I'm looking forward to seeing the linebackers getting better...
UW's Bob Bostad, coaching defense for first time, has focused on linebackers' fundamentalsJeff Potrykus, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Published 3:15 p.m. CT July 31, 2017 | Updated 6:20 p.m. CT July 31, 2017
MADISON – Bob Bostad understood he would have been foolhardy to tear down and then rebuild Wisconsin’s inside linebacker corps.
When Bostad returned to the UW staff last winter he did so with 27 years on his coaching resume, all on the offensive side of the ball.
What Bostad did was come in, immerse himself in the defensive playbook so he knew what he was talking about, evaluate every inside linebacker on the roster and devise a scheme to improve their fundamentals.
Bostad wanted to know whether players he would be coaching had wandering eyes before the snap or whether they were locked in on their keys. Was their stance sound? Was their first step efficient? Were they getting to the ball as quickly as they could?
To ensure everyone could improve in those areas, Bostad put together a video package of each player.
The good, the bad and the ugly.
“I was not going into these meetings thinking I am going to change things,” said Bostad, who played linebacker at UW-Stevens Point in the 1980s. “I know my place.
“But I thought these were some things that I am seeing – I don’t care if you’re coaching offensive line or you’re coaching linebackers – this is something we can improve on.”
The players bought in.
“He taught us about taking more efficient paths, how to defeat (blocks) better,” redshirt senior Jack Cichy said. “So stuff like that is really going to elevate our game. What coach Chryst said when he was thinking about bringing coach Bostad in was: ‘I don’t need the guy to come in and teach you the X's and O's. I want you guys to be better football players.’
“I think so far that has been true.”
Bostad, who coached the offensive line at UW from 2008-’11 and four years in the National Football League (2012-’15), has tried to show the linebackers how to put linemen in vulnerable positions.
“So if you take a more efficient angle, he physically can’t block you,” Cichy explained. “So if you get low and dip through a gap, he can’t come back and block you there. Once he says it, it makes sense. But it is those things you never really think about beforehand.”
Fellow inside linebacker Ryan Connelly appreciated studying the video package, even if the reviews weren’t always positive.
“I don’t like watching my first couple games from last year,” Connelly said. “I honestly wasn’t that good in those games. It sucks but it definitely helps you watching that.
“My first couple of games, especially the LSU game, I kind of looked like a chicken with my head cut off running around. I was trying to play fast, which helps in a lot of situations, but my run fits weren’t the best. I wasn’t very patient.
"I got better as the season went on."
Bostad has landed in a comfortable spot because he has four linebackers who have started games at UW.
T.J. Edwards, a redshirt junior, has led UW in tackles in each of his first two seasons.
Cichy was leading the team in tackles last season when he suffered a season-ending pectoral injury in Game 7 at Iowa. Despite missing seven games, he finished tied for fourth in tackles with 60.
Connelly, a redshirt junior, was one off Cichy’s pace with 59 stops and made big plays throughout the season.
Chris Orr suffered a season-ending knee injury on UW’s first defensive play in the opener. However, he started six games as a freshman in 2015 and finished sixth on the team in tackles with 46.
The players appreciated Bostad didn’t come in determined to make major renovations. His goal was to improve the fundamentals of each player and thereby make an already strong unit even better.
“He came in with a great mindset,” Cichy said. “His first couple of weeks he didn’t come in and try to take over. He sat in meetings and he started taking notes on the defense. Before he did anything, he wanted to learn the defense, which was huge.
“It showed us that he cared and it showed us that he gave us the respect we thought we deserved and earned.”
