BadgerBlitz.com dives into its message board to take questions from subscribers in this week's mailbag.
Any idea where Ross Kolodziej might be assigned to recruit? Some might say give him Wisconsin and hire a special teams coach with out-of-state ties to replace our current one.
To address the second part of this question, Chris Haering, who handles the bulk of the in-state recruiting for Wisconsin, is not going to be fired in order to make room for Ross Kolodziej to step into that role. That said, looking at Kolodziej's background - a Stevens Point native who played for the Badgers - having him recruit inside the state, in some capacity, does make sense. Maybe that could allow Haering to work a bit more in Pennsylvania?
Kolodziej is replacing Inoke Breckterfield, who worked in Illinois and parts of the West Coast - mainly Hawaii - for UW on the recruiting front. It makes the most sense for Kolodziej to get going in Illinois right away while also focusing immediately on in-state standouts Isaac Hamm and Billy Schrauth.
“In terms of areas, until we get the all clear, I'm not exactly sure," Kolodziej told reporters. "I imagine I'll have a place somewhere here in the Midwest. I don't know if that stays with Chicago, St. Louis. There's a number of things as well as obviously finding national D-line prospects, but we got a couple of good ones in-state here, so definitely try and focus on those guys first.”
As with any assistant coach under Paul Chryst, they are not tied down to a specific recruiting area. Kolodziej will be involved with every defensive line prospect UW recruits and could also do some spot work in other states if the staff identifies the correct fit.
