MADISON, Wis. – The comments from recruiting targets who have interacted with the staff at the University of Wisconsin on a visit, over the phone or in person can always be counted on to say one thing about the staff and culture head coach Paul Chryst has created. The Badgers feel like a family atmosphere who cares about their players and their program.

Considering the background of most of the staff, it’s not a surprise.

Since returning to his alma mater, Chryst (a letterman for the Badgers from 1986-88) has built a staff full of coaches who are well versed in the Wisconsin experience. Wisconsin is the only FBS program to have alumni as head coach, offensive coordinator (Joe Rudolph, '92-'94) and defensive coordinator (Jim Leonhard, '01-'04).

It doesn’t end there. Chyrst also has quarterback coach Jon Budmayr ('10) and tight end coach Mickey Turner ('06-'09), as well as Micah Kapoi ('15-'17, graduate assistant), Taylor Mehlhaff ('04-'07, analyst), Ross Kolodziej ('97-'00, head strength coach), Kyle Costigan ('12-'14, assistant strength coach) and Warren Herring ('12-'14, recruiting assistant). Bottom line, Chryst has surrounded himself with former Badgers.

But considering Chryst can’t hire all the former Badgers who want to coach, other college programs are taking advantage. Here’s a look at the former Wisconsin student-athletes who are making their way up the college coaching ladder.

Editor’s Note: This list is unofficial and updated to the best of our knowledge.

Caputo was an All-American safety for the Badgers from 2011-15, playing the final three years under then-defensive coordinator Dave Aranda. When Aranda got hired for his first head coaching job at Baylor in January, Caputo gave up a full-time assistant job to join Aranda’s staff in the Power-Five Conference for a second time. Ironically, that assistant job was under his former head coach.

Caputo spent one season at the safeties coach at Utah State under his former collegiate head coach Gary Andersen. Caputo previously spent two seasons (2017-18) as a defensive graduate assistant at LSU working with Aranda. During his two years in Baton Rouge, Caputo helped the Tigers to a combined 18-7 record, including an 11-5 mark in the Southeastern Conference, and back-to-back New Year’s Bowl games.

Baylor has dealt with COVID cancelations and postponements and sits at 1-3 entering this weekend.

If Chryst created a Wisconsin coaching haven in Madison, Johnson has done the same in Ada, Oklahoma. Hired as the 19th head coach for the Tigers in 2018, and just the fourth in the NCAA era, since 1997, Johnson has gone 3-8 in each of his first two seasons with the Tigers

Playing at Wisconsin from 1998 to 2002 and playing in the NFL to 2009, Johnson worked his way up the coaching ranks from high school to offensive coordinator at St. Norbert’s College to joining Rudolph in coaching the offensive line at Wisconsin in 2016 and 2017.

Fenelus left Wisconsin, where he was a graduate assistant working with the defensive backs for three seasons, to head Johnson’s defense and coach the school’s defensive backs. A four-year letterwinner at Wisconsin, Fenelus recorded 155 tackles, 22 passes defended, nine interceptions and three forced fumbles in 52 games (32 starts). As a senior in 2011, he earned UW’s Jimmy Demetral Team MVP award for defense and was a first-team All-Big Ten selection.

Maxwell played in Madison from 2014-16, Gaulden played for the Badgers from 2011-14 and Garner played at Wisconsin in 2010-11. Former Verona (Wis.) High assistant coach Jacob Shaw is also on Johnson’s staff and coaches the middle linebackers.

The Great American Conference has not played this season with the cancellation of the NCAA Division 2 Fall championships.

After three years working as an analyst for Wisconsin’s offense, Claxton was hired by Kansas head coach Les Miles for the season in February. A four-year letterwinner who played in 44 games for the Badgers, Claxton was part of UW's back-to-back Big Ten championship teams in 2010 and 2011.

The Jayhawks are 0-6 on the season.

Lewis became Kent State University's 22nd head football coach in December 2017, making the 31-year-old the youngest coach in the FBS at the time. The promotion marks a quick rise up the coaching ladder for Lewis, who played quarterback and tight end at Wisconsin from 2004-07. A high school offensive coordinator for three years, Lewis made stops at Nebraska-Omaha (TE) and Akron (graduate assistant) before hooking up with Dino Babers. He spent two seasons with Babers at Eastern Illinois (WR/TE) before moving with him to Bowling Green, getting a promotion to co-offensive coordinator and quarterback coach.

After a 2-10 first season, Lewis orchestrated one of the best turnarounds in college football. Kent State’s five-win improvement to 7-6 was tied for eighth-best in the FBS in 2019, capping the season with the first bowl win in school history.

The Mid-American Conference began its shorten season this week, with Kent State beating Eastern Michigan, 27-23.

One of the more established coached with Badgers ties, Tucker began his coaching career shortly after playing defensive back at Wisconsin from 1990-92 and ’94. Beginning his career as a graduate assistant under Nick Saban at Michigan State, Tucker coached defensive backs at Miami (OH), LSU and Ohio State, the latter giving him a national title ring in 2001. He eventually was promoted to co-defensive coordinator under Jim Tressel at Ohio State for one season before moving to the NFL ranks for 10 seasons, coaching at Cleveland, Jacksonville (2-3 as an interim head coach) and Chicago.

Following a coaching change with the Bears, Tucker returned to the college ranks and to Saban, serving as Alabama’s assistant head coach and defensive backs coach during the Tide’s 2015 championship season. He moved to Georgia to be the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator for two seasons before getting his first collegiate head coaching job at Colorado.

Tucker went 5-7 last season in Boulder before the Michigan State job became open following the sudden resignation of Mark Dantonio. Tucker accepted the job offer, which more than doubled his salary at Colorado ($5.5 million annually for six years) and made him the 12th-highest paid head coach in the FBS.

After opening the season with a clunker against Rutgers, Tucker helped lead the Spartans to an upset win at Michigan last weekend.

Participating in five bowl games during his tenure at Wisconsin from 2009-13, Wozniak quickly jumped into coaching after a brief stint in the NFL. An offensive graduate assistant for two seasons and an offensive quality control analyst, Wozniak was hired by former UW coach Gary Andersen to coach the tight ends in 2018. The Pac-12 will begin its season this weekend.

For the first time in his coaching career, Oglesby will coach his own offensive line when the Spartans hired him in March.

Rated No. 1 offensive tackle and No. 10 overall player (including No. 1 in Wisconsin) in the nation by Rivals.com, Oglesby grinded through injuries to play 42 games for the Badgers and be a consensus first-team All-Big Ten selection his 2011 senior season. Oglesby entered the coaching profession as a graduate assistant at Wisconsin for the 2013 and 2014 seasons, heading to Oregon State (2015-17) as an offensive line quality control staff assistant and becoming a quality control staff assistant at Texas-El Paso.

His last two spots were in the professional ranks, coaching tight ends for the San Antonio Commanders of the Alliance of American Football and being an assistant offensive line coach with the XFL’s Seattle Dragons.

Starting his final three years with Wisconsin (2008-10), Valai earned second-team All-Big Ten honors in 2008 and 2009. He totaled 153 tackles, four forced fumbles and a pair of interceptions in 48 career games. He appeared in four bowl games with the Badgers, including winning the 2010 Big Ten Championship and advancing to the Rose Bowl that same season.

Following his playing career, Valai worked from 2011-16 with professional athletes from the NBA and NFL at his own sports-performance training facility in Texas. Valai transitioned to coaching from there, serving as a defensive quality control coach at Georgia (2016-17) and in the same position, as well as assistant defensive backs coach, with the Kansas City Chiefs.

When former Wisconsin defensive coordinator Chris Ash got his first head coaching job at Rutgers, he hired his former player to coach the Scarlet Knights cornerbacks in 2019. When Ash got fired and landed as the defensive coordinator at Texas, he helped hire Valai to his staff last January.

Texas is currently 4-2 and ranked No.22 in this week’s AP poll.

Orlando was a three-year (1991-93) letterwinner at inside linebacker at Wisconsin and a member of the 1993 Big Ten Championship team that defeated UCLA in the Badgers’ first Rose Bowl appearance since 1963. Since graduating from Wisconsin in 1994, Orlando has been a head coach at the high school level, a college inside linebackers coach at Penn and coordinated defenses at Connecticut, Florida International, Utah State, Houston and, most recently, Texas for the last 15 seasons.

This year will be his first at USC, which hired him in January.

A passionate player with an infectious personality, Henry quickly latched on to the coaches who coached him. The former defensive back earned 32 starts for Wisconsin from 2007-11, finishing with seven interceptions and a first-team all-conference selection his senior year.

The early part of Henry’s coaching career follows a theme. He began coaching under his former head coach, signing on as a defensive graduate assistant with Bret Bielema and Arkansas (2014-15). His first full-time coaching position came in 2016 at Rutgers, where he served as defensive backs coach for Ash. That season, the Scarlet Knights ranked 18th nationally in pass defense (186.5 yards/game). From there, Henry worked at North Carolina State for head coach Dave Doeren, who coached Henry at Wisconsin. Henry served as a secondary coach at NC State since the 2017 season. After starting with the Wolfpack as a safeties coach, he worked with NC State nickel backs during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. The Wolfpack secondary registered 28 interceptions during Henry’s tenure, including 14 picks in 2017, the most by a NC State defensive unit since 2011.

The Commodores are 0-4 to begin the 2020 season.

Others to Note

Arkansas - Jamil Walker (Director of Strength and Conditioning)

Detroit Lions - Darrell Bevell (Offensive Coordinator)

Dallas Cowboys - Scott Tolzien (Coaching Assistant)

Michigan - Ben Herbert (Director of Strength and Conditioning)