MADISON - Luke Fickell and the Badgers are nearly through their first batch of practices together. Thursday will mark the conclusion of the 15 camp sessions they are allotted during the spring.

Here are a few observations from chatting with Skyler Bell about his transition to the slot, Austin Brown's development and the move for senior cornerback Jason Maitre from Boston College to Wisconsin.

Something clicked for Skyler Bell in his second season in Madison. Coming off a promising bowl prep and month of spring practices, he turned that into a 30-reception season for 444 yards and five touchdowns in 13 games. Now playing in a new offense under offensive coordinator Phil Longo and wide receiver coach Mike Brown, Bell is being asked to play almost exclusively in the slot, a position he's not used to playing.

"It’s been a little bit of an adjustment and definitely a little bit of a learning curve, for sure," Bell said. "The slot is way different than the outside. I’ve never played the slot before. I’ve always been an outside receiver, so just adjusting to being able to see defenses better. You’re not going up against just a corner anymore, you’re going up against linebackers, safeties, nickels. And most of the time you have two people guarding you - whether you have two people actually guarding you or not. So just things like that and getting used to it and getting better day by day."

This past season, of Bell's 328 passing snaps, only 18 came in the slot. In the new offense, however, slot receivers appear primed to see the ball thrown their way more often.

"It’s definitely cool," Bell added. "I get to get the ball out in space a lot and make people miss, which is a big part of my game. My speed is a big part of my game as well and I still get those opportunities to make plays down field as well."

Safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler was already familiar with redshirt freshman Austin Brown. At Cincinnati, Hitschler and the staff had recruited Brown and tried to bring him aboard. Now getting the chance to coach Brown in Madison, his play and character have been anything but a surprise.

"Exactly what we’re getting here is what we thought in recruiting," Hitschler said. "He’s just a really intelligent kid who loves ball and has a great personality. Works really hard. He’s going to be a really good football player."

With one more spring practice left, Brown has consistently been disruptive and made his presence felt with the second-team defense. A week ago, Brown made one of the highlight plays of the spring when he ripped the ball from Zach Gloudeman for a forced fumble and recovery.

"It’s just a matter of time before he’s special," Hitschler raved about Brown. "He’s smart, works really hard and is an instinctual football player that can do a lot of different things really well and I’m excited to see what Austin does this year.

"I think he’s grown a lot as the spring goes on. Right now it’s just confidence to realize how good he is and he’s getting it. He might be the most to fun to watch grow from practice to practice and you’e just so excited about what he’s going to become. He’s working behind Hunter (Wohler) right now, so every day he sees how good Hunter is and what Hunter is capable of doing. Every day he gets closer and closer to that level."

The staff appears to have struck gold in the transfer portal this offseason. The wide receiver and quarterback rooms were revamped and loaded with depth, and the offensive line added a pair of key pieces. On the other side of the ball, Jeff Pietrowski and Jason Maitre have added exactly what the staff had hoped for. Maitre, who's been running with the starting defense all spring in the slot, has loved his time in Madison.

"If I had one word to describe Madison, it would just be joy," he said. "Everyone is just happy and that’s kind of what I need to be around because that’s the type of person I am. I love just being peaceful and mellow and just happy. Juice (Alex Smith) was just telling me the other day that I’ve never seen you down. Not that I’m not, but I try to just be where my feet are and live in the moment. Madison has been nothing but the best since I’ve been here."

While making his decision in the transfer portal, Maitre caught up with his former teammate, Tyler Vrabel, whom he played with at Boston College, for any intel he had on new head coach Luke Fickell. Vrabel's father, Mike Vrabel, was an assistant under Fickell at Ohio State when he served as the interim head coach and co-defensive coordinator.

"He was just telling me how Coach Fickelll was as a person because obviously you want to learn about where you’re going and who you’re going to go play for, just like Coach Fick wants to learn about me," Maitre explained. "He sees what he sees on tape but he doesn’t know what type of person I am. You just want to find out what kind of person someone is on and off the field. Finding out what kind of guy coach Fickell is from Tyler, it was no question I wanted to come play here."

Going further into his decision, Maitre went on to gush about the school and how he felt confident about the move.

"For me, the biggest thing was I wanted to go to a school where they were going to develop me and everyone loved ball and everyone was about ball and everyone had the same goal in mind that we’re just trying to win a championship," he said. "At the end of the day, that’s what you’re trying to do, so I feel like I couldn’t have picked a better spot than here.

"Everybody here is just part of the culture-driven school and it was so easy to mesh with the guys. Being in the locker room with those guys has been great. The sky Is the limit with these guys and we just need to keep working hard and see how we’ll take off."

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