As the world slowly returns to normal, the Wisconsin football program will get a crucial component of its offseason back: spring football.

Head coach Paul Chryst mentioned on Monday that 44 players will be going through spring camp for the first time. And with key contributors leaving the program along the defensive line and uncertainty with the depth at linebacker, the return of spring ball is a welcomed sight for Jim Leonhard and his unit.

"My big thing going into this spring with all position groups is to get them out of their comfort zone," Leonhard told reports Wednesday morning. "Whether that's scheme, technique, awareness, pre-snap, post-snap. Communication. If we let guys be comfortable, we’re not doing our job in the spring.

"Coach Chryst told our team that 40 percent of our team has never been through spring ball, so from a development and experience standpoint, this spring is going to be huge to see who separates."

This off-season saw the departure of talented contributors like Isaiahh Loudermilk, Garrett Rand, Eric Burrell and Rachad Wildgoose, leaving question marks in regards to depth. When meeting with the media, Leonhard went down the line of what he liked and what to look forward to at each position heading into camp.

DEFENSIVE LINE

Leonhard: “You really have Keeanu Benton and you lost (Matt) Henningsen for the majority of the season last year, but behind that you really don’t have a lot of reps. Bryson Williams has played and played well for us. Isaiah Mullens has played for us but outside of that, there really is not a lot of experience, so spring is going to be huge.

"I think that whole group, there is a lot to be learned and with Coach (Kolodziej) coming in there and coming in at that position. We’re going to continue to push and see what we can get guys comfortable with. Whether that’s technique or scheme, and then come out of spring with a much better picture with who that group is and what the depth is going to be and what we can ask them to do."

OUTSIDE LINEBACKER

Leonhard: "With Noah (Burks), we know the consistency that he’s played with, and Nick Herbig took a tremendous amount of reps for us last season as a true freshman. We know how we want them to progress moving forward.

"You look at Spencer Lytle and where he’s at with his progression, it’s really time this spring for him to push for more opportunities. C.J. Goetz had a decent amount of snaps for us last year. Aaron Witt came on as the season progressed last year. Another true freshman that you see going in the right direction. Another group that they’re just going to benefit from their first opportunity in the spring to get on the field. We like certain aspects of the skillset of that group that we have.

"Izayah Green-May has played a decent amount of snaps for us in the past before a couple injuries. We like the depth that we have. We like the variation in the skillset and the issues that group that can provide. It’s just going to continue to push them to be that impactful playmaker week in and week out."

INSIDE LINEBACKER

Leonhard: “We obviously know about (Jack) Sanborn and Leo (Chenal), they were kind of the workhorses last year and took the majority of the reps. Behind them a number of guys that you’re excited to develop and push and see how it plays out this spring. With Jordan Turner, Maema (Njongmeta), Malik Reed, Jake Chaney, Tatum Grass, Mike Maskalunas is obviously around. Most of that group kind of fits in that category of ‘alright, who’s going to separate, who’s going to really take leadership and take ownership of that position?' We like some of the things that we’ve seen and we haven’t had to get past Leo and Jack very often because of the way they’ve been able to play. We know we want to continue to develop that group and we have a lot of talent in those rooms and we really want to see how the spring plays out."

CORNERBACKS

Leonhard: "On the back end there’s not a lot of new faces. We have a ton of depth and returning experience in that group and just asking them to continue to develop as playmakers. We wouldn’t be able to do what we do on third down if they weren’t playing well. Now it’s just continuing to push them to find opportunities to make plays on the football, create turnovers.

"I’m not afraid to play guys. We have a lot of depth. There’s a number of players that are ready to play. We saw it in the Wake Forest game, I think there were eight corners that played and they all played well. I’m really excited for this corner group to just go out there and continue to battle."

SAFETIES

Leonhard: "You have Colin (Wilder) and Scott (Nelson) who have played a lot of reps for us. Scott had a really good year and were pleased with what he was able to do for us last year. We lost Eric Burrell, who has been a consistent playmaker for us over the years. Behind them, a number of guys who can compete to earn more reps and get in the rotation -- Trayvion Blaylock, Titus Toler, John Torchio, Taylor Mais, they’ve all played. A couple of them more two years ago than last year, but they’ve all played.

"I think we’ve got great depth with that group. Once again, we’ve got six guys that have already played."

The offseason saw some key turnover within the program. UW added running backs coach Gary Brown, lost quarterbacks coach Jon Budmayr and hired cornerbacks coach Hank Poteat, who will take some of the workload off Leonhard.

"Bringing in Coach Poteat, it's just more and more attention to a position that is very technical, so that group I'm excited for this spring and even this winter," Leonhard said. "Not having to split time with the corners and safeties as much as far as coaching points and technique and all that stuff."

Leonhard has been the defensive backs coach since joining the staff back in 2016. The addition of Poteat, a former graduate assistant under Chryst at Pittsburgh, will allow the corners to receive more attention.

"It’s such a different position from communication to awareness. Safeties are usually leading with communication with multiple levels of the defense," Leonhard said. "A lot of different coaching points that don’t always apply to corners and then you have to snap into all the technical work, whereas corner, so much of it is technique, technique, technique. There’s aspects where it’s great to have them all in the room, whether it’s fronts, coverage or pressures, and then there’s times where there’s better ways to get it done. I think both groups are going to benefit from the focus, attention, having another set of eyes.

"I think in every way it’s going to help this DB group with the structure that we have, and so far it’s been great. Coach Poteat has been able to come in and really hammer the technique. I’ll own the scheme and the installs and different things like that, and as it progresses we can split that group more and figure out what’s best for them.

"I love the addition that we’ve made and I think he’s a great coach and he’s really connecting with these players."