Return to roster 'a long time coming' for Wisconsin safety Titus Toler
Titus Toler, who was not listed on Wisconsin's 2021 roster due to injuries, was asked at UW's media day on Tuesday if he ever expected to be back at Camp Randall Stadium with a Badgers jersey on.
"Honestly, I try not to look too far forward," Toler told BadgerBlitz.com. "I had a calendar and I was just scratching off each day to be sure I did everything I could to try to get to where I was going, but I didn't know where I was going at the time.
"I just wanted to get healthy, No. 1, and then get in the right mental state at that time."
That time has come for Toler, who returned to the Badgers after a one-year absence. The 5-foot-11, 195-pound safety made significant gains, both physically and mentally, over the last 12 months. Academics and his teammates, according to Toler, also played a significant part during his process.
"It feels great and it's a long time coming," Toler, a California native, said. "I'm blessed to have a second chance and Coach (Paul) Chryst for giving me the time to get right physically and mentally. Really I have to thank the training staff and the guys outside of here, as well as the players. I think the thing that kept me afloat the most was the guys that are here. I was away but they never treated me any different, and I still felt like part of this team the whole time.
"School work (kept me in Madison) - I had to stay in school. It was school and that's what kept me in. I wanted to be around these guys, too. Even though I wasn't participating, I still wanted to be around because it's a brotherhood here. These guys took me under their wing even though I wasn't technically feeling like I was part of the team. But I was always part of the team, and that's what makes it special for me."
That's not to say there weren't setbacks, however. Toler didn't detail what the specific injury was, but he did discuss the long journey it's been to return.
"When you get stuck in a hole and try to climb out, you just keep hitting these road blocks and it gets kind of frustrating," he said. "I think I just needed a little time to get back right.
"Just one specific injury that came out of nowhere. We tried everything to fix it at the time and I felt good at one point trying to come back last spring. But it didn't end up working out. It gave me a lot of time to rehab and figure out what it was, specifically, and fix it. Sticking to the plan honestly is what got me back healthy."
Toler, who redshirted in 2019 and played two games the following season, will have an opportunity to contribute for the Badgers this fall. According to coordinator Jim Leonhard, Toler's road back to the field has made him stronger, both physically and mentally.
"Very tough for a guy to go through adversity, kind of the mental side and the physical side of having injuries," Leonhard said. " When you see a guy who is so excited to be back and so excited to find a way to just contribute, I'm really excited for him. The maturity that he's gained and where he's at from a mental standpoint right now compared to a year or a year and a half ago, I'm excited and that's what it's about.
"Any time you got guys coming back from long times off - injuries and stuff like that - you want to be smart just to make sure they are continually building and not taking a step back. Injuries happen and he's (Toler) going to get sore, and I think of a guy like Preston Zachman who is the same thing. Coming back from injuries, you always want to be smart, and that's where communication and trust are a big factor of it. We are constantly going back and forth and we have to keep building."
John Torchio and Hunter Wohler are expected to be atop Wisconsin's depth chart at safety this fall. But Toler has a chance to see significant time despite not playing in 2021.
"Range on the field and being able to come up and fill the hole," Toler said when asked what he brings to the position. "I feel like we have a lot of guys that can be ball players this year. We can be interchangeable, and looking forward there's a lot we can do as far as the DBs."
"He's going to come back and I think he's going to have a great career for us," Leonhard said. "Just a totally different perspective than he did coming in the door."
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