Atypical training camp sees Badgers football players balancing prep, schoolwork

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i thought i was in the twilight zone for a minute this morning when I ran across an article about the badgers in the monterey county weekly, of all places.

Atypical training camp sees Badgers football players balancing prep, schoolwork

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The typical rhythms of the University of Wisconsin football team’s season will be different until games start.

One of the starkest examples of this fact is the Badgers conducting quasi-training camp practices as the calendar flips to October. UW had its first padded practice on Wednesday after a week of unpadded workouts. These practices will continue to ramp up as the Badgers prepare to host Illinois the weekend of Oct. 24 to kick off the truncated Big Ten Conference season.

UW coach Paul Chryst and his staff have to help their team navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, which includes daily testing for all players and staff, and quickly prepare the team to play after the start of their season was set just 5½ weeks after the conference announced it would indeed play.

On top of that, players are handling schoolwork, a responsibility that teams intentionally avoid by having training camp before the fall semester begins in a normal year.

“The biggest difference is having to do school,” senior running back Garrett Groshek said in a Zoom call with reporters Thursday. “In this condensed version, we’ve got to be ‘on,’ and we’ve got to be ‘on’ right now. We don’t really have days to waste or days that we can spend working on small things. We’ve got to get things taken care of right away, just because we’re playing in 20-some days.”

Groshek is one of the team’s leaders, and a back who Chryst said is part of a trio the team will rely on to be productive this season. The Amherst Junction product said it was different not knowing who the team would face until recently, but the situation calls for the team to have a sense of urgency each day in practice.

A majority of the team is taking online classes this semester, as players and the UW campus continues to battle the spread of COVID-19.

Chryst told reporters Wednesday that practices and meetings are set up as they would be in a typical game week, which is a departure from the normal training camp schedule.

“One of the great things about a traditional training camp is that it’s all you’re working on, it’s the whole day football. That’s not the case right now. Doesn’t mean that it’s (worse), but I feel confident with the guys and our plan to make the most of it,” Chryst said.

“I think you’re trying to have that proper balance of how much you’re doing with them and when you’re doing it. You’re still getting ready to prepare for a season, and yet you know the way the offseason’s gone, it’s not like they’re coming off a really consistent summer program and now you’re going into camp. That part is different.”

Sophomore running back Nakia Watson — another member of the backfield Chryst said UW will lean on this season — said he’s found that maintaining a routine is essential.

“I feel like, in a time like this, if you don’t have a schedule, that’s when stuff starts going haywire. Just find that routine and sticking to it definitely helps,” Watson said.

Having a veteran roster and the time spent in position meeting this summer is helping the Badgers as they begin practices. Groshek believes despite the changes, the experience UW has — six regular starters on offense and nine on defense — will give it an advantage when games begin.

As for the team’s first opponent, the Illini? Watson says the Badgers are looking forward to repaying them for the 24-23 loss in Champaign last season.

“Illinois definitely deserves a butt-whoopin’ from last year,” he said. “I feel like jumping right in to conference games keeps us on our toes.”

Coan up for Campbell Trophy
UW senior quarterback Jack Coan is among 199 semifinalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy, given to the nation’s top scholar-athletes.

The Badgers nominated Coan, who is entering his second season as the starting quarterback, as he met the criteria of being a senior or graduate student in his final year of eligibility, maintaining at least a 3.2 GPA, and demonstrating strong leadership.

The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame will select 12 to 14 finalists in November. Finalists receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship, and the winner of the trophy will have his scholarship raised to $25,000.

Notable past winners of the award include Oregon’s Justin Herbert, Florida’s Tim Tebow, Nebraska’s Kyle Vanden Bosch, and Tennessee’s Peyton Manning.
 
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