The best memory Bisi Johnson has of his time with Alvis Whitted at Colorado State was not just one specific event. Rather, it was a year-to-year get together at his position coach's house where he would grill up a variety of hamburgers and hot dogs -- and his wife, Tracy, always cooked up a particular dish.

"She had the best meatballs in the crock pot," Johnson told BadgerBlitz.com on Nov. 30. "We would just sit there, and we would chop it up, have a good time, really get to know each other and just prepare for the season and understand that Coach Whitted is here, whether it's on or off the field for us. That's really what I remember and cherish the most.”

Johnson finished his career with the Rams catching 125 passes for 2,019 yards and 11 touchdowns under the tutelage of Whitted from 2015-18. He later embarked on a career at the next level with the Minnesota Vikings as a seventh-round selection in the 2018 NFL Draft. The 6-foot, 204-pound wide out is in his second season with the NFC North organization.

Whitted himself jumped to the NFL for a year to coach the wide receivers for the Green Bay Packers before returning to the college ranks at Wisconsin in 2020. Facing off within the same division, the player and the mentor received the opportunity to catch up during the 2019 season after their time in Fort Collins as well.

What's the first thing that pops into Johnson's head about Whitted?

“He's just a great man, great coach," Johnson said. "Outside of football, he was always somebody I looked up to. He recruited me coming out of high school, and I knew he was gonna be a guy who took care of me no matter what."

Recruiting-wise, Rivals.com designated Johnson as a two-star recruit in the class of 2015 with reported offers from Colorado State, Army and Northern Colorado. The NFL wide out recalled being recruited by current Central Michigan head coach Jim McElwain, who coached in Fort Collins between 2012-14. Mike Bobo would take over running the Mountain West Conference program from 2015-19.

Whitted joined the Rams' coaching staff in 2012 as well, and Johnson remembered the assistant coming to his high school, Lakewood (CO) Bear Creek, to chat with him.

“I could just tell, by the way he carried himself and everything, that this is a really good guy who's going to look out for me. ... Whether it was on the field or off the field, he was always somebody I could come talk to."

Johnson also looked to Whitted's professional pedigree. The former N.C. State football and track standout, who also competed in the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 200-meter dash, played in 122 games during a nine-year span.

Whitted hauled in 74 passes for 1,030 yards and six touchdowns and played for three teams: Jacksonville Jaguars, Atlanta Falcons and Oakland Raiders.

"He definitely has the experience, and that was obviously a dream of mine since I was a kid," Johnson said. "Surrounding yourself by people who've already done it and have already faced the ups and downs of a football player in his career, that's what really helped me choose Colorado State and Alvis Whitted.”

When Johnson got to Colorado State to start his collegiate career, he saw himself being guided by someone who was not just a coach on the field but also one off of it.

The wide out, who reeled in 54 throws for 796 yards (14.7 yards per reception) with four touchdowns as a senior in 2018, reminisced that Whitted tried to make his players "better men, family men, everything like that, because he's the definition of a family man."

“He has a great wife, a great daughter who is awesome," Johnson said. "I love her. She's a character.

“Then on the field, he's very detailed. He’ll get on you when he has to, because that's what good coaches do. That's just really what Alvis Whitted is about.”

According to Colorado State's 2020 media guide, Johnson ranked eighth in school history in yards per catch (16.2) and 10th in school history in career receiving yards. The current NFL receiver also holds the school single-game record for receiving yards, 265, from a matchup against Idaho on Dec. 22, 2016.

Johnson was not the only receiver under the mentorship of Whitted who has his name in the Rams' record books. As noted by UW's profile of the assistant coach, Rashard Higgins, Michael Gallup and Preston Williams all claimed some form of All-America nods on their way to putting up big-time numbers during their time at Colorado State.

For Higgins, he holds several records, including career marks in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns, along with single-season touchdown catches. Gallup is the program's leader in single-season grabs (100) and is a top-five receiver in several categories.

Now in his second-year with the Vikings, Johnson has caught 14 passes for 189 yards in 2020. That followed a rookie campaign in the Twin Cities where he hauled in 31 receptions for 294 yards and three touchdowns.

Out of Johnson's 45 catches in two years heading into the final week of the 2020 regular season, 26 have moved the chains for first downs. He credited some of Whitted's teachings with making the adjustment to the next level smoother.

“I really think he made the transition from college football to the NFL a lot easier for me because whether it was counting steps -- one, two, like inside foot, outside foot, things like that -- transfer over to NFL very well because everything in the NFL is so detailed," Johnson said. "It’s based off steps, and I've seen it from where guys come in, they've run a few routes here and there, and never really counted steps. It was always just being athletic and, ‘Oh, I can beat this dude in front of me every time.'

"But your athleticism can only take you so far. It's a physical game, but it's also a mental game, and I think that's really what Coach Whitted taught us.”

Another bit of wisdom bestowed by Whitted that Johnson described: Run hard, run fast.

"I think some guys get caught up in thinking too much about the game rather than running. I've caught myself thinking, ‘Oh, my God, what do I have to do here? What are my steps?’

“As I've grown as a football player, and as he taught me as a coach, I learned just to trust my abilities, and just go out there and play football and run hard, run fast.”

Johnson, along with the other three receivers, has moved on to the next level. Higgins currently is in his fifth year in Cleveland and has amassed 111 receptions, gaining 14.1 yards per catch, with 11 career touchdowns.

A third-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Gallup has emerged with the Dallas Cowboys. Heading into the final regular season game of the 2020 season this weekend, he has tallied 154 receptions for 2,408 yards and 13 touchdowns in 45 games.

Though only playing in 16 games his first two seasons in the NFL, Williams has caught 50 passes for 716 yards and seven touchdowns after signing with the Miami Dolphins as an un-drafted free agent.

Do those four receivers and others talk about the impact Whitted has made on their careers and the university?

"Yeah, we talk about it all the time. We're actually in a group message together just to keep in touch and send love and thanks to Coach Whitted all the time," Johnson said. "These are trying times with COVID and everything, so it's good to keep the people close to you that have been there for you your whole life. Whether it's wishing good luck on a Sunday in an NFL game or saying 'Happy Thanksgiving' to all the guys, we just like to keep in touch, and I think that's the biggest part that I've taken out of getting to the NFL and not making things bigger than they are. Realizing who got you there and what you're appreciative of.”

Being hired in early March just a week before the sports world saw mass cancellations of events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Whitted has encountered a unique first year working back in the FBS, to say the least. Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst noted in late December how he has "really enjoyed working with Alvis and appreciated his approach and kind of the demeanor that he's had with it."

The leader of the football program also believes that Whitted has been "really, really good for not just the receivers, but for our staff, and for players at other positions."

“So I’m really appreciative and you're pleased with all he's done and how he goes about doing it," Chryst told reporters via Zoom on Dec. 28. "It's been a strange year for everyone, but I think certainly, when you're talking about coming in and meeting, working with a new staff, new players, there are some more challenges to it. That hasn't been an excuse, and really hasn't been a problem.”

As director of player personnel Saeed Khalif said, the former NFL wide receiver has navigated a new world of getting to know and develop those players he inherited into his position group while also looking to the future.

“[Whitted's] room basically had a bunch of veterans, but he had no time and experience with them," Khalif said on Dec. 14. "So he's really had to not only do a self-scouting of his own room, then try to figure out how to put the pieces together to complement what he already has or doesn't have."

At that time, Khalif could not speak about commits specifically by name due to NCAA rules and the players not signing their letters of intent yet. That said, he vaguely referenced two prospects for Whitted's position group. The two wide receivers signed for Wisconsin's 2021 class are four-star recruit Markus Allen and three-star commit Skyler Bell.

“If any of you met him, his consciousness and his approach to doing things is very thoughtful, and he jumped right in," Khalif said of Whitted. "He landed two guys in the class that did not get on campus, and they're very good football players that we're excited about that will change his room significantly. A lot of it is just his personality, his diligence and following up, and becoming part of those kids’ fabric and talking to them on a consistent basis. He's what you want in a coach in doing his recruiting role. He's exactly something you want. He's a great addition to what we're doing here.”

On the field, both defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard and redshirt senior wide receiver Jack Dunn have referenced the energy Whitted brings.

"He truly takes this job as being a teacher and a mentor and a leader for young men, and relationships are huge for him," Leonhard said on Dec. 23. "He’s one of those guys, he's always gonna grab someone pulling to the side and and have some advice for him or just motivation to continue to get them to push.

“It's been a lot fun. Like I said, the number one thing that you just see every day is the energy that he brings to practice, the energy he brings to the office. It's contagious. It's fun to be around, and I think that's the number one thing that I see that is spread into that receiver group.”

Along with dealing with a long-winded recruiting dead period, working in virtual meetings with his players, and a conference that modified its schedule before postponing then restarting its 2020 slate, Whitted also managed through key players being unavailable this season.

Starters Danny Davis and Kendric Pryor, both seniors, missed five and four games, respectively. Redshirt senior Adam Krumholz and redshirt freshman Stephan Bracey only played in three games each as well.

That forced others in the room to step up, like Dunn and true freshmen Chimere Dike. Dunn, the former Madison (WI) Edgewood product, finished second on the team in receptions (28) and receiving yards (255).

For Dike in his first year as a Badger, he hauled in 12 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown. The Waukesha (WI) North standout played in all seven games, including six starts.

Another true freshman, Devin Chandler, also flashed potential. Though only catching two passes for 28 yards in four games, he took a third-quarter reverse 18 yards in the Duke's Mayo Bowl against Wake Forest while also showing some explosiveness as a kickoff returner in the win over the Demon Deacons.

Looking at how Whitted communicates with and helps develop younger players like Dike and Chandler, along with what he has picked up from the assistant himself, Dunn believes his position coach "has been great."

“He brings an energy and experience to that room that's been really beneficial," Dunn said via Zoom on Dec. 22. "I think in terms of how he interacts with those young guys, I think he gives them a lot of opportunities to grow, which I think is huge for those guys. Not even just in game but in practice, and I think he just coaches with such a positive attitude that I think it can be huge for helping those guys continue to develop down the road. Just seeing that their progress is being noticed and appreciated, I think that that's huge for those guys.

“Then for me, he's taught me a lot. I think I'm able to see the game a lot clearer just because of the way that he breaks down film and prepares us for games and things like that. It's just helped me to play with a higher level of confidence.”