BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — Justin Wilcox spent only one season on Wisconsin's football staff, but the shortest stint of his 14-year coaching career was transformative.
Wilcox said working for UW coach Paul Chryst as the defensive coordinator was such an enlightening time that he plans to use the program's blueprint for his own.
Wilcox was introduced this week as the new head coach at California, assuming the reins of his first program and becoming the initial branch on the Chryst coaching tree.
Wilcox came to Wisconsin following stints at Cal, Boise State, Tennessee, Washington and Southern California and left thoroughly impressed with its methods and priorities.
"You're not going to find a better culture of teamwork and selflessness and work ethic and toughness," he said.
Wilcox, the linebackers coach for the Bears from 2003 to '05, was brought in to replace Sonny Dykes, who was fired earlier this month.
In the process, Wilcox became the seventh former UW assistant to be a current head coach at a Football Bowl Subdivision school, joining Chris Ash (Rutgers), Bret Bielema (Arkansas), Craig Bohl (Wyoming), Dave Doeren (NC State), Jay Norvell (Nevada) and Lovie Smith (Illinois).
Another FBS head coach, Lance Leipold at Buffalo, is a former Wisconsin graduate assistant.
Wilcox, who was born and raised on the West Coast and graduated from Oregon, said academic requirements and athletic demands at Wisconsin are similar at Cal.
He said his one season with the Badgers confirmed his belief that "character and culture count" when it comes to building a consistent winner.
"Don't get me wrong now," said Wilcox, who tutored inside linebackers. "We had good players. Sometimes I think people hear that and go 'They're just try-hard guys.'
"There's talented players, but they play together, play for each other and get support from people in the building and the community.
"It's a really positive environment and it's a great place for guys to grow and become part of a team."
UW finished 11-3 overall, reigned as Big Ten Conference West Division champion and won the Cotton Bowl.
Wilcox oversaw a unit that ranked fourth in scoring defense and seventh in total defense nationally.
Chryst hired Wilcox to replace Dave Aranda, who left the Badgers to take over as defensive coordinator at LSU after the 2015 season. Despite not having any specific connections to Chryst, Wilcox wound up being an ideal fit.
"I've learned from so many great coaches — I have great friends, tons of friends in the business — but I'm not sure I've had somebody I've identified with more than I did with him," Wilcox said of Chryst.
Why?
"He's such a humble guy," Wilcox said. "The way he handles himself and talks to the team."
Like Chryst, Wilcox is reserved and unassuming in public, but friendly and engaging in front of the team and behind the scenes.
"He's not an actor," Wilcox said of Chryst. "He's such a genuinely good person and he cares about the guys. He cares about his staff members. He just does it the right way."
Like Chryst, Wilcox is demanding and detailed.
"He's not going to take shortcuts and he's not going to BS people," Wilcox said of Chryst.
"He's an excellent football coach. The X's and O's part of it, he's really, really good."
Like Chryst, Wilcox has been known to think outside the box. To wit, when starting inside linebackers Chris Orr and Jack Cichy suffered season-ending injuries, Wilcox made them pseudo assistants who worked the sidelines, helping their teammates and communicating with coaches.
"He's not a guy who's going to toot his own horn or anything like that," Wilcox said of Chryst. "He's all about the team."
