Training Camp Confidential: Offseason improvements
August 02, 2018 | Football, Mike Lucas
Seen and heard around Camp Randall as Wisconsin prepares for the season
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
QUESTION: What did you do during the off-season that will make you a better player?
Senior offensive lineman Michael Deiter:
"I've gotten a lot better at recovery and taking better care of my body in general. When I was younger, I would get hurt, and I would go home and not do anything. It (the pain) would go away in a couple of days.
"Now, it's to the point where it hangs around a little longer. Everything you do, recovery-wise, requires way more detail and more time.
"I've gotten better at it because of my injuries. Like understanding the importance of making sure your body is good. Sleep, and a lot of stuff goes into all of that."
Senior safety D'Cota Dixon:
"I have put more time in the training room, more time at home just recovering.
"I don't eat everything I want anymore. As a freshman, I would eat anything, McDonald's or whatever, all the time. I really didn't put much thought into it (nutrition) then. Now, I'm more into it.
"I also want to make strides and continue to improve with my sleep (habits). I have to get better sleep and more sleep.
"I will do that during this training camp. I have no choice; otherwise I won't be healthy."
GONE FISHIN'
ESPN college football analyst Trevor Matich, a center on BYU's 1984 national championship team, was in Madison recently to tape a feature segment ("Trevor's College Tour") for SportsCenter.
"We're going to fish and talk some football," boasted Matich, 56, a 12-year NFL veteran. "Let's talk about what makes a great offensive line and have a lot of fun doing it."
Deiter, Beau Benzschawel, Jon Dietzen and Tyler Biadasz joined Matich for a fishing expedition on Lake Mendota. (David Edwards had a conflict.)
A barge was not needed to keep these O-linemen afloat. A pontoon boat sufficed.
"Doing an interview while fishing," Deiter cooed, "was awesome."
Dropping a line in the water is therapeutic for Deiter, who noted, "Anytime you can do something that is going to make you relax, it's going to make you a better person."
But he did have one hang-up because he takes his fishing so seriously.
"For me, when you're putting me on the water," he said, "my sole purpose at that point is to catch fish. I was struggling with trying to put together good answers and get the fish to bite.
"I was trying to focus on two things and I just wanted to catch the fish. I would pause to answer a question and go back to fishing and it would mess up the rhythm."
It was catch-and-release. And while Deiter caught a small mouth bass ("Not a scoreable bass"), he also lamented, "There was a lot of interviewing. More talking than fishing."
That aside, he did have a timely answer when Matich asked the four offensive linemen, "What do you want people to know about you guys as a group?"
It was timely because the Badgers are getting so much preseason national recognition.
"It's not just because you play O-line at Wisconsin, you're automatically good," Deiter said. "Everyone who has been good at Wisconsin is (good) because they worked super hard.
"And they taught us how to do it. That's why it has been so good for so long."
