2/23/2017 football Edit

Report: Bob Bostad will coach inside linebackers at Wisconsin

John Veldhuis • BadgerBlitz

Senior Writer

John Veldhuis has covered Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network since 2012.

MADISON, Wis. - Bob Bostad will return to Wisconsin as an assistant coach - but not in the role you might expect.

According to a report by FootballScoop.com Bostad is set to return to Wisconsin as their new inside linebackers coach, replacing former defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox after he became the new head coach at California.

This will be Bostad's second coaching stint at Wisconsin, but his first on the defensive side of the ball. In fact, this will be Bostad's first coaching job on defense in his career - he played linebacker for UW-Stevens Point from 1986 t0 1989, but since entering coaching in 1990 as a graduate assistant at his alma mater Bostad has coached only on the offensive side of the ball - mostly offensive line or tight ends.

Bostad proved to be an effective offensive coach for the Badgers, though. The Pardeeville, Wis., native was Wisconsin's run game coordinator from 2006 to 2011, and coached tight ends from 2006 to 2007 and the UW offensive line from 2008 to 2011. Bostad's offensive lines were some of the best in school history, and six of his players were selected in the NFL Draft from 2009 to 2012. He had a hand in coaching two other players who were drafted after he left for Pittsburgh with Paul Chryst after the 2011 season as well.

Bostad left Pittsburgh before the start of the season to become the offensive line coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers under Greg Schiano from 2012 to 2013. Bostad then took the same job with the Tennessee Titans from 2014 to 2015 after Schiano was fired at the end of the 2013 season. He spent the 2016 season at Northern Illinois as their tight ends and fullbacks coach.

Bostad's return to Wisconsin in itself is far from surprising - he is close with head coach Paul Chryst, and there was speculation that Bostad might return to UW when Chryst took over as Wisconsin's head coach before the 2015 season.

It's the job title that's surprising more than anything - and the Badgers will soon find out if Bostad can do for Wisconsin's inside linebackers what he did for their offensive line.

John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.