Official: Azzanni Hired as WR’s Coach

“My family and I are ecstatic about coming to Madison and joining the Badgers,” Azzanni said. “I’ve known Coach Bielema for a number of years and I jumped at the opportunity to become a part of one of the Big Ten’s best programs. I look forward to getting started and continuing the great tradition at Wisconsin.”

Not only is he known as a very good positions coach many consider him to be one of the best recruiters of South Florida out there.  Even former boss Urban Meyer praised his efforts, stating, “He’s a tireless worker and a relentless recruiter.” 

The main areas in recruiting that you can expect Azzanni to focus on are Florida, of course, but also Michigan and Ohio.  He’s got extensive ties to Michigan as a player and coach at Central Michigan and some to Ohio from his time at Bowling Green, but it’s not as extensive as his ties to Florida and Michigan.  

Azzanni’s coaching philosophy can be best looked at from his offense’s performance this season at Western Kentucky.  He had the nation’s 2nd leading rusher in Bobby Rainey, who averaged 141.2 yards a game.  Overall the offense produced 2,179 yards on the ground, while also having 2,008 yards passing, about as balanced as they come.  

The one thing that may be getting overlooked with this hire is the fact that this should be a signal that Bielema isn’t far off from hiring his newest offensive coordinator.  You don’t hire a position coach without an idea of who the OC is going to be and if they can all mesh to fit the same style of offense.  Clearly Bielema ran this past the people on his “short list” and whomever it will be will have one fine WR’s coach and recruiter on his hands.  Who knows, one day down the road we could be looking at our next OC, the guy is only 36 years old after all.  

Congrats to Zach and his family and welcome to Badgers nation!