@benzkenney gives his thoughts on how the Wisconsin program can move forward after Saturday’s loss:
It didn’t take long after Wisconsin’s 23-13 upset loss to Minnesota for those on Twitter to immediately call for the Badgers to make program-wide changes. It was shades of what we saw online after the team’s 1-3 start: “Paul Chryst’s offense can’t win anything,” “why are people content with 9-win seasons,” “Chryst needs to fire all of his assistants” and so on.
Well, I tweeted a few memes last night related to this instant outrage and call for action, which was immediately met with only more outrage. Twitter does that sometimes.
So I’m here now to dive into Aaron Rodgers’ long history of press conference moments (no, I’m not going purposely mislead everyone) and say one word: Relax.
Wisconsin lost a football game yesterday. Yes, it was an extremely tough loss to its biggest rival with a spot in Indianapolis on the line. Paul Chryst was outcoached in the football game and made several questionable decisions when the offense was on the field, the Badgers have now missed the Big Ten Championship Game for two straight years (first time that’s happened) and a season with so much promise saw what has become a classic Wisconsin ending.
But take a step back for a second. Would making a rash decision based on the latest on-field outcome really fix what’s broken?
To me, there are a few things this 2021 team got wrong (especially yesterday): abandoning the run game when it seems to not be working, thinking Graham Mertz can win games alone with his arm and still operating in the 1990s when it comes to strategic decisions.
Getting rid of Chryst (or Joe Rudolph, or Chris Haering, or whoever) would not fix what’s broken. It would just bring in new faces to face the same backlash when time-old Wisconsin traditions don’t work.
Related: Big Ten Power Rankings after Week 13: Michigan vs. Iowa
This is not a football program that can just change its entire philosophy and start hiring the Chip Kelly’s of the world (don’t get me started on Chip Kelly). It’s Wisconsin, where in-state recruiting sees great offensive linemen and linebackers. The program needs to get better at maximizing that talent and putting players in a better position to succeed.
So what is the thing that can get Wisconsin back to Indianapolis and hopefully win them a Big Ten title? Bring in someone to coordinate the offense. It doesn’t need to be that significant of a hire, just someone who has relevant college success and has proven an ability to operate an offense in today’s game.
That includes not punting from the +35 (ever), thinking big-picture about when and where to go for it, utilizing the talent the team has in the wide receiver room and much more. They don’t even need to change the offensive attack Wisconsin utilizes, I just think there needs to be someone where it’s their only job.
Let Chryst continue working with the quarterbacks, let Rudolph focus on the offensive line and bring in someone who can only focus on maximizing the talents of the wide receiver room, Braelon Allen and Mertz.
Nobody needs to be fired, Jim Leonhard doesn’t need to suddenly become head coach and this program isn’t going in the tank. Decisions like that are how you quickly become Nebraska and lose every bit of relevance your program once had (See: Bo Pelini).
My fix is one that wouldn’t shake up much. But the benefits would be seen with a consistent offensive output (doesn’t need Allen to go for 150+ to win football games) that brings balance and can beat any defense on a good day.
There is my take. Now you can continue to yell at me.
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