2024 Badger Football Thread

Keg Man said:
From Mark in Shout:

Wisconsin starting defensive lineman Curt Neal enters the transfer portal

Very concerning.

Also, the 1st cornerback who entered the transfer portal with the original 3 said the reason was because he didn't have a relationship with his position coach.

Even if you're not playing, how do you not have a relationship with your position coach. He referenced just giving up playing for Wisconsin because of his position coach as the reason he left. I hope that's not the issue with Neal above.

But, if WI doesn't have huge NIL money - which we all assume it doesn't - then it has to be a winner on National TV providing a path to the NFL. Right now, I can't imagine a kid thinking they're on the road to the NFL at Wisconsin.

So far even though it initially appeared Bucky was doing good in this new era, it has definitely flopped horribly. 90% or more of the people Wisconsin brings in are not making a positive impact.

Somehow, Bucky must turn the table next year, have a winning season, go to a bowl game, and beat a ranked opponent, and win a major upset, or Bucky's going to be a doormat and "W" on most opponents' calendars when they come out.

Not the Christmas news I was hoping for on the Wisconsin Football front.
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"not having a relationship with his position coach" is code for "my coach doesn't understand how great of a player every one else tells me I am"
 
Last one out on defense turn off the lights and lock the door!
 
HowardK4 said:
well, after his performance this season I don't see where other colleges are going to be recruiting him with NIL money to leave . . . :)
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Agree outside of WI Locke choices are probably D2 schools.
 
Curt Neal interview today....holy crap!!

You were here through a coaching change and multiple position coaches. Was this scheme significantly different from what you were asked to do before?

I felt like our coach this year (E.J. Whitlow) really taught a lot of techniques basically like it was just fit-ball. Just stay in the gap but are you ever going to get to the play and be effective and just cause havoc?

I’m a guy that I like to get off the ball, jump the snap count. We were getting taught we can’t move until the offensive lineman moves. I’ve never heard of a D-lineman playing that way. You see the ball out of the peripheral of your vision and you get off the ball and go attack. I felt like we were taught a lot of mirror-stepping and catching. I’m 6-foot, 6-foot-1, 290. I’m not 6-5, 300 pounds. I don’t need to be catching blocks and sitting there. I need to be disruptive, getting vertical and causing havoc, which I know I can do.

This team really struggled to stop the run defensively. It’s something the program did so well for years. Why didn’t this defense effectively stop the run?

If you guys watch football and you guys see, a lot of stuff wasn’t really on the players.

Are you saying you put that on defensive coordinator Mike Tressel?

I’m not putting it on anyone. I’m just saying there was a lot of stuff that was out of our control. That’s all I have to say about that.
How much do you put on the players since you’re the ones on the field? Or are you saying you weren’t put in the best position to succeed?

I would say that. And I’ve stressed that for the last three or four weeks.
Why did you decide to enter the portal?

I just felt like our scheme didn’t really fit me well. A lot of the techniques we were coaching weren’t for us to really be aggressive. I think we were just taking blocks and having the linebackers make the plays.

Honestly, I feel like that’s cool sometimes. But in the long haul, am I ever going to get to where I need to go being like a sacrificial lamb for the defense all the time? I just needed to be in a place and find a scheme for me that I know will benefit me and I can be the aggressive defensive tackle I know I can be.
Were you told there might be changes coming to the defense that would convince you to stay?

I heard they were changing the front, but I didn’t really get too much into that. I was already planning on leaving. Whatever they do from here on out is not really my concern.

Did you talk to any other coaches?

I just talked to my D-line coach.

What was his message to you?

Just good luck and if I need anything, he’ll always be there.

What do you think of the direction the program is headed under Luke Fickell?

I don’t know. I hope and pray as a former Wisconsin player, I really hope this program eventually takes off. I really can’t put my finger on it, what’s really holding us back because we work hard. Everyone works hard, but I feel like we go above and beyond and I feel like the results never show. We’ve made history as a team that just didn’t make a bowl game in 23 years, which is never good.
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So pretty much the entire coaching staff sucks and the AD blew the hire and we are screwed because we can't fire Fickell.
 
Sounds like the defensive coaching staff wasn't much.........while Fickell is responsible for that, I dont see this saying anything bad about him as a coach. However its on him to make the changes necessary to correct the defensive problems. Either by getting more involved or getting a new defensive staff. Kinda sounds like how the Packers defensive players were before Joe Barry got fired.
 
Everything coming out about the Wisconsin Football team right now is horrible. This just can't be happening at a D1 school.

The defense, which I thought was Fickell's forte, sounds like a clusterfuck. What the hell was Tressel doing? How do your head coach and defensive coordinator not know what's going on?

And, if the system described by Neal was actually how they wanted it played - well, I hope they can schedule Junior High School Teams next year.

Statements like Neal's and the comments from the Corner Backs are not going to make Wisconsin Football look inviting.
 
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