Transition on a coaching staff is rarely seen in-season, but on Monday Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema made official what was reported on Sunday night. Offensive line coach Mike Markuson is out as position coach and in his place will be Bart Miller, who has been an offensive quality control assistant and grad assistant at Wisconsin.
So, why the transition in season?
"I think I've been involved with some staff and some situation where in the end I knew directions, whether I was an assistant or even me as a head coach, decisions traditionally are made at the end of the year, and it always drove me nuts," Bret Bielema said at his Monday Press Conference.
"So I always kind of said to myself, as I got older, grew into the profession, if I was ever in a Poston that I knew transition [would] be needed to be made, I wasn't going to be the one that waited until it was comfortable, I was going to make the decision when it needed to be made."
Bielema indicated that during the process to hire Markuson that Miller was under consideration for the Poston, but he had concerns in regards to what hiring both Ben Strickland and him in the same offseason.
"I just didn't feel I could name two GA's (graduate assistants) to full time status and gain the continuity that I wanted recruiting wise, football wise, all that mumbo jumbo," said Bielema. "But now as a head coach I realize I probably could have and been just as far along or further along if I had because there wouldn't have been as big a transition."
Going forward, some have questioned if it was coaching or a drop in talent that has been the issue on the offensive line and those questions are worth exploring. Especially since we're talking about an offense that produced just 35 total yards rushing and failed to get star running back Montee Ball any sort of holes to run though in his 61 yard performance on Saturday.
"The talent level was there," said Bielema on Monday. "Where these guys end up is a lot how they respond from the situation.. and what they do moving forward."
One of the biggest reasons Bielema made the move is that he sees Bart Miller as a great bridge in terms of knowing what was happening under Bob Bostad and what is needed moving forward. Miller was a player under Bostad at New Mexico and has seen what's going on in this staff over the past few seasons and because of that Bielema sees him being able to take the best of both and move forward in a positive manor.
As for the transition of Miller from grad assistant to a full-time coaching position, Bielema isn't worried about how the players will respond to Miller's new role. Especially since he had his own experience with a similar situation while at the University of Iowa.
"When I took over, I remember Coach (Hayden) Fry telling me, hey, you can't wear blue jeans anymore. Why don't you wear your glasses more often and try to shave more often," said Bielema. "Just try to look more dedicated to the task. Any Bart's been that way from day one, I didn't have to have that talk with him. So, I'm excited to see where he can go with it."
Going forward there may not be a more scrutinized position for Wisconsin than the offensive line and how they go forward over the next few weeks very well may indicate exactly where this season is going. At the very least Bielema is willing to see a problem and make a change immediately, rather than let it linger and hurt the program more in the end.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
