MADISON, Wis. -- Senior C.J. Goetz, who decided to return for a sixth year this winter, was likely happy to learn that he would not have to adjust to an entirely new role this late in his career. In fact, the veteran outside linebacker, who was the right fit for Jim Leonhard’s defense, will continue work as a boundary outside linebacker in Matt Mitchell's room.

“I’d say to get to specifics, our boundary outside linebacker, I don’t see much difference in the profile of the type of athlete and person that has been recruited here in the past,” Mitchell explained. “So a guy like C.J. Goetz really does fit what they’ve done and what we will continue to do."

That goes for the rest for the rest of the room as well, with the first-year position coach going on to say that there won’t be a major difference under his watch. A challenging - or exciting - part of what Mitchell will carry on is a necessity to be versatile on the edge.

“I don’t know if there is going to be a huge change because we are going to be running some of the packages that were run here before," Mitchell said. "Definitely from my perspective, I have a lot of respect for Coach Leonhard and Coach (Bobby) April and there is a track record of success. So to completely go divergent from that, I don’t think is very wise, and we’ve talked about that as coaches. But at the same time we have to be us."

Mitchell inherits a position group with a mixed bag of experience and talent. The room includes just one freshman - early enrollee Jordan Mayer - and lost just one player during the offseason in junior Nick Herbig, who exited early for the NFL Draft.

Hoping to fill the void left by the junior, who tallied 11 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss this past season, is a room highlighted by Darryl Peterson and Goetz. The outside linebackers also have a number of intriguing yet unproven athletes behind them.

Peterson, who recorded 27 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks and a pair of quarterback hits, appears to have stepped up into a leadership role. The redshirt sophomore is entering his third year in the program and is becoming a key part of the defense.

"I've been really impressed with Darryl Peterson's approach," Mitchell said. "He's approaching things like a pro as far as his attention to detail and has been working really hard trying to lead. I think we're looking for leadership overall on the defense and specifically in the outside linebacker room."

Part of the challenge for Mitchell will be to create depth at the position. Outside of the top two returning players, the only other outside linebackers to record snaps this past season were Kaden Johnson (177) and T.J. Bollers (28).

During a period in which Mitchell wasn't on the road recruiting, he "locked himself in his office" to get to know his room and what he has to work with. That, along with meeting with his nine players one-on-one, was how he got around to learning about the group.

"C.J. Goetz has a great feel for the game of football, plays with his hands extremely well and is a very intelligent football player," Mitchell went on. "T.J. Bollers is playing that boundary outside linebacker position and is a very physical player that's gotten off to a great start. Jeff Pietrowski is playing the boundary, too, and I get the sense Jeff is an extremely accountable person that also has a good feel for the game of football. He's learning a little about dropping and being in space because he played a little more of a defensive end role.

"Kaden Johnson played some last year so he is working hard - he's a really good athlete, does a good job of flipping his hips in space, moving around and he's learning our defensive scheme."

While discussing the opportunity to join the staff in Madison, Mitchell is going from overseeing 120 kids as the head coach at Grand Valley State to focusing on his crew of nine position players. It won't be a complete shift for the first-year special teams coordinator at Wisconsin.

Leading the charge on special teams, Mitchell will work players across each room. Some of the athletes who will be asked to cover a kickoff or punt might be starters on offense or defense.

"It's definitely an area of impact and our philosophy is to have starters contribute on special teams, so you're not going to have starters that don't contribute to that," Mitchell said. "Special teams will not solely be populated by reserves.

"We've done some drill work on special teams and there is no depth chart. We're really pushing guys, even guys who have played here, to be towards the front of the line."

At Grand Valley State, the veteran coach took on the responsibility of leading the special teams and defense as head coach and coordinator. When Mitchell brought on a defensive coordinator, he led all six units - field goals, punting, both coverage and return groups as well.

It won't be a "one man show," as he described it, with Luke Fickell also playing a major role. Analyst Spencer Rymiszewski and tight ends coach Nate Letton will continue to have hand in special teams as well. Rymiszewski comes over after spending time with the New York Giants. He is familiar with the coaching staff after working as a graduate assistant at Cincinnati with many of the current coaches.

"The two coverage units, those are really extensions of your defense, and your two return units are really extensions of your offense," Mitchell said. "So when you have that as a program, philosophically, then it really ties in that it's not an independent unit that operates on its own. It really is tied into the success of our offense and defense and consequently our team."

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