Whomever the new Wisconsin head coach is, it's looking increasingly like he'll have to bring on a bit of his own guys at the very least as Tom Mulhern of the Wisconsin State Journal is reporting tonight that Badgers wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni is taking the same position with Tennessee.
Azzanni will coach the Badgers through the Rose Bowl, according to the report, and will join new Vols head coach Butch Jones' staff following the game. Azzanni was on Jones' staff while he was the head coach at Central Michigan.
He had some raw and talented players to mold this past season with guys like Chase Hammond, Travis Frederick, and Kenzel Doe under his wing. Azzanni made the unit into a great blocking group (see the B1G Championship game for all the evidence you need), but the overall production of the unit outside of Jared Abbrederis was spotty at best.
Tennessee hasn't made the hire official, but it announced all other staff hirings besides the WR position yesterday.
It's becoming clear some assistant coaches are choosing job security over the wait and see approach as Wisconsin's coaching search continues. The loss of Azzanni sucks for the Badgers recruiting in some aspects, but, if you're looking at this from a recruiting standpoint the absolute must-haves for Wisconsin remain Charlie Partridge, Thomas Hammock and Ben Strickland. Without them the Badgers could run the risk of blowing up a massively impressive class of recruits.
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