MADISON -- Greg Scruggs had some of the best hands-on experience when it comes to learning how to prepare and manage a position group week in and week out.

Wisconsin's first-year defensive line coach spent last season with the New York Jets as an assistant defensive line coach after being part of the Cincinnati Bearcats staff the previous four seasons.

During his time with the Jets, Scruggs helped coach a defense that nearly led a turnaround from a team that tallied just four wins to a near playoff berth for the first time since 2010.

Led by nose tackle Quinnen Williams, who recorded 11 sacks, the unit made a leap from the worst scoring defense in 2021 to fourth, allowing just 18.6 points per game. The same jump was made when it came to total defense, as the Jets went from worst (397.6) to fourth in the league (311.1).

Meeting with local reporters for the first time on Monday, Scruggs credited the coaches he worked with for the level of detail they brought every day.

"I think the attention to detail matters," Scruggs said of what he learned while working in the NFL. "Every detail matters and there is no time off. There is no slacker game, if you will. Coach (Aaron) Whitecotton does a really good job of managing a room. One thing I was curious about is how do you manage a room of guys who are making 15 million? He’s got 55 million on his contract, that’s fourth overall right there, that’s third overall right there, or whatever the case may be. But he did a really good job of showing me some ways to manage a room that could potentially have egos, but fortunately we had a group full of good guys.

"I think Jeff Ulbrich does a really good job of how he prepares, day in and day out, and relying on his assistants to coach. Being able to delegate the work that is necessary to put us in the best position, and the proof is in the pudding. We went from bottom 31, 32 in the league in the defense to top five in almost every statistical category across the board. So I think the attention to detail to prepare and the way you manage a room of young men, and then all the different questions you ask to get solutions to problems."

The 32-year old defensive line coach didn't have much time to settle down in Madison. New York put the finishing touches on its regular season on Jan. 8 in Miami. The following day, Scruggs was in Madison, and three days later, he was in Chicago on the road recruiting. After all, the Badgers had an important recruiting battle left on their checklist when it came to reeling Jamel Howard back into the 2023 recruiting class.

Naturally, it was a tough decision to move on for Scruggs to move from coaching in the pros, but his relationship with Luke Fickell was a major draw.

"Luke… simple as that," Scruggs said of his decision to join the staff. "Great opportunity of working on Sundays. That was pretty cool, but obviously when you have a relationship and the way that he (Fickell) does things, the way that he pushes people, the way that he challenges you as a coach, the way that he cares for the kids and always keeps our student athletes first, I think that’s what’s most important. But if you want the straight forward answer, Luke. That was probably it.

"It was a very difficult decision leaving the National Football League and being able to coach those guys, so you had to sit on it a little bit. And for me, I can only work one thing at a time. We were trying to go the playoffs, man, we were trying to go continue to win games, so I was more focused on making sure that those guys were prepared and making sure I was giving everything I had to that organization to put us in the best position to win. So it was a really late decision and that’s why I was such a late hire, but I am thankful that I did make it because ultimately I think in the long run it’ll be pretty good."

It didn't take long for the Ohio native to make his mark. Scruggs made a splash a little over three weeks into his tenure when Howard Jr. signed with UW on Feb. 1. It was a lengthy recruiting battle against Miami, LSU and Michigan, each of which officially hosted the talented defensive lineman.

With winter workouts fully underway and spring ball roughly five weeks out, Scruggs' attention has turned to getting to know the guys in his room. The group returns Rodas Johnson, Gio Paez, James Thompson Jr. and Isaiah Mullens, all of whom have game experience. The challenge, however, will be replacing Keeanu Benton, who totaled 4.5 sacks and was a consistent force up the middle in 2022.

"My initial impressions of them are they play extremely hard," Scruggs said. "I was out on the road recruiting and had a coach, I won’t say what school, but he said they were one of the toughest defensive lines that they played, and they were scared to play those guys.

"But I will say this, I don’t think there are many people who play harder and I don’t think there are many people who will be yearning more to continue to grow and get better than the group in my room. I can say that confidently and that makes it easier for me as a coach to show up every day and work with them. These are guys that have made plays, but I think we have lot more that we can make just from the little bit that I’ve seen, but I got to study a little bit more."

Scruggs plans to bring the same level of preparation that he learned while working in the pros to Wisconsin this spring.

"I hope to bring that same attention to detail here," Scruggs said. "Coach Fick does the same thing of asking those same type of questions, but in my room and how I prepare my guys, I’d like to think we’re going to be the most prepared in the country. I’m not just saying that as clickbait or however you want to call it, press talk, I truly mean that because I had a chance to be trained by the best and study under the best for a good period of time every day."

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