Jon Dietzen’s biggest goal returning to football was not only to prove that he could play again. He recalled a conversation with then-head strength and conditioning coach Ross Kolodziej in discussing his objectives for the 2020 season, and just getting back on the field was not enough.

“The way I explained it to him was I don't want scouts, or people for that matter, to look at my film and say, ‘Oh, wow, yeah, the guy came back and did a pretty good job,’” Dietzen told BadgerBlitz.com on Friday. “I want them to look at my film and be like, ‘Jesus Christ, why’d that guy ever stop playing?’

“I think I did a pretty good job of trying to reach that goal. As far as proving that I can put reps on my body and still feel good, I think we had upwards of 80 snaps against Northwestern, and I was there for all of them, and I can tell you it's been a few years since I've been able to do that, so it felt great.”

Dietzen jumped back into the Wisconsin football program last year after announcing on social media in February of 2019 that he would walk away from the game “due to numerous injuries.” He eventually started all seven games for the Badgers at three different positions during a truncated 2020 season.

Now Dietzen continues to write another chapter to his comeback as the lineman prepares for Wisconsin’s Pro Day on March 10. He has trained at Synergy Sports Performance in Green Bay with Scotty Smith since January in preparation, a quick two-to-three week transition from after the season.

There is familiarity with Smith, as Dietzen has worked with the owner and founder of Synergy since he was 15 or 16 years old and felt "most athletic" and "most powerful" under his mentorship. The former Badger believes there are some parallels between training for a season and training for Pro Day.

“At least for offensive line, everything we work on is so meticulous,” Dietzen said, “and it's all these little things like, ‘OK, your foot might have been rotated too far out on that set,’ or you lean too far back. Like those little monotonous things like that you kind of got to do over and over. For o-line, that actually translated pretty well to doing this pro day stuff, where you're doing your 5-10-5s [pro-agility drills] like, ‘OK well, I stepped over the line that time I touched it, but I don't need to waste that much time.’

“So there's all those little inefficiencies that you're cleaning up, and all these little, tiny details that you're honing in, then I think there's definitely some parallels there between training for Pro Day and training to play. But then, obviously, you might not spend as much time on those things if you're getting ready to play in a couple of weeks.”

Dietzen finished with 42 career games played for Wisconsin, and last year he once again displayed an ability to play multiple positions on the offensive line. That included making starts at right guard (one, during the season-opener against Illinois), left guard (five) and left tackle (for the last two games of the season). Going back to Dietzen’s reference about plays in a contest, Pro Football Focus credited him with 83 snaps for his November start against the Wildcats, the most he played during the season.

Among the areas Dietzen has been working to hone in on includes the fluidity and agility in his pass set in being a bigger lineman (Wisconsin listed him at 6-foot-6 on its roster). However, the Black Creek, Wis., native believes that he can bring “that plug-and-play kind of skill set,” as he described it, to an NFL franchise, along with his physicality.

“Being able to switch sides and switch from guard to tackle, I think that's going to be kind of the high end on my skill sets,” Dietzen said. I think as far as traits, my willingness to go out and hit a guy. I think that's kind of what I always pride myself on is being physical and being a bit of a road grader.”

Dietzen has been a part of offensive lines that have sent several Badgers to the next level. He has touched base with Beau Benzschawel, Michael Deiter and David Edwards, with the latter being someone he has talked with “pretty often.”

“They all had different situations they were in, and getting a feel for all the different situations that might arise I think is kind of a good thing for me, so I've been kind of picking their brains quite a bit,” Dietzen said. “I guess when things start to stress out a little bit, it's kind of nice to talk to someone that's been through it, and they can give you a little reassurance.”

Once out of the game, Dietzen is now presented with the opportunity to impress NFL personnel on Wednesday. The former three-star lineman is ready to exhibit what he can do in the pro-agility and three-cone workouts, and he feels he will do well in the bench press. However, Dietzen also keyed in on another aspect that he feels is important on Wednesday.

“Then I think what I'm most excited for is the drills,” Dietzen said. “I think what really sells people on me is going to be my film, and that's going to be the closest thing that's going to relate to that, not necessarily the numbers and stuff. I'm hoping to show off some athleticism during those measurements, but I think, most importantly, the on-field stuff is where I got to thrive.”

As for his legacy during his time in Madison, Dietzen wants “to be remembered as someone that kind of embodied what it means to be a Wisconsin football player.”

“Smart, tough, dependable, bring it every single day. It doesn't matter if no one's there watching, you're going to go put the work in. That's kind of always been something I pride myself on and I hope that would be how I was recognized by anybody around me.”