Big Ten Media Days: Badgers preparing to defend the West

CHICAGO - Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst met with media members throughout the afternoon on Monday in Chicago, as the Badgers ventured down to the Windy City for the Big Ten Media Days.

BadgerBlitz.com was there to take in all of the action, and our notes from the afternoon sessions are included below.

The Badgers experimented with their offensive line a bit during spring camp earlier this year, thanks in large part to redshirt freshman center Tyler Biadasz taking a step forward and getting a lot of work with the first team. That allowed the Badgers to bump junior center Michael Deiter out to left tackle, where UW will need to replace an All-American this fall in Ryan Ramczyk, who left school a year early and was drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints.

David Edwards had been pegged as the next-in-line at left tackle before spring camp even began, but by the end of spring camp he was nursing an injury that forced the Badgers to give Deiter a look on the outside. And seems that moving Deiter to tackle was more than an emergency move, as Chryst said in Chicago that the Badgers might give Deiter another shot out on the blind side this fall in the name of finding out what their best combination of five linemen would be. No matter where Deiter ends up, though, Chryst said that the versatility he showed this spring is a rare trait among offensive linemen.

"I think that’s unique," Chryst said Monday. "I think whenever you put the center component in – there’s a lot of guys who can play right side or left side, guard or tackle. Not all play center. So I think that’s what makes it more unique."

The Badgers have a starting quarterback lined up in sophomore Alex Hornibrook, but they'll be looking to develop a backup quarterback this fall - especially now that Bart Houston has graduated, leaving Hornibrook as the only quarterback on the roster with in-game experience.

Chryst said all three of his other quarterbacks will be in the mix to back up Hornibrook, and the competition should be pretty heated after redshirt freshman Kare' Lyles and early enrollee Jack Coan went back and forth for the job during the spring. Danny Vanden Boom could also be in the mix, too, and Chryst said that in the end it will come down to which quarterback gives the Badgers the best chance to win a game should they need a fill-in for Hornibrook.

"I think you’ve just got to take it for what it is," Chryst said. "Jack came early, and he or Kare’ has got to become the backup. And now we’ve added Danny Vanden Boom. One of those three is going to be the backup. I don’t think you worry about the redshirt or not – it’s who’s going to be best for this team to be the backup? I don’t know."

College football programs will be able to hire a 10th assistant coach after the 2017 season, which means that teams are already starting to plan out how they will use the extra coach when they're able to bring them on board. And while Chryst said that he's excited about the opportunity to have another UW coach out on the road on the recruiting trail, he also said having a 10th coach will be a boon for his players and for the coaching profession as a whole.

"I’m excited to add the extra coach – just for your coach-to-player ratio," Chryst said. "We can bring it down a little bit. You can’t spend enough time with our players. And certainly there’s a component of having ten instead of nine assistants out on the road (recruiting). I know there’s that. But really I think it’s good for the profession, but mostly I think it’s good for the players. It’s one more coach that I think can help them navigate and maximize the experience that is college football."

It was probably a nice break for the Badgers this year to not have to answer a ton of different questions about how difficult this year's schedule would be - but senior linebacker Jack Cichy said during his podium session that he would almost prefer last year's offseason questions to this year's, since it's easier to play with a chip on your shoulder when the world sees you as the underdog. Now that the Badgers will enter the season ranked and will probably be favored to win most of their games, Cichy said he and his teammates will have to find new ways to stay sharp this season.

"It’s easier to have a chip on your shoulder … when you’re the underdog," Cichy said. "But if you’re not the underdog, then you’ve got to work hard to put the chip back on your shoulder and just let everyone that you’re not going to go quietly or roll over."