Tag: Wisconsin

Notre Dame targeting former Rutgers coach as defensive coordinator

Would you like this hire?

Notre Dame has an opening at defensive coordinator. It might not have been what Irish fans wanted after the season their team just had, but that’s the nature of football. Coaches come and go for their next big payday.

Pete Sampson of The Athletic has learned from multiple sources that the Irish are eyeing a “strong candidate” for defensive coordinator in former Rutgers coach Chris Ash. His last coaching position was defensive backs coach for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022 and 2023. That came off one season as safeties coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Ash went 8-32 with the Scarlet Knights before being fired a month into the 2019 season without ever making a bowl game. Previously, he was the defensive coordinator at Ohio State, Arkansas, Wisconsin and Drake.

Ash isn’t the first candidate to emerge for this job, but those possibilities haven’t worked out. That doesn’t necessarily mean Ash will be the guy, but Irish fans better start thinking that he might be. Welcome to the world of offseason speculation.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on X: @gfclark89

Eric Musselman calls out USC fans over Galen Center atmosphere

Eric Musselman knows why USC men’s basketball lacks an electric home crowd.

It’s been an up-and-down season for USC men’s basketball thus far. After Saturday’s home loss to Wisconsin, the Trojans were clearly not in the NCAA Tournament field heading into Wednesday night’s matchup with Nebraska.

One thing that has remained relatively constant for USC men’s basketball is the less-than-imposing atmosphere at Galen Center. The Trojans have drawn more than 7,000 fans for just one home game so far, and that was a game against Michigan with a heavy contingent of Wolverine fans.

Following Saturday’s loss, head coach Eric Musselman was blunt about the attendance at USC’s home games thus far. “We had no home-court advantage,” Musselman said. “That’s just how it is. It’s been that way. And we gotta continue to work as a program to make it more of a home-court advantage.”

To his credit, Musselman did imply that the team needs to play better on the court in order for fans to come. However, his comments felt like a challenge toward USC fans, who have never been great about showing out to basketball games in large numbers.

Fortunately for Musselman, the Trojans’ next home game is against UCLA—the one matchup that traditionally draws a large crowd at Galen Center. For the team’s remaining five Big Ten home games, however, attendance will likely depend on how the Trojans perform on the court, for better or worse.

USC’s comeback attempt falls short in loss to Wisconsin

USC lost a game it badly needed for its NCAA Tournament hopes.

The winning streak for USC men’s basketball is officially over. After back-to-back victories, the Trojans fell at home 84-69 Saturday to No. 24 Wisconsin. The loss dropped USC to 11-7 overall and 3-4 in Big Ten play.

After trailing by 15 at halftime, the Trojans went on a 17-4 run early in the second half to cut the deficit to three points. However, the Badgers immediately responded with an 8-2 run of their own that put the game back out of reach.

After three Trojans finished with more than 21 points on Tuesday against Iowa, no USC player had more than 19 Saint Thomas’s Saturday. Meanwhile, the Trojans struggled to contain Wisconsin’s John Blackwell, who had a game-high 28 points while also securing five rebounds.

USC will get some time off this week, as the Trojans will play just one game in the next eight days: a visit to Nebraska on Wednesday night. After that, it’s back home to host UCLA in the first Big Ten Crosstown Showdown a week from Monday.

USC is still behind the bubble pack in the chase for an NCAA Tournament bid. USC needs a three-game winning streak to truly put itself in the hunt.

Angler arrested after drawing gun during ice-fishing argument

The 59-year-old man was arrested for endangering public safety during a confrontation on Wisconsin’s Racine Harbor.

An Illinois man was arrested Sunday in Wisconsin after allegedly drawing a gun during an argument over ice-fishing etiquette at Racine Harbor on Lake Michigan.

According to Fox6 in Milwaukee, the argument broke out when two men began to set up their shanty just yards from Justin Dilley and his girlfriend.

It was pre-dawn and the marina was deserted. Dilley told Fox6 that he approached the men in the hope of persuading them to set up farther away.

“It’s only us people by ourselves, nobody else is out here, I don’t know why you have to set up this close,” Dilley said. “I go, ‘I don’t understand you guys.’ ”

Dilley said one of the men got into his face while the other began waving a pistol “in my direction and all over the place.”

Dilley called 911 and officers with the Racine County Sheriff’s Office arrived and arrested Luis Herrera, 59, for disorderly conduct and endangering public safety with a weapon.

The gun was confiscated as evidence. Herrera is from Highland Park, Ill.

Said Dilley: “In my mind, I didn’t know what was going to happen. At first I thought I was going to get punched then I thought I was going to get shot.”

Former Saints All-Pro effectively signed his retirement papers

Ryan Ramczyk effectively signed his retirement papers this week. The Saints saved a lot of salary cap space, but his departure won’t be processed until June:

It’s a shame Ryan Ramczyk’s career ended this way. The New Orleans Saints’ former All-Pro right tackle effectively signed his retirement papers this week, having missed the entire 2024 season with a chronic knee injury. This was expected even if it’s unpleasant at best.

Per Over The Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald, Ramczyk agreed to waive his $18 million base salary for 2025 while reducing it to the league minimum, which saved the Saints a little more than $16.7 million against the salary cap. He’ll remain on the roster until June 2 with a cap hit of $12.3 million (instead of $29 million before this move), at which point they’ll formally release him and process his retirement.

That timing is all about cap purposes; we’ve seen the team use this same approach before for retiring players like Malcolm Jenkins and Drew Brees. When Ramczyk’s release and retirement are officially processed in June, the Saints will get that $1.2 million base salary back as a cap credit with about $11 million left behind in dead money for 2025 and $11.9 million in 2026. Then he’s off the books for good in 2027.

Still, it’s a disappointing end for Ramczyk’s career. He won recognition as an All-Pro three times, with two spots on the second team (2018 and 2020) and a place on the first team in 2019. He’s done really well for himself after going from welding school to playing for his old high school coach at Wisconsin-Stevens Point, which put him on the recruiting radar. He transferred to join the Wisconsin Badgers, started a full season for them at left tackle and then was drafted by the Saints in 2017’s first round. He switched to the right side without much prep time and went on to enjoy an impressive seven-year career.

If his knee had held up, Ramczyk would still be starting for the Saints today. But they tried everything to improve it without success, and the best thing for his health is to shed his playing weight and move on. We’ll wish him the best in retirement.

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USC’s player problem is bigger than just the transfer portal

When players transfer out of USC, it stings, but if the player never really plays well for USC, that’s not a portal problem. Other factors are at work.

Two years after his departure from USC football, C.J. Williams went back to the transfer portal once again. A four-star wide receiver in the class of 2022, Williams was one of Lincoln Riley’s first big recruiting wins upon his arrival in Los Angeles. After a freshman season in which he caught just four passes for 34 yards, however, Williams elected to enter the transfer portal.

Williams landed at Wisconsin, where he spent the past two seasons. In two years with the Badgers, he caught 31 passes for 396 yards and two touchdowns. With his team’s season now over, Williams recently announced that he will be entering the transfer portal for a second time.

This past September, Williams returned to the Coliseum with Wisconsin. He caught one pass for 15 yards against the Trojans in a 38-21 loss. Now, Williams is back in the transfer portal once again. With one year of eligibility remaining, he will look to find a landing spot that will allow him to finally showcase why he was such a highly-touted recruit coming out of high school three years ago.

The story of C.J. Williams brings up the important point that while a lot of highly-rated football players have transferred out of USC, what’s arguably worse is that most of those players never really played like elite players when the Trojans and Lincoln Riley had them.

Either these players aren’t being evaluated well when USC considers which players to add, or the players aren’t being coached well enough once they get into the program. In Williams’ case, his lack of production at Wisconsin suggests this was more of an evaluation problem than a development problem, but either way, USC can’t be making deficient decisions which lead to washouts.

Saints QB coach takes unique step to prepare for Monday’s frigid weather

It’s hard to prepare for Wisconsin weather in New Orleans, but QB coach Andrew Janocko took a unique approach inspired by “Cool Runnings”

The New Orleans Saints play in sunny Louisiana, and the Green Bay Packers play in frigid Wisconsin. The differences in climate make it difficult to simulate the weather the Saints are about to endure when they play the Packers on Monday night, so quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko has had to get creative.

Current forecasts have the weather at 25 degrees on Monday night at Lambeau Field, with a possibility for snow. Meanwhile, it is over 40 degrees in New Orleans. So what were the Saints to do?

A lot has been made of the improvements to the team cafeteria this summer (as part of construction on the facilities that moved training camp to California), but the Saints probably didn’t think they’d be practicing in the walk-in freezers. To attempt to prepare for the Wisconsin weather, Janocko had Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener run through plays in the cafeteria freezer, set at a frosty 10 degrees.

“Hopefully it’s not 10 degrees (at Lambeau Field), but we’ll be ready,” Rattler said this week.

Janocko got the innovative idea from Cool Runnings, the classic 1993 film about the Jamaican Olympics bobsled team. While he opted to put the quarterbacks in the freezer instead of an ice cream truck, Janocko said the reactions to the innovative move were positive: “(The) guys thought it was hilarious. The cafeteria workers think I’m out of my mind.”

For a team that rarely experiences this type of weather, this was a creative way to give the quarterbacks a chance to feel a semblance of the weather they’re about to walk into.

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Texas A&M volleyball falls in the final set vs. Wiconsin in the Sweet 16

The Aggies dropped a hard-fought game to Wisconsin ending their season in the regional semifinal

On Friday night, Texas A&M (21-7) battled down to the wire against Wisconsin (23-6) but fell just short, losing 3-2 in the Regional Semifinals.

It was a back-and-forth battle with Texas A&M looking for revenge and advancing to the Elite Eight. Before tonight, the Badgers swept A&M, not allowing them to win a single set during the regular season, but A&M came out ready to play, narrowly losing the first set 25-21 due to an error-free round Wisconsin.

In the middle set, they swapped wins, with the Badgers taking a 2-1 lead into the fourth set in a best-of-five series. A&M stayed focused and extended the game for a final set.

They could have started better, falling by four points in the middle of the set before clawing their way back to within a point. Unfortunately, down 13-14, the Badgers scored the final point, knocking the Aggies out of the NCAA Tournament.

Coach Jamie Morrison has been one of the more underrated hires of the last few years and took a 13-win team to a 21-win team with a Sweet Sixteen berth. He needs a few more pieces to make a deeper run next year, but this team deserves all the praise for exceeding expectations.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on X: @whosnextsports1.

Notre Dame to play annual game vs. Navy at Gillette Stadium in 2026

Make your travel plans now.

Whenever Notre Dame goes on the road to play Navy, a large venue always is in order. There’s a great deal that goes into the history of this rivalry, so a stadium worthy of it is a must.

Halloween 2026 will be the next time the Midshipmen act as the home team in this game, and a stadium new to both the rivalry and the Irish will enter the fold. During that season, the teams will meet at Gillette Stadium, the home of the New England Patriots and Revolution in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

The Irish never have played at Gillette Stadium, and this rivalry never has had a game in the New England region. The Midshipmen made their first appearance at the stadium last year for the Army-Navy Game.

This is the second 2026 Irish road game to be scheduled at an NFL stadium. They will open the season against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

The Irish and Badgers were to meet at the home of the Packers as part of the 2020 Shamrock Series, but COVID-19 squashed those plans. They ultimately met for that game in 2021 at Soldier Field in Chicago, the home of the Bears.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on X: @gfclark89

This 9-hole course in a Wisconsin tourist hotspot has no name and green fees are collected by Venmo — for now

It appeared the island would lose its only golf course this summer when it started showing signs of neglect.

Door County, Wisconsin, is an enchanting mix of old-school charm and stunning scenery. With 300 miles of shoreline, 11 lighthouses, five state parks and a bevy of dining choices, the tourist destination has drawn visitors from all over the Midwest for decades. Washington Island is an island in Lake Michigan, about seven miles from the tip of the Door Peninsula.

It appeared the island would lose its only golf course this summer when Deer Run Golf Course — a 9-hole course that opened in 1970 — started showing signs of neglect. Maintenance equipment sat idol and the fairways became overrun fields.

Just when it appeared like the course might be lost, local businessman Keith Mann stepped in with a group of volunteers. While Mann worked behind the scenes to get the financial piece on order, he worked with the previous owner to start grooming the property, allowing golfers to enjoy the course. Since the course didn’t have any paid staff, those who played the par-36 track were asked to pay greens fees via Venmo.

But this month, according to a story at the Door County Pulse, Mann finally gained full control of the golf course, clubhouse, a restaurant, a motel and a strip of land along the road that hadn’t previously been tied to the course.

Here’s more from the Pulse:

“It all belongs to me now, headaches and all,” Mann joked on Oct. 17.

The purchase of the land along Main Road should allow for better visibility and a possible entrance drive from what indeed serves as the main road for residents and visitors, Mann said.

Mann was optimistic about the future of the scenic little nine-hole course. He said he has a good mechanic for the course’s equipment, and he received an educational visit from Horseshoe Bay superintendent Brian Ferrie and experts from a regional course-maintenance and chemical company, Reinders. Ferrie provided Mann with some guidance on improving course conditions and Reinders’ experts are working up a plan too.

“They’re going to help me through this process,” said Mann, adding that he has a lot to learn about best practices for turf management and pest control.

He foresees several projects in addition to day-to-day maintenance, such as tree-trimming and possibly replacing a liner that helps keep water in the pond bordering the first and ninth holes. The pond is important for the course because Mann uses it to retain water used for irrigation.

Due to unseasonably warm weather, Mann has kept the course open deep into October and also plans to re-open the restaurant soon, according to the Pulse. Also, he has taken the name off the course and is taking submissions for new names.

It’s all been part of the process of taking over the property.

“New names and logos are coming in every day,” he told the Pulse. “We already have got some good ideas. The goal is to be more island-relevant.”

Mann requested submissions by Nov. 15 to kwmann7355@yahoo.com. He and some family members will choose the winners by Nov. 30, and a $100 gift card will go to the person who comes up with the chosen name. Another will go to the logo creator.