans are freaking out about all of the departures that have happened since Chryst took the Pitt job, and seem especially shaken by the loss of Rudolph. My view? This is the price of success. When your team is good, teams that aren’t good want your people to make their team good too.
My guess is that someone will be the offensive coordinator next season, and there will be coaches for the linebackers, and the offensive line, and there will be a recruiting coordinator too. Those people will probably be quite qualified to coach college football.
I’m more worried about a lack of a quarterback for next season, as the Leaders division (or is it the Legends division? stupid names) is quite winnable next year, with Ohio State sitting in a timeout for 2012 and with Penn State in shambles.
January 6, 2012 at 10:19 pm
Montee Ball is officially the most insanely loyal person in the world! God bless him.
(Did Rudolph really leave, or is that just rumor? If true, that says something ’bout Brett to lose all those top assistants — it’s like they’re all getting out of Dodge before something bad happens.)
January 6, 2012 at 10:25 pm
I’m not sure I understand the picture. Please explain to the class, Matthew.
January 6, 2012 at 10:37 pm
Ugh…Posters on the MJS Badger Blog are running Bielema out of town! This ain’t good. Bielema’s either lost his coaching staff from a respect level or they see a big shoe about to drop. Leaving Big Ten Champs for Pitt isn’t a move up; even if your title is a promotion.
(BTW, need to change your photo Hoosier. That is the infamous Honey Badger. Not Bucky! Needs stripes not a shiny, girly pelt. Send that wimpy varmint down to LSU.)
January 7, 2012 at 7:53 am
matt put it up there.
January 7, 2012 at 8:44 am
I’m fully aware that is a honey badger. It is eating a snake. Tony didn’t like my picture of a regular badger so I wanted to see if he thought the honey badger was cuter.
January 7, 2012 at 8:56 am
It’s not that I disliked it. That last one just was rather menacing looking.
January 7, 2012 at 8:54 am
Also, posters on the MJS are, in general, among the lowest form of sensient beings roaming the Internet. UW is coming off back to back B10 championships. Obviously, the coach must go! Idiots.
A more rational explanation for coaches leaving for Pitt: Chryst, Bostad and Huxtable all left UW for promotions at Pitt. Rudolph is from PA, and also is rumored to be getting a promotion. Nothing to see here.
January 6, 2012 at 11:30 pm
Lance Leipold to the Badgers OC–you heard it here first!
January 7, 2012 at 12:01 am
Dude – if you are confident, break it in a full blow post. Man up Rowdie! What’s the worst that can happen if you are wrong? Just use lots of ambiguous language.
January 7, 2012 at 12:03 am
I’m not the Badgers beat reporter. . .who was in the room. . .as you were too, GBG!
January 7, 2012 at 12:12 pm
a. Who the hell is Lance Leipold?
b. Hoosier boy — the Badger is supposed to look menacing, which is why UW goes with the Bucky style badger which is menacing … not cute. You want cute look to Goldy
Matthew, my friend:
C. I’m one of the idiots. We’ll find out next year who was really behind the Big Ten titles. Doofus Joe who looks like an out-of-touch goober on the sideline (and unfortunately acts like it to often) or the crew heading to Pitt. Again, there’s not a school in the top half of their BCS conference that would have hired Bielema as its head coach. He’d still be an assistant at K-State…Barry self-appointed him and that’s the only reason he’s a head coach. Now we’re going to find out just how much he’s been living off his coaching staff; clearly a very talented coaching staff as we get raided every year.
D. Name another championship caliber team that had this much exodus of its core and top-level coaching staff before? I don’t think it’s ever happened. Something is up. And it starts with Bielema, one way or another.
E. There’s more to this story yet to come out.
January 7, 2012 at 12:49 pm
USC’s staffs were raided annually when Carroll was there and they were on top. And what is going on in Madison really boils down to Chryst leaving for a head coaching job and building his staff.
So you’re one of those fans who gives all of the blame and none of the credit to Bielema.
Duly noted.
If things were so bad, why didn’t Chryst bolt to Texas when he had the chance last year for double his salary, and bring Bostad with him?
Look, I’m not the world’s biggest Bielema supporter but I like it when my team wins 10+ games and goes to Rose Bowls. I’m not too young to remember the Morton era, and neither are you.
January 7, 2012 at 1:15 pm
Yes, another Don Morton reference!
Leipold is UW-Whitewater’s HC. A few of us here have heard from semi-reliable sources that he’s the front runner for OC in Madision, but who knows.
January 7, 2012 at 2:25 pm
Semi-reliable source? Good enough for me!
A Daily B10 exclusive: UW-Whitewater head coach Craig Leipold is the front-runner for UW offensive coordinator position.
January 7, 2012 at 4:06 pm
Well, Leipold runs the best football program in the state of Wisconsin, including the one in Madison….so what the hell at this point.
Carroll’s staffs were never raided that deeply and with so much breadth of impact for offense to defense to recruiting.
Things obviously got a LOT WORSE with Bielema this year than last.
January 7, 2012 at 4:45 pm
I blame this all on Urban Meyer.
January 7, 2012 at 9:47 pm
Agree. He’s going to get blamed for a lot.
January 7, 2012 at 9:48 pm
I mean the fact that Wisconsin people are losing their minds.