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Wisky O-linemen

MADISON, Wis. -- Before enrolling for the second semester, Jon Dietzen was made aware of the Travis Frederick narrative by his cousin, Alex Dietzen, who was a walk-on offensive lineman from Appleton East in the 2009 recruiting class with Frederick, then a touted prospect from Walworth Big Foot.

“He told me Travis was another guy who came in early (the spring semester) and obviously it worked out well for him,” said Jon Dietzen, an early enrollee from Seymour High School. “He (Frederick) was a small-town, hard-working kid and I think there’s a bit of a formula to that.”

Frederick is from the village of Sharon, 20 miles from Janesville and 50 miles from Madison.

Dietzen is from the village of Black Creek, 24 miles from Green Bay and 120 miles from Madison.

“Pretty much a square country block everywhere,” Dietzen said. “Not too much big-city stuff.”

It computes with the aforementioned formula. Or as Dietzen put it, “Being a hard-working kid who grows up and knows what a good work ethic is and comes to work every day. And it’s not just being from a small town, but I think it’s being from a rural town that instills a work ethic in a lot of guys.”

A work ethic, he said, “That really embodies a lot of Wisconsin offensive linemen.”


• • • •

Frederick, Waupun defensive linemen Jordan Kohout, Woodstock (Illinois) quarterback Jon Budmayr and Coral Springs (Florida) defensive end David Gilbert were the spring semester enrollees in 2009. Frederick, who was moving from guard to center, was huge for his age; he was listed at 333 that spring.

Recalling his own personal game plan at the time, Frederick said, “I just wanted to get better. I wanted to see myself improve from the first practice to the last practice. Everything was filmed so I was able to see my improvement from day to day. It was definitely a process.”

Frederick always felt like he got a head start on others “just by being on campus, going to classes, lifting weights, going to meetings, getting the plays down and practicing,” all of which he said was critical to his development “because it helped acclimate me” to his new surroundings.

That fall, Frederick became the first true freshman O-lineman in school history to start a season opener. He ended up starting four times during the 2009 season, twice at center and twice at left guard. Frederick took his redshirt in 2010 and then blossomed into one of the top O-linemen in college football.

In 2012, Frederick was a first-team All-American. In 2013, he entered the NFL draft as an underclassman and was taken in the first round by the Dallas Cowboys. Since then, he has started every game the last two seasons and was selected to the 2015 Pro Bowl.

Frederick is one more link in that chain of successful Wisconsin offensive linemen.

This is not to imply that Dietzen or Kevin Estes (San Marcos, California) and David Moorman (Northville, Michigan) -- the other tendered offensive linemen in the recruiting class of 2015 -- are going to reach the same performance level and status. But it speaks to the tradition and expectations here.

Dietzen was exposed indirectly to that tradition as a senior when he was named the recipient of the Joe Thomas Award, which goes to the top offensive lineman in the state of Wisconsin. Since his All-America days at Wisconsin, Thomas has been to eight straight Pro Bowls with the Cleveland Browns.

“When he was playing (for the Badgers), I wasn’t watching too much football at the time,” said Dietzen, who was entering his teens when Thomas was a first-round pick. “But growing up and learning about the Joe Thomas Award and watching him play for the Browns, I know he’s something special.”

One of the challenges for UW head coach Paul Chryst is to restore the numbers on the offensive line. “Each position group you kind of have target numbers,” he said. “And for us on the O-line, it’s 15 on scholarship with the hope a Ricky Wagner comes in and all of a sudden adds to the numbers.”

Wagner was a walk-on tight end who left as a second-team All-America offensive tackle. “There is kind of a gap there,” Chryst said of the depth and the holes in recruiting classes. “But that’s why we coach, too. You’ve got to coach and develop them, and we’re looking forward to that.

“Jon (Dietzen) being here is big, having the opportunity to go through spring ball,” he said. “Love his size and the way he moves. I love the way that he plays. On tape, he’s got a mean streak that you like. I think that, really, of all of them (Estes and Moorman included). I like the group.”

Asked about his football temperament and whether or not he possesses what Chryst had observed as a mean streak, Dietzen blushed and said, “I guess so. Between the lines, I’m a lot different guy than I am off the field. I’d agree with that mean streak on the field.”

Getting on the field early, the practice field this spring, was one of the reasons Dietzen enrolled early. “I’m just getting ahead of the game,” he said. “I like to think that I have a pretty good work ethic and I really wanted to get to work on some line-specific stuff. Technique is the biggest thing for me.

“Academically,” he conceded, “It’s a little tougher transition. But it will get me a head start on all the guys who will be coming in after this semester; the guys coming in at the normal time.”

The new norm may be the mid-term high school grad.

There are 450 early enrollees in the FBS this year. The Badgers have eight: Dietzen, linebacker Ty DeForest, quarterbacks Alex Hornibrook and Austin Kafentzis, tight end Kyle Penniston, wide receiver Noah Stengel, linebacker Nick Thomas and defensive back Serge Trezy, a junior college transfer.

“I really think it’s an individual decision, case by case,” Chryst said of the trend. “For some, it’s absolutely the right thing. A lot of people get to this point -- the second semester of their senior year of high school -- and we’ve all heard the term ‘senioritis’ and how that can kick in.”

It all kicked in for Dietzen when Chryst took over the UW program and announced that Joe Rudolph was going to be his offensive coordinator and coach the O-line. “Having guys with Wisconsin blood, I definitely think factors into making an easy transition,” Dietzen said. “I thought, ‘Great fit.’“

There’s some security for Dietzen, too, in knowing that he will be schooled by coaches who have gone through the process at Wisconsin; former offensive linemen like Rudolph, graduate assistant Josh Oglesby and quality control coordinator Bill Nagy.

“Obviously we’re all going to be in good hands and that makes me feel pretty good,” Dietzen said.

Dietzen realizes that nothing is promised, everything is earned; such are the UW expectations.

“I don’t think any of us have any plans,” he said, “of letting that O-line tradition slip.”

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This is the spot for posts about BTPCFB, right? Well, it doesn't get much bigger than football at Alabama, so I thought I'd keep y'all up to date on spring practice.

You're right. Please keep me abreast on news and notes from the Alabama spring practice. In fact, if you could email the info straight to me that'd be great.