MADISON, Wis. — At the opening of the summer football camp on the Wisconsin campus, Joe Rudolph quickly sized up the recruitable high school prospects with a discerning eye on potential offensive linemen.
Therein was the conundrum. Rudolph wasn't sure what to make of Tyler Biadasz, a small school defensive end for the Amherst Falcons, a Division 5 power in Wisconsin.
"When the camp started, I knew who he was and I watched him do all his testing and go through stuff," said Rudolph, UW's offensive coordinator and O-line coach. "I really liked his athleticism, but I wasn't sure what position he was because he had played defensive line in high school."
During the camp, the 270-pound Biadasz lined up against some highly-recruited centers.
"No one wanted to go against him by the end of the day," Rudolph said. "He was physical. He cared. His toughness never waned. When camp got tougher, he got better. He was plenty athletic enough and he had a demeanor that he would learn anything that you were willing to teach him."
As an Amherst sophomore, Biadasz was approached about playing center. What the heck, they encouraged him, give it a try. "But I really didn't like it," he admitted. "So, I didn't approach it very well, I'd say. In D-5, you play both sides. I played tackle because I never really liked to snap in high school."
Relying on his instincts, Rudolph never wavered on Biadasz.
"There were some good kids in camp and some tough decisions to make," said Rudolph, who was entrusted with identifying at least one scholarship center out of the handful that he was evaluating.
"I remember Paul (Chryst) came up and said, 'Who do you like?'
"And I said, 'I like that kid right there, I'll take him.'"
Chryst asked, "Did he play offense (in camp)?"
"Nope, not a play," said Rudolph, laughing.
Still, he was not dissuaded.
"I thought from Day One that he would be in the O-line and he would be a center," Rudolph said. "I knew that I kind of stuck my neck out to take him. But I was great with it. What I saw out of him was a guy who would do anything to do it right and give every bit of effort to be really good."
Biadasz appreciated Rudolph's convictions. "Rudy saw something in me and he went for it," Biadasz said. "I would say that he took a shot on me because I never really had played center before. It was pretty remarkable for him to find that in me at that point of time."
It's even more remarkable today since Biadasz has become the first center in school history to win the Rimington Trophy. Since 2000, the award has honored college football's top player at that position. Dave Rimington was a two-time Outland winner and consensus All-American at Nebraska.
185 people are talking about this
"It's awesome to be recognized for what you put into it and how much you work at it, and everything like that," said Biadasz, who answers fittingly enough to the nickname of "Badger" and will be making his 41st consecutive start in the Rose Bowl against Oregon.
"It's kind of crazy to me that no one has won it (the Rimington) here before. It's pretty remarkable with how many centers are on the wall (in the O-line meeting room) … It's truly a blessing and kind of cool to be the first one ... it's something I'm going to carry with me the rest of my life."
Little known fact: Dave Rimington moved to Madison in 1991 and enrolled in graduate school. One of his former Nebraska teammates was Scott Raridon, who was the first strength coach for Barry Alvarez. In 1992, Rimington was one of two graduate assistants on Alvarez's staff. He worked with the O-line.
One of the players Rimington took a liking to was Cory Raymer, one of just two UW centers to earn consensus All-America status. The other is Biadasz. (The late Mike Webster, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, was first-team All-Big Ten in 1973, but he was not named to an All-America squad.)
Alvarez has always singled out Raymer as the best center that he's ever coached. Raymer, like Biadasz, was a defensive lineman in high school (Fond du Lac Goodrich). During the recruiting process, Alvarez confessed, "I lied to Cory and assured him that he would play on the D-line."
Rudolph, the starting left guard next to Raymer on the '94 Rose Bowl team, never lied to Biadasz. "I told him from the jump," he said of his intentions to play him at center. "Everyone (on the staff) was in agreement, so it wasn't a tug of war or anything like that."
There was an underlying truth.
"When he came in the door," Rudolph said, "he had not taken a snap before."
"I learned from scratch," Biadasz said.
It was during the spring of his senior year of high school that Biadasz took the first steps in making the conversion from the defensive line — where he was the 2015 Tim Krumrie Award winner — to center. Biadasz enlisted the help of Amherst teammate Garrett Groshek, then a preferred UW walk-on.
"Me and Garrett would get in the weight room and lift and then we would snap afterwards," said Biadasz. "We lived with each other that summer going in (to their freshman year) and we'd always talk about the calls, protections and hand signals because he was a quarterback at the time."
On Amherst's state championship team in '15, Groshek was a record-setting triple option quarterback and the Offensive Player of the Year in Wisconsin. He has since moved to tailback for the Badgers and gone on scholarship. Rudolph credited Groshek's selflessness in accelerating Biadasz's transition to center.
"They came in together and Tyler would get Grosh and take snaps all the time," Rudolph said. "That's the type of kid that Grosh is, that's the type of kid that Tyler is. They've got the same mindset when it comes to competing, when it comes to making things important and wanting to be their best."
While Biadasz was not raised on a farm — his dad was — he has that type of work ethic.
"My background is central Wisconsin farmer-type," he said. "Whenever they needed help on the farm, I never said no. I remember milking cows with my grandpa and I helped stack hay. I remember my dad would wake up at 6 and get home around 10 at night. You appreciate what farmers do."
Rudolph appreciates the type of season that Biadasz has produced in 2019. Especially in light of the massive losses on the offensive line from last season: three All-Americans in Michael Deiter, Beau Benzschawel and David Edwards and a lead-by-example starter in the oft-injured Jon Dietzen.
"Tyler had to battle through a lot, it wasn't a year that just came easy," Rudolph said. "He had some procedures done (on his hips) in the offseason and he wasn't healthy when camp started. He was really working through things a lot of guys wouldn't attempt to work through in one year, and he did it.
"For him to be rewarded for it (with the Rimington Trophy) — to be that the unselfish guy that he is and to give his energy to the guys around him to be better — is something I'll always love about that. We've had a ton of great centers here. And all those guys would be proud to have him represent them."
Joe Rudolph
Considering his small-town background — his Amherst High School graduating class numbered 65 — it's understandable that Biadasz was a "little overwhelmed at first" by the whole atmosphere at the ESPN College Football Awards show during which he received the Rimington.
"But to share it with JT was pretty sweet — just in growing as a teammate and a brother with him over the years," Biadasz said of tailback Jonathan Taylor, who was named the Doak Walker Award winner for a second consecutive season. "It was a great experience and it was awesome to be there."
Especially since his mom Lori and dad David accompanied him to Atlanta.
Was any of this something that Biadasz envisioned in his wildest dreams?
"I wrote something down, I think it was in middle school, on where you see yourself in 10 years," he remembered. "I wrote down being a Wisconsin football player at Madison. I didn't say anything about the Rimington or being an All-American. I wasn't too familiar with the accolades.
"But once you get here, you dream bigger and you keep on dreaming. It doesn't stop. In reality, you set yourself up to keep chasing it. That's what I've been doing my whole life. I've kept chasing it."
Therein was the conundrum. Rudolph wasn't sure what to make of Tyler Biadasz, a small school defensive end for the Amherst Falcons, a Division 5 power in Wisconsin.
"When the camp started, I knew who he was and I watched him do all his testing and go through stuff," said Rudolph, UW's offensive coordinator and O-line coach. "I really liked his athleticism, but I wasn't sure what position he was because he had played defensive line in high school."
During the camp, the 270-pound Biadasz lined up against some highly-recruited centers.
"No one wanted to go against him by the end of the day," Rudolph said. "He was physical. He cared. His toughness never waned. When camp got tougher, he got better. He was plenty athletic enough and he had a demeanor that he would learn anything that you were willing to teach him."
As an Amherst sophomore, Biadasz was approached about playing center. What the heck, they encouraged him, give it a try. "But I really didn't like it," he admitted. "So, I didn't approach it very well, I'd say. In D-5, you play both sides. I played tackle because I never really liked to snap in high school."
Relying on his instincts, Rudolph never wavered on Biadasz.
"There were some good kids in camp and some tough decisions to make," said Rudolph, who was entrusted with identifying at least one scholarship center out of the handful that he was evaluating.
"I remember Paul (Chryst) came up and said, 'Who do you like?'
"And I said, 'I like that kid right there, I'll take him.'"
Chryst asked, "Did he play offense (in camp)?"
"Nope, not a play," said Rudolph, laughing.
Still, he was not dissuaded.
"I thought from Day One that he would be in the O-line and he would be a center," Rudolph said. "I knew that I kind of stuck my neck out to take him. But I was great with it. What I saw out of him was a guy who would do anything to do it right and give every bit of effort to be really good."
Biadasz appreciated Rudolph's convictions. "Rudy saw something in me and he went for it," Biadasz said. "I would say that he took a shot on me because I never really had played center before. It was pretty remarkable for him to find that in me at that point of time."
It's even more remarkable today since Biadasz has become the first center in school history to win the Rimington Trophy. Since 2000, the award has honored college football's top player at that position. Dave Rimington was a two-time Outland winner and consensus All-American at Nebraska.
Wisconsin Football
✔@BadgerFootball
https://twitter.com/BadgerFootball/status/1205267776941768710
Winner of the @rimingtontrophy ... the most outstanding center in college football... the Badger himself.. @TylerBiadasz#OnWisconsin
1,089
6:26 PM - Dec 12, 2019 · Atlanta, GA
Twitter Ads info and privacy
185 people are talking about this
"It's awesome to be recognized for what you put into it and how much you work at it, and everything like that," said Biadasz, who answers fittingly enough to the nickname of "Badger" and will be making his 41st consecutive start in the Rose Bowl against Oregon.
"It's kind of crazy to me that no one has won it (the Rimington) here before. It's pretty remarkable with how many centers are on the wall (in the O-line meeting room) … It's truly a blessing and kind of cool to be the first one ... it's something I'm going to carry with me the rest of my life."
Little known fact: Dave Rimington moved to Madison in 1991 and enrolled in graduate school. One of his former Nebraska teammates was Scott Raridon, who was the first strength coach for Barry Alvarez. In 1992, Rimington was one of two graduate assistants on Alvarez's staff. He worked with the O-line.
One of the players Rimington took a liking to was Cory Raymer, one of just two UW centers to earn consensus All-America status. The other is Biadasz. (The late Mike Webster, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, was first-team All-Big Ten in 1973, but he was not named to an All-America squad.)
Alvarez has always singled out Raymer as the best center that he's ever coached. Raymer, like Biadasz, was a defensive lineman in high school (Fond du Lac Goodrich). During the recruiting process, Alvarez confessed, "I lied to Cory and assured him that he would play on the D-line."
Rudolph, the starting left guard next to Raymer on the '94 Rose Bowl team, never lied to Biadasz. "I told him from the jump," he said of his intentions to play him at center. "Everyone (on the staff) was in agreement, so it wasn't a tug of war or anything like that."
There was an underlying truth.
"When he came in the door," Rudolph said, "he had not taken a snap before."
"I learned from scratch," Biadasz said.
It was during the spring of his senior year of high school that Biadasz took the first steps in making the conversion from the defensive line — where he was the 2015 Tim Krumrie Award winner — to center. Biadasz enlisted the help of Amherst teammate Garrett Groshek, then a preferred UW walk-on.
"Me and Garrett would get in the weight room and lift and then we would snap afterwards," said Biadasz. "We lived with each other that summer going in (to their freshman year) and we'd always talk about the calls, protections and hand signals because he was a quarterback at the time."
On Amherst's state championship team in '15, Groshek was a record-setting triple option quarterback and the Offensive Player of the Year in Wisconsin. He has since moved to tailback for the Badgers and gone on scholarship. Rudolph credited Groshek's selflessness in accelerating Biadasz's transition to center.
"They came in together and Tyler would get Grosh and take snaps all the time," Rudolph said. "That's the type of kid that Grosh is, that's the type of kid that Tyler is. They've got the same mindset when it comes to competing, when it comes to making things important and wanting to be their best."
While Biadasz was not raised on a farm — his dad was — he has that type of work ethic.
"My background is central Wisconsin farmer-type," he said. "Whenever they needed help on the farm, I never said no. I remember milking cows with my grandpa and I helped stack hay. I remember my dad would wake up at 6 and get home around 10 at night. You appreciate what farmers do."
Rudolph appreciates the type of season that Biadasz has produced in 2019. Especially in light of the massive losses on the offensive line from last season: three All-Americans in Michael Deiter, Beau Benzschawel and David Edwards and a lead-by-example starter in the oft-injured Jon Dietzen.
"Tyler had to battle through a lot, it wasn't a year that just came easy," Rudolph said. "He had some procedures done (on his hips) in the offseason and he wasn't healthy when camp started. He was really working through things a lot of guys wouldn't attempt to work through in one year, and he did it.
"For him to be rewarded for it (with the Rimington Trophy) — to be that the unselfish guy that he is and to give his energy to the guys around him to be better — is something I'll always love about that. We've had a ton of great centers here. And all those guys would be proud to have him represent them."
Considering his small-town background — his Amherst High School graduating class numbered 65 — it's understandable that Biadasz was a "little overwhelmed at first" by the whole atmosphere at the ESPN College Football Awards show during which he received the Rimington.
"But to share it with JT was pretty sweet — just in growing as a teammate and a brother with him over the years," Biadasz said of tailback Jonathan Taylor, who was named the Doak Walker Award winner for a second consecutive season. "It was a great experience and it was awesome to be there."
Especially since his mom Lori and dad David accompanied him to Atlanta.
Was any of this something that Biadasz envisioned in his wildest dreams?
"I wrote something down, I think it was in middle school, on where you see yourself in 10 years," he remembered. "I wrote down being a Wisconsin football player at Madison. I didn't say anything about the Rimington or being an All-American. I wasn't too familiar with the accolades.
"But once you get here, you dream bigger and you keep on dreaming. It doesn't stop. In reality, you set yourself up to keep chasing it. That's what I've been doing my whole life. I've kept chasing it."