MADISON, Wis. – Paul Chryst didn’t have to go far to fill the opening on his Wisconsin football coaching staff.
Ross Kolodziej, who helped lead the Badgers to a pair of Big Ten championships as a player and has led the highly-regarded strength and conditioning program at his alma mater for the last six seasons, will take on the role of coaching UW’s defensive line.
“I’m excited for Ross and for our team that he will have the opportunity to coach our defensive line,” Chryst said in a statement. “He has played the position at the highest level and has tremendous knowledge of the position. I’m confident in his abilities as a coach and have witnessed that first-hand through all the years we have been together.
“Our players who have worked with Ross, both present players and guys that have gone through the program, are fired up for him. I know our current guys in the D-line room are looking forward to getting to work with him even more closely now.”
Taking the place of Inoke Breckterfield, who left Wisconsin after six seasons to coach the defensive line at Vanderbilt, Kolodziej has spent the last seven seasons as a head strength and conditioning coach under Chryst, including the last six at Wisconsin.
He spent the 2013 season as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Pittsburgh before being promoted to head strength coach a year later. He has served in the same capacity since returning to UW in 2015.
“It happened that my first real opportunity in coaching came on the strength and conditioning side and it’s something I’m truly grateful for. I’ve enjoyed every moment in that role,” Kolodziej said in the release. “I’m proud of what we’ve helped our players accomplish and I feel confident in our staff to carry on what we’ve built in the weight room.”
Kolodziej was a 45-game starter on the defensive line for the Badgers, playing on the 1998 and 1999 Big Ten championship teams and in the 1999 and 2000 Rose Bowls. He also was a member of UW’s indoor and outdoor Big Ten championship teams in track and field in 2000 and 2001.
Selected by the New York Giants in the seventh round of the 2001 NFL Draft, Kolodziej played for the Giants, Vikings, 49ers and Cardinals during his seven-year NFL career. While with the Cardinals, he started 14 games during the 2005 season as a member of a defense that ranked in the league’s top 10. He also played three years in the United Football League, where the two-time team captain helped Las Vegas claim back-to-back league titles.
“When I wrapped up my playing career, it was my intent to get into coaching with the idea of becoming a defensive line coach,” Kolodziej said. “So when (defensive coordinator) Jim Leonhard and Paul Chryst came to me asking if I wanted to coach, saying that they think I can help the program be successful in this role, it was an easy answer to their question.
“I get to work with and learn from a tremendous group of coaches on the football side, and I can’t think of a better place to be or a better group of players to coach.”
This is Kolodziej’s second coaching stint at Wisconsin, as he served as a graduate assistant with the defensive line in 2012. He joins offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph, quarterbacks coach Jon Budmayr, tight end coach Mickey Turner and defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard as former Badgers players on Chryst’s staff.
He’ll have an important task ahead of him, as Wisconsin must replace starting defensive ends Isaiahh Loudermilk and Garrett Rand prior to the start of next season.
“More than anything I’m excited to get started,” Kolodziej said. “What I do on a day-to-day basis will be different, but it won’t be a change in terms of what we’re trying to accomplish. I’m excited for the chance to continue impacting our program and helping our guys become the best they can be.”
