Freshman Hunter Wohler working on special teams, making strides on defense

Hunter Wohler continues to digest the nuances of Wisconsin's defense under the tutelage of coordinator/position coach Jim Leonhard and the veteran safeties ahead of him. However, the first-year Badger has cut his teeth this season in the third phase of the game, and last weekend, showcased a sample of his potential.

Wohler utilized his football intuition to stomp out a potential trick play on an impending Iowa kickoff return in the fourth quarter during UW's 27-7 win on Oct. 30.

Lining up on the left side of the kickoff coverage unit, Wohler sprinted down the field while Iowa's Cooper DeJean took the Jack Van Dyke boot on the right side of the field at the Iowa three-yard line. However, the true freshman safety saw something from Iowa's primary return specialist, wide receiver Charlie Jones, on the left side.

"Their main returner, he's a good returner, on the cross-field kick, they usually will come over and block. That time he kind of just stayed back on his own side," Wohler said on Thursday. "You can tell he kind of stayed behind the returner. It was obvious that something was up, that something was wrong so it was very unusual. So I kind of just figured I'd stay with him just to make sure nothing crazy happened."

The heads up play by Wohler, essentially stymying a double-pass, allowed Wisconsin to contain DeJean and Iowa to a 20-yard gain.

"It was a fantastic play by him," safety Collin Wilder said of Wohler on Monday.

Wohler came to Wisconsin as a former four-star prospect and the No. 175 player in the country. His high school accolades impress -- claiming Gatorade's state football player of the year and being honored as a two-time WFCA large school defensive player of the year and two-time Associated Press (AP) state player of the year.

The defensive back recorded 355 tackles and nine interceptions during his prep career, according to his UWBadgers.com profile and WisSports.net. He signed with UW in December 2021 as part of the program's highest-rated recruiting class in the Rivals.com ranking era.

Wohler currently plays on three special teams units that include kickoff return, punt return and kickoff coverage. Those have allowed him to adapt to college football, which is a faster and more physical environment compared to his standout prep years at Muskego High School.

“It's definitely helped a lot," Wohler said. "It's a different speed, a different size than high school, obviously. So it's helped just kind of getting introduced to all of it, allowing me to just kind of step in that role and not be [in] such a huge role playing defense right away.

"But it's definitely given me a chance to kind of adjust to the difference in play speed and everything."

Leonhard, like Wohler, started his Wisconsin career playing on special teams before evolving into an All-American safety and UW's co-leader in all-time interceptions. As the former defensive back-turned-coordinator described, special teams has "a lot of one-on-ones," but it also allows players to learn not just the speed at this level but also understand "the little details in most situations are the difference."

"Whether it's the drop you take on kickoff return, or the vision that you have on kickoff, kind of seeing things unfold as you're running full speed," Leonhard said on Monday. "Once guys learn that, they just usually continue to trust their ability, trust their eyes and go play fast."

Before Leonhard discussed the benefits of special teams reps, however, he complimented Wohler, stating that he was "very impressed with what Hunter's done." The freshman has taken "a huge jump," according to the coordinator, in the past three to four weeks on the defensive side of the ball despite the lack of game-time reps.

Pro Football Focus reports Wohler played 14 snaps at Illinois and seven against Iowa, and he finished with three total tackles and one pass breakup against the Hawkeyes. Leonhard believes the safety's consistency and confidence is progressing more.

"We put a lot of adjustments on these guys, and I think it takes him a little while early in the season to just feel comfortable and understand how much really carries over, even though we're tweaking things here and there," Leonhard said. "Seeing him play with a lot of confidence right now, and it's fun to get lots of young guys at the end of that game [against Iowa], and for them to seal that drive off without points was big for them. Obviously, he had a bunch of production around the ball a lot."

Wohler heads into Saturday's matchup with Rutgers (2:30 p.m. CT, BTN) with six total tackles on the season. He credits and thanks Leonhard and older safeties and players in receiving consistent help, tips and ways to improve his game.

Wilder, one of those elder statesman in that safety room, heaped praise among his younger teammate with his approach.

"I think Hunter has been so loved in this locker room because of his humility," Wilder said. "He's come in here, and he's wanted to learn. You can tell, he's still obviously learning. He's still trying to figure out schemes and understanding the broad perspective of things, but he's doing a great job on special teams. And you can tell when he knows what's going on and when he knows what he's doing, he's the fastest player on the field.

“So that gets me really excited for his future here. I can't wait to see all that unfold, but everything that he's been doing has been the right away. And that's why I think everybody in that locker room respects him. He's only gonna keep growing, and I'm really excited for his future.”

Wohler believes the game continues to slow down on the defensive side of the ball, and he feels he is becoming more comfortable with the playbook, beginning to know what's asked of him in his assignments and does not have to think as much on each snap.

“Now it's just being able to kind of trust my ability and play a little bit more," Wohler said. "Like I said earlier, there's a lot of guys that have been helping me out. So just my overall knowledge of the playbook has definitely helped me to be able to just kind of relax, let my mind just kind of stay out of it a little bit more and just let me play loose.”

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