The hiring continues for the Badgers football team as reports indicate Bielema has filled out his defensive staff. Many outlets, including the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel are reporting that Nevada defensive coordinator Andy Buh will be the new Linebackers coach at Wisconsin.
It’s a move similar to what Dave Huxtable made last year before jumping to Pitt to be their defensive coordinator under Paul Chryst.
Bielema’s hires so far have a few telling implications. One, he’s looking for coaches with a vast array of experience as Buh coached the Linebackers at Stanford in 2007 and was the co-defensive coordinator the next two seasons. He left to become the defensive coordinator at Nevada for the past two years.
Secondly, he’s not afraid to branch out as far as recruiting goes. He’s clearly going after coaches that have strong ties to areas that are hotbeds of recruiting with Zach Annazzi in Florida and now with Buh having strong ties to the West Coast and California in particular. It will be interesting to see if this hire helps Wisconsin mine that state for some more talent that fits the program.
As a coach on the field Buh has shown to have some stout rushing defenses, ranking 18th (120.3yds/game) in 2010 at Nevada and 55th (137.9yds/game) in his final year at Stanford in 2009. He also has had some good scoring defenses, leading Nevada to a 31st ranking in 2010 at 21.4 points a game and 54th last season at just a shade over 25 points a game.
Looking at the defensive staff the Badgers have I don’t think there’s a more experienced or higher level of coaching on another staff in the Big Ten. As it sits Wisconsin’s 3 defensive coaches are all current/former defensive coordinators at BCS schools and that’s a huge plus for getting even more out of guys like Mike Taylor and Chris Borland in 2012.
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