Alex Grinch speaks about his first spring at Wisconsin

It’s a fresh start for Wisconsin co-defensive coordinator Alex Grinch. Following a maligned time under Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma and USC, Grinch has a chance to turn things around.

USC’s defense was much criticized, but Grinch felt a sense of peace at Wisconsin. Part of that was acceptance of his new role and a new set of players bringing him in.

Grinch talked about that development during spring practice.

“Well, I think a lot of it credit to them, you know, just in terms of their ability to be willing to accept a new voice,” Grinch said. “I think it’s also credit to the coaches prior to and the coach in their own corner … and all that in terms of the quality. And so there’s a belief that the next individual walking in there is going to have the wherewithal in terms of what is supposed to get done. So again, that’s the respect factor that I have from them.” 

If Grinch is able to command that type of respect, his job at Wisconsin only gets easier.

“And I noticed that willingness to be coached and then that doesn’t just start with the new guy,” Grinch said. “That’s something that’s obviously been here for a long time … How can we get and how can you help an individual playmaker and how can you help them in space to get a ball carrier on the ground? You know, how can you put them in a situation that they have more comfort level and in zone coverage, how can you help them with their eyes and all those things? 

“(I hope) that they understand motivation is trying to give them the best position possible to be successful within 1/11 on the defense, but most specifically for them individually, that I think they understand that that’s the motivation, not part of the model. And that’s the sole motivation in our time together.”

As spring practice got underway, head coach Luke Fickell shared his excitement for new members of the staff at Wisconsin and explained how he’s working to get them ready for practice. That included Grinch of course.

“I think the last two and a half weeks where we did what we call OTAs,” Luke Fickell said. “Do a mock up of these things has made them less anxiety to get out here to know what to expect. But, I think that all of us were kind of really excited for year two and whether there’s some new faces in there, whether they’re players or coaches, the uniqueness is kind of how you fit this thing all together.”