Wisconsin

Alabama Football: Breaking down the Wisconsin Defense

Published

1 year ago

September 12, 2024

Alabama Football: Breaking down the Wisconsin Defense

Alabama Football faces its first road test of the 2024 season on Saturday afternoon in Madison against the Wiscosin Badgers. On Wednesday, we previewed the Wisconsin offense. Today, we take a look at a Badgers defense that has the talent, playmakers, and scheme to give Alabama’s offense trouble.

The unit is coordinated by Mike Tressel, the nephew of former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel. Tressel spent 12-years at Michigan State before becoming the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati in 2021 and then following Fickell to Madison last year.

Tressel runs a 3-3-5 defensive scheme and likes to send disguised blitzes and run exotic coverages that have historically caused issues for Alabama QB Jalen Milroe, who frequently bails from the pocket early if he feels pressure or drops back so deep that it makes the tackles jobs extrememly difficult.

I’m not much of an X’s and O’s guy, particularly when it comes to defenses, so if you want a deep dive on the Badgers’ defensive scheme, you can read an excellent one here. Tressel mixes and matches his coverages, with about a 50-50 split between man and zone coverage.

I would expect more zone coverage on Saturday afternoon as I’m not sure if the Badgers have the corners to hold up on an island for long against the Tide’s receivers, particularly if they struggle to get pressure without bringing blitzes.

The Badgers ranked 56th in yards-per-play defense a year ago, and they currently sit at 56th through two games in 2024 despite the inferior competition it has faced.

The strength of Wisconsin’s defense is in the secondary. Safety Hunter Wohler is one of the very best at his position in the entire country. He led Wisconsin with 120 tackles last year and was a 1st team All Big Ten performer.

At one corner, redshirt junior Ricardo Hallman was a 3rd team All American a year ago and picked off 7-passes. He’s a guy who has to be accounted for. He’s the best corner Alabama has seen so far this season, and Wohler the best safety, and it will be a good challenge for an unproven group of Tide receivers led by 17-year-old phenom Ryan Williams.

Both Wohler and Hallman are projected mid-round NFL draft picks in next April’s draft.

At linebacker, Arkansas transfer Jaheim Thomas and Jake Chaney form a good tandem inside and both are projected as 7th round/UDFA’s in the draft. Unfortunately for Wisconsin, much like Alabama’s Justin Jefferson, Chaney was the victim of a questionable targeting foul in the second of last week’s win over South Dakota and will sit the first 30-minutes on Saturday.

Wisconsin will start USC transfer Tackett Curtis for the first half in place of Chaney. Curtis started 8 games as a freshman with the Trojans in 2023.

Where Alabama has the biggest advantage should be up front. The Badgers’ defensive line is a real concern for Wisconsin fans. Depth and experiene on the defensive line was a concern before a season-ending injury in the preseason to James Thomas, who had 18 career starts in two seasons in Madison.

Now, Wisconsin starts a career reserve in senior Ben Barten and redshirt sophomore Curt Neal, who had made one career start prior to this season. Alabama likely getting Kadyn Proctor back for his 2024 debut would go a long way in the Crimson Tide being able to control the game and not put Milroe in unfavorable down and distances where he might feel he needs to force a throw to make something happen for a stagnant offense.

Proctor’s return gives Alabama a distinct advantage inside with Tyler Booker moving back to left guard and joining center Parker Brailsford and right guard Jaedan Roberts. South Dakota found success running up the middle against the Badgers, rushing for 147 yards on a 5.8 yards-per-carry clip if you exclude the yardage lost on three sacks.

Alabama’s gameplan should be real simple: run the football. Utilize the two-headed monster at RB in Jam Miller and Justice Haynes, mixed with more than a few designed runs for Milroe and wear down a Wisconsin front-seven that doesn’t have a ton of depth, particularly in the first half while Chaney sits.

You can bet that Wisconsin is going to bring pressure as the book on Milroe has been him panicking a bit in the pocket when he feels pressured. I’d look for more quick, decisive reads on passes with Milroe getting the ball out to playmakers in space. Wisconsin doesn’t have the team speed to stick with the Tide receivers for four quarters.

Offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan just has to avoid getting impatient and trying too hard for the homerun shots. The deep balls will come as Wisconsin struggles to stop the run and the quick passing attack. It will force tighter man-coverage and safeties creeping into the box, which should allow for a knockout punch or two down the field in the second half that allows the Crimson Tide to pull away for a comfortable victory.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin Adds Robert Steeples to 2026 Coaching Staff

Published

4 hours ago

December 24, 2025

Press Room

Wisconsin Adds Robert Steeples to 2026 Coaching Staff

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin has added Robert Steeples to its 2026 coaching staff, head coach Luke Fickell announced on Tuesday. Steeples will serve as cornerbacks coach for the Badgers, moving Paul Haynes to oversee the entire secondary.

“Bringing Robert Steeples to Wisconsin is a great addition to our coaching staff,” Fickell said in a statement. “He has seen the game at every level – Playing professionally, coaching at the high school and collegiate level. Our players and staff will love working with him and we’re excited to get him here.

“With the addition, we will be moving Paul Haynes to a role that will allow him to work with our entire secondary to strengthen our unit.”

Steeples spent the last two seasons at Iowa State as a defensive analyst. Prior to his two seasons with the Cyclones, Steeples coached cornerbacks at LSU from 2022-23. The St. Louis native played collegiately at Missouri and Memphis. He went undrafted in 2013, but spent four seasons in the NFL with the St. Louis Rams, Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs, and Dallas Cowboys.

“Wisconsin’s commitment to excellence and rugged style of play gives me the opportunity to work with the type of student-athletes that can benefit most from my style of coaching,” Steeples said in a statement. “The defensive structure and culture that Coach Fickell and Coach Tressel have implemented complements the guys on the island – the corners. The defensive staff is full of experience, great leaders, but most importantly great human beings – which makes for a fantastic environment for growth. I’m excited to get into the trenches with the guys and do my part. The opportunity ahead is a blessing.”

Steeples will inherit a Wisconsin cornerback room that currently returns two key performers from the 2025 season — redshirt freshman Omillio Agard and true freshman Cairo Skanes.

Steeples is the second off-season hire for the Badgers, joining offensive line coach Eric Mateos, who came over from Arkansas.

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The transfer portal opens on Jan. 2 and the insider rumblings are already heating up for Wisconsin! There’s not a better time to join the fastest-growing UW team site. New members can sign up and enjoy insider access for just $1!

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Wisconsin

Wisconsin judge sends Slender Man attacker back to mental health institution after group home escape

Published

16 hours ago

December 23, 2025

Press Room

Wisconsin judge sends Slender Man attacker back to mental health institution after group home escape

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin woman who almost killed her sixth-grade classmate to please the fictional horror villain known as Slender Man was ordered back to a state psychiatric hospital Tuesday after she escaped from her group home last month.

Waukesha County Circuit Judge K. Scott Wagner granted a state Department of Health Services request to revoke 23-year-old Morgan Geyser’s release privileges. Geyser told the judge through her attorney, Tony Cotton, last week that she would not fight revocation. Wagner then approved the request during a short hearing.

Cotton didn’t immediately respond to an email message seeking comment.

Geyser and her friend Anissa Weier lured their classmate, Payton Leutner, to a Waukesha park in 2014. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times while Weier cheered her on. A passing bicyclist discovered Leutner, who barely survived. All three girls were 12 years old at the time.

Geyser and Weier later told investigators they attacked Leutner in hopes of impressing Slender Man enough that he would make them his servants and wouldn’t hurt their families. Both of them were eventually committed to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute — Geyser for 40 years and Weier for 25 years.

Weier earned conditional release in 2021. Wagner granted Geyser conditional release this past September despite warnings from state Department of Health Services officials that she couldn’t be trusted.

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Geyser was placed in a Madison group home. Authorities say that on Nov. 22 she cut off her GPS monitor and fled the state with a 43-year-old companion. Police arrested both of them the next day at a truck stop outside Chicago, about 170 miles (274 kilometers) south of Madison.

Geyser’s companion told WKOW-TV that the two of them became friends at church and had been seeing each other daily for the last month. Geyser decided to escape because she was afraid the group home would no longer allow them to see each other, the companion said.

Slender Man was created online by Eric Knudsen in 2009 as a mysterious figure photo-edited into everyday images of children at play. He grew into a popular boogeyman, appearing in video games, online stories and a 2018 movie.

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Wisconsin

Wisconsin warns of “sextortion,” online crimes against kids

Published

1 day ago

December 23, 2025

Press Room

Wisconsin warns of “sextortion,” online crimes against kids

MILWAUKEE – The FBI calls it an online crime against kids – perpetrators convincing kids to send sexual images of themselves and then blackmailing them.

Online crime against kids

The backstory:

The reality is settling in. This will be Brittney Bird’s first Christmas without her son, Bradyn Bohn, since he was born. That is because just nine months ago, the 15-year-old died by suicide, just hours after telling his family good night.

“This winter has been pretty heavy,” Bird said. “This will be a lot of first this year.”

Bird said Bradyn was the kind of kid who would always try to make you launch. The teen had a lot of friends, played sports, did well academically, and had big plans for the future.

“Definitely a kid who we were just so proud of,” Bird said. “Bradyn never struggled with or suffered from mental illness or depression or anything of that nature so immediately we knew, you know something’s wrong.”

Once police went through Bradyn’s phone, she said it came out he was the victim of the cyber crime, sextortion.

What is sextortion?

What we know:

“Sextortion is a form of online child exploitation where a child is coerced by a perpetrator to send compromising images,” said Jesse Crowe from the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

This week, the Wisconsin Department of Justice sent out a public service announcement on sextortion.

Officials say suspects often pose as someone else online. While exchanging messages, they convince a child to send images of themselves. Once they have explicit images of the child, they use the photos or videos to blackmail the child into sending even more images, money or ask for sexual favors.

FBI data, change in Wisconsin law

Dig deeper:

The FBI said victims are typically males between the ages of 14 and 17, but any child can be a target.

This crime led to at least 20 suicides between October 2021 and March 2023.

In the months after Bradyn’s death, change would come to Wisconsin. Earlier in December, Gov. Tony Evers signed Bradyn’s Law. It creates a new crime of sexual extortion in Wisconsin. It aims to ensure harsh penalties for those who exploit children online.

“It will bring, hopefully statewide, eventually nationwide attention to where every family is having this conversation with their kids,” Bird told FOX6 News.