Co-Defensive Coordinator?!?

I'm going to start this by saying how much I admire the passion of Badger fans. That being said you all need to chill out a little bit. I know the passion runs deep, but not every move from the program is a sign of the apocalypse. So before we all lose our mind let's take a breath, count to ten, and really think about why we are mad.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about you're one of the lucky ones. But to say the hire of Alex Grinch as the Badgers' new safeties coach has been a spicy topic would be an understatement. And when he was officially announced as a member of the staff with an additional tag to his title the collective fandom went a bit nutty. Co-coordinator? Did you see how bad his defenses were at USC? Why give such a bad defensive coordinator such power and responsibility? Has Luke Fickell lost his mind?

The short answer is no, because co-coordinator does not mean what you think it will mean. First let's be clear of the defensive hierarchy inside Wisconsin football. First and foremost is Luke Fickell. He is a defensive minded Head Coach and even though he has a defensive coordinator he will have a definite say in the defensive structure, play calling, etc. Supporting our defensive minded Head Coach will be the defensive coordinator himself Mike Tressel. With Fickell's approval he will design the defensive system, develop the structure and game planning, and build the depth chart. In most cases and in most programs that is enough, but there isn't a coach in the world who wouldn't mind trading a bit of busy work for an extra hour or two at home per week. This is where the co-coordinator steps in.

Alex Grinch's primary job will be to coach safeties. He will coach up the safeties within the confines of the defensive system created and administered by Luke Fickell and Mike Tressel. By adding a co-coordinator tag to his job description what you are essentially giving Tressel is personal assistant. Grinch is not the Assistant Regional Manager, he is the assistant to the Regional Manager. He will assist the DC by being his eyes in the press box if he wants to coach from the field. It would also work visa versa if Tressel wanted to be in the box Grinch would be an extension of the DC on the sideline.

Being a secondary coach means he will have an eye on the top down structure of the defense throughout the game and rely relevant to the coordinator and the rest of the staff. As a safeties coach this would make sense because his players will be the ones moving up and down within the structure. That's why you usually don't see cornerbacks coaches in the role, and with the full DC being a the inside linebacker coach you wouldn't usually see the OLB or DL coaches in the role because there would be a bit of redundancy. That being said he would be doing this as safeties coach regardless (we'll come back to this later). As co-coordinator he'll also act as a walking depth chart helping with making sure the correct personnel package is on the field in given situations. As a defense that will spend the majority of the time in the nickel he will likely have some say into how his players fit "out of position" to fill other roles in different packages. Again...something he would likely be doing anyways.

So why the extra tag? If it's not a big deal or even really necessary? No one will believe it but it probably came down to throwing a little extra cash at him to win a potential bidding war. That being said Colin Hitschler's co-coordinator bump was small compared to the relative salaries of the other assistant coaches, and I would assume Grinch's bump will be similar. But also we have to consider that maybe Luke Fickell did his homework during the interview process and likes what Grinch could bring to the staff and wanted to make sure he got him.

So what happens if the defense absolutely tanks this year and Tressel resigns or is fired? Does that mean Grinch would take over as DC? Potentially but likely only in title only as I would fully expect Luke Fickell to take over play calling. What if Tressel takes a Head Coach job next off season? #2 becomes #1 right? I'd bet my house that if we were in the market for a new DC next season that Colin Hitschler would be the first phone call. But instead of worrying about what Alex Grinch's title could be let's focus on what his role will be. He'll coach safeties. He'll be an extra set of eyes for the defensive staff. Maybe he'll help with substitutions. He will have a defined role within the structure of someone else's defense. That's it. The sun will rise tomorrow and you'll be fine Badger Nation.