MADISON - Wisconsin head coach Gary Andersen didn't pull any punches Monday during his press conference, saying that it was a mistake to hire Jay Boulware as his tight ends coach in January. Boulware left for the same position at Oklahoma last Friday, and Andersen said it was his fault for hiring Boulware.
"At the end of the day I hired him," Andersen said. "It's disappointing, it's upsetting, and I brought the wrong guy in here.
"I don't like the timing of it, I don't like the situation that we're in at all, but we'll get a coach in here that's excited about Wisconsin football and wants to be here in the worst way."
Andersen said he found out about Boulware's move just a few hours before the Oklahoma athletic department announced it. Andersen said he didn't try to convince Boulware to stay at Wisconsin because it goes against his own philosophy.
"I will never beg a coach to stay, and I feel the same way in recruiting," Andersen said. "I'm never going to beg a kid to come to Wisconsin. If you don't want to be here, and you have something you think is better then so be it.
"If I've got a coach or a player that doesn't buy in to that then so be it and we'll move on, because there's a lot of people who would love to be a part of it."
Boulware's departure also stings the Badgers because they're set to start spring practices on Saturday. Boulware was also supposed to coordinate Wisconsin's special teams, and Andersen said whomever he hired to coach the team's tight ends would also be responsible for special teams. Secondary coach Bill Busch worked with special teams for Andersen at Utah State, but Andersen doesn't want to overload one of his defensive coaches.
"The spacing of the staff is very important," Andersen said. "The 5 [offense] and the 4 [defense] is an important component to where the special teams falls. Bill could take the special teams and run with them in one second, I wouldn't have a problem with that and he'd do a great job.
"But with 4 guys on the defensive side of the football and we're learning a new scheme, so the new coach that comes in will handle the special teams [and] tight ends."
Andersen said he hopes to have a new tight ends coach by the end of the week so the team isn't short a coach for spring camp.
"We'll be better of as we move forward, and hopefully it happens very quickly within the next couple days," Andersen said.
"I expect the timing of that to take place as soon as I can get it through human relations. I know everybody is working very hard to make that happen."
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