bamafan9201
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Bala is officially let go
| FTBL Alabama football coaching staff changes and updates...
- Thread starter Secondand26
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Bala is officially let go
.
Didn't want this to get lost in the wash...
bamafan9201
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rmctide
Member
I liked Bala…thought he did a good job this past year…wish Durkin was added to the staff but prob would have had to be as DC…doubt it couldn’t have been as LB & ST coach. Freeze got a good one if he gets him.
Justneedme81
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Justneedme81
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Damnit. Beat me
Justneedme81
Member
Justneedme81
Member
How rising star Colin Hitschler is elevating Wisconsin football recruiting
By Jesse Temple
Aug 17, 2023
MADISON, Wis. — Colin Hitschler stood on the McClain Center turf after a recent practice and wore the aw-shucks expression of a man who wasn’t all that comfortable being spotlighted. A story about the assistant coach whose efforts have been so instrumental in building Wisconsin’s 2024 recruiting class?
“I don’t know if I have too much to say,” Hitschler said.
But there is more to say. Because what Hitschler, the team’s safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator, has been able to achieve as a recruiter during his first seven months on the job is remarkable.
According to 247Sports, Hitschler has served as the primary recruiter on seven of Wisconsin’s 21 committed prospects in the 2024 class — a class that ranks 23rd nationally. It’s not simply the quantity as much as it is the quality and the areas Hitschler is helping Wisconsin tap into now. The commits include three four-star prospects: running back Dilin Jones (Olney, Md.), tackle Kevin Heywood (Royersford, Pa.) and cornerback Omillio Agard (Philadelphia).
The others are three-star safety Raphael Dunn (Lawrenceville, N.J.), three-star interior offensive lineman Ryan Cory (Gibsonia, Pa.), three-star running back Gideon Ituka (Gaithersburg, Md.) and three-star safety Kahmir Prescott (Philadelphia).
Hitschler also already has a commitment in the 2025 class from three-star safety Remington Moss of Fredericksburg, Va. Moss, whose uncle, Brent, was a standout running back for the Badgers 30 years ago, becomes the first high school prospect to commit to Wisconsin from Virginia in the internet recruiting rankings era. The only other Virginia prospect to sign with Wisconsin was cornerback TJ Reynard, who came by way of Independence Community College in Kansas in 2013.
Hitschler ranks 15th in the 247Sports Composite football recruiter rankings for the 2024 class among assistant coaches. Since the recruiting efforts of assistant coaches began being tracked for the rankings in 2013, the only other Wisconsin assistant to crack the top 25 nationally was Joe Rudolph at No. 20 in the 2021 recruiting class.
So, how has Hitschler done it? He will be the first to credit the collective effort among the staff, which combines area recruiters with position recruiters, and cite the road map provided by Pat Lambert and Max Stienecker in the recruiting department. But don’t mistake his humility for a lack of confidence in his ability. Hitschler is the one going into the schools and homes of those prospects and selling the vision for the program.
Colin Hitschler is entering his first season as Wisconsin’s safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator. (Courtesy of Wisconsin Athletics)
“I love coach Hitsch,” Dunn said. “He kept it real with me. And he kept it real with my family, too. He was just talking to them like part of his family. That, to me, is a really big thing.”
Hitschler, 37, is from Philadelphia and wrestled for four years at Penn before earning his degree in communication and commerce in 2010. He coached football at Division III programs Salve Regina in Rhode Island and Widener in Pennsylvania before stints at Arkansas State and South Alabama. Hitschler joined Luke Fickell’s staff at Cincinnati in 2018 as a quality control coach for the defense.
He impressed Fickell enough to move up to senior defensive analyst in 2019 and become the safeties coach in 2020. In his first two years as the safeties coach, Hitschler mentored a pair of first-team All-AAC safeties. Fickell added the co-defensive coordinator tag last season and then brought Hitschler to Wisconsin with him under the same role.
Fickell said Hitschler’s ability to soak up teaching points from peers, including Fickell and former Cincinnati defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman, has contributed to his growth.
“He’s a constant learner,” Fickell said. “So I think guys that are constant learners that don’t think they’ve got all the answers, they watch, and they learn from others. Whether it’s how to relate to guys, whether it’s how to coach, different things you can do. I would tell you that the greatest thing is he can internalize. He can take some constructive criticism and he finds ways to continue to get better
.
“Where he was even seven years ago when we first kind of met to where he is now, it’s awesome for him. It says a lot about him. I’m not saying he was bad when he got here and we made him. But the way that he’s kind of developed as a coach and a recruiter is really unbelievable.”
Coaches can’t discuss specific recruits until they sign their national letter of intent, according to NCAA rules. But Hitschler did provide insight into the messages he relays on the recruiting trail. One of them has to do with Fickell, given all the time they have spent together. Fickell went 57-18 in six seasons at Cincinnati and is the only coach to lead a Group of 5 team to the College Football Playoff.
“I understand what it’s like to play for Fick, and I have a lot of what makes him special and what makes the program special when you play for Fick,” Hitschler said. “So I can talk about some of the former players that were successful for us at Cincinnati and where they started and where they finished. I can show them very similarly where they are right now and how they can get there by Fick’s coaching and the environment that we’ve built at Wisconsin.”
Cincinnati generally relied on players from Ohio to form the foundation of its recruiting classes. Hitschler said that, during his time at Cincinnati, the Bearcats began to gradually branch out toward recruiting the eastern side of Pennsylvania given his ties to the area. And his ties run deep.
Hitschler and his older brother, Rob, were part of the third generation of Hitschlers to wrestle at Penn in Philadelphia and the fifth generation to attend school there. Hitschler’s father, Charles Hitschler III, was a high school wrestling coach at Penn Charter, where Hitschler attended, and later was the defensive coordinator for the Penn sprint football team (a full-contact sport in which all players must weigh 178 pounds or less).
Hitschler knows so many people on the East Coast that he discovered Dunn, a 6-foot-4 safety originally from Quebec, because he had a friend who worked in the development office at Lawrenceville High in New Jersey who informed him about Dunn’s talent. Hitschler said his recruiting areas consist of Pennsylvania, as well Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia, among others.
“He knows the right schools in the area to recruit,” said Heywood’s former high school coach, Mike Watkins. “That’s kind of where we hit it off. Colin is a straight shooter. I love the way he recruits. He’s honest, and I appreciate that.”
As a result of Hitschler’s connections, Wisconsin has four committed prospects from Pennsylvania in the 2024 class, which has never before happened in the internet recruiting rankings era. Wisconsin last had three commits from Pennsylvania in the 2002 class.
“It all makes sense because he’s from Philly and he understands where we’re coming from, from being here,” Agard said. “He’s done a great job, and he’s a big part of why I love Wisconsin.”
Hitschler attempted to downplay those ties by stressing that a school like Wisconsin sells itself. He said the same players he has helped to land at Wisconsin may not have considered Cincinnati but want to play in the Big Ten for a program that has a history of successful players from the East Coast. New Jersey native Ron Dayne won a Heisman Trophy at Wisconsin in 1999. Jonathan Taylor, another New Jersey native, won back-to-back Doak Walker Awards for the nation’s best running back in 2018 and 2019.
“I think there’s a niche there of really good football players that are looking for a home,” Hitschler said. “They want the opportunity to play in the environment that Wisconsin has. That’s what I think really makes it special is they’ve seen successful guys play in this environment and win Heisman trophies.”
Still, there is something to be said for the messenger, which could bode well for the future at Wisconsin. Dunn’s father, Wayne, said Hitschler’s attention to detail for a video presentation during a campus recruiting visit played a significant role in his son committing to Wisconsin. Hitschler discussed how Dunn would fit into Wisconsin’s defensive system as a safety and what the Badgers do in certain coverages and situations and then broke down film of former Cincinnati players who were now in the NFL and compared it to Dunn’s highlights to explain the traits they shared.
“The detail that coach Hitschler went into with that presentation, it just spoke volumes to us and my wife and myself and Raphael,” Wayne said. “We’re like, ‘Wow, this is a coach that if he’s putting this much detail into a presentation, you know on game day these kids are going to be ready to go.'”
Hitschler has used that same approach with his current players. He entered a difficult scenario in taking over the safeties group from beloved defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, who was the interim coach for the final seven regular-season games last season before being passed over for the full-time job in favor of Fickell.
Sixth-year senior Travian Blaylock said Hitschler immediately addressed the elephant in the room with the group. He wasn’t trying to replace or copy what Leonhard did because he needed to be himself. But he had tremendous respect for Leonhard and assured the safeties that any changes he made to their technique were about how they could better fit a new scheme. That willingness to create an open and honest dialogue helped put returning players at ease. His intensity and competitiveness have stood out since then.
“He’s always bringing 110 percent energy and effort,” safety Austin Brown said. “That’s every day. Meetings to the field, he’s always going. So for us to be able to play at his expectations and the team’s standard, we know we’ve got to match that energy as well.”
It’s an energy that’s certainly evident to others on the recruiting trail and has helped Hitschler become a rising star in the coaching business, even if he doesn’t want to admit it.
“It’s our job to go in there and connect with them,” Hitschler said. “But who wouldn’t want to play for Wisconsin right now? We’re going to be really good, and they’re talented players. I think they believe in the future of the program.”
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Jesse Temple is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Wisconsin Badgers. He has covered the Badgers beat since 2011 and previously worked for FOX Sports Wisconsin, ESPN.com and Land of 10. Follow Jesse on Twitter @jessetemple
Colin Hitschler Coaching Experience
| Year | School/Team | Position |
| 2009 | Philadelphia Eagles (NFL) | Training Camp Assistant |
| 2010 | Kansas City Chiefs (NFL) | Player Personel Assistant |
| 2011 | Salve Regina (R.I.) | Co-Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Line |
| 2012 | Widener (Pa.) | Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Backs |
| 2013 | Arkansas State | Graduate Assistant |
| 2014 | South Alabama | Graduate Assistant |
| 2015-16 | South Alabama | Director of Football Operations |
| 2017 | South Alabama | Safeties |
| 2018 | Cincinnati | Quality Control – Defense |
| 2019 | Cincinnati | Senior Defensive Analyst |
| 2020-21 | Cincinnati | Safeties |
| 2022 | Cincinnati | Co-Defensive Coordinator/Safeties |
| 2023-present | Wisconsin | Co-Defensive Coordinator/Safeties |
Justneedme81
Member
Let me tell you ... If we can pull the director of recruiting at Georgia....... Game over. Georgia and Texas will regret it.
Updated Projected Staff...
On Field Staff
Head Coach: Kalen DeBoer
Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach: Ryan Grubb
Offensive Line: Scott Huff
Running Backs: Robert Gillespie
Wide Receivers: JaMarcus Shephard
Tight Ends: Nick Sheridan
Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers: Kane Wommack
Defensive Line: Freddie Roach
Safeties: Colin Hitschler
Corners: Maurice Linguist
We will have to wait to see if there are Co-Defensive Coordinator titles as expected. Last position to fill will likely be an EDGE coach (also need to assign special teams to someone if it isn't the responsibility of the final assistant).
On Field Staff
Head Coach: Kalen DeBoer
Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach: Ryan Grubb
Offensive Line: Scott Huff
Running Backs: Robert Gillespie
Wide Receivers: JaMarcus Shephard
Tight Ends: Nick Sheridan
Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers: Kane Wommack
Defensive Line: Freddie Roach
Safeties: Colin Hitschler
Corners: Maurice Linguist
We will have to wait to see if there are Co-Defensive Coordinator titles as expected. Last position to fill will likely be an EDGE coach (also need to assign special teams to someone if it isn't the responsibility of the final assistant).
I like the two HC that left their program to come to Alabama. CKD had all or most of his coaching staff to follow him to Bama.
Rolltide24
Member
Maybe by the fall, but right now it’s 2 coaches to every 1 player given all our attrition!
bamafan9201
Member
Hearing that William Inge is likely to be our final EDGE/OLB coach.
gohuskies.com
Also a few other things:
Board of Trustees meeting soon to have a meeting about things but not meeting about the coaches/athletic contracts.
There's still no timeline to finalize deals for all these assistants on DeBoer's staff. They're unable to go out and meet recruits because they're not currently employed by the university. I'm pretty sure they're not excluded from making phone calls though.
This is a bit of a kick in the nuts because this is prime recruiting time. I know Gillespie, Roach, Haha, and Chapman are out making the rounds right now but I also know some of these guys wanna meet their position coaches.
Washington Huskies
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gohuskies.com
Also a few other things:
Board of Trustees meeting soon to have a meeting about things but not meeting about the coaches/athletic contracts.
There's still no timeline to finalize deals for all these assistants on DeBoer's staff. They're unable to go out and meet recruits because they're not currently employed by the university. I'm pretty sure they're not excluded from making phone calls though.
This is a bit of a kick in the nuts because this is prime recruiting time. I know Gillespie, Roach, Haha, and Chapman are out making the rounds right now but I also know some of these guys wanna meet their position coaches.
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