Wisconsin Badgers running back Darrion Dupree was recruited during the time of Phil Longo but with major changes striking the team, he thought his worth to the team will change, too.
Longo was the offensive coordinator of head coach Luke Fickell but was fired mid-way in the 2024 season after the team’s poor performance. They were 5-5 overall by November.
His firing created a ripple effect within the team with some players and prospects deciding to move away from UW-Madison as they thought the team’s plans on them will be changed drastically, too.
Not Dupree. However, he was anxious about the changes as he is concerned about his standing with the team and if he can adopt to a new style of offense under new OC Jeff Grimes.
“It caught me off guard a little bit,” said Dupree in an interview with Badger247. “I knew I was gonna have to learn a new offense and have a year one again.”
Did his fear materialize? He said it did not happen.
“But it didn’t go down like that. I’ve picked up the plays faster with the way coach Grimes is doing with us.”
He played as a true freshman in 2024 as a no. 2 cornerback and carried the ball 79 times for 317 yards. He also had a touch down against Rutgers.
Darrion Dupree’s enemy is health
Dupree’s confidence is high right now after a respectable freshman year. However, the team needs to make sure that he will stay healthy
Practice is in full swing right now and just like with other teams, injuries are hard to avoid. Dupree was among those who got hurt a month ago.
Grimes, however, cleared up that there’s nothing to worry about the players as intensity in practices get higher.
“I would say as a coach, you always got to be concerned about having enough guys at all positions,” Grimes said.
“And I think we’re at that spot, like we are at a couple of other spots. I think we have enough right now. But if there was the right guy at the right time that we felt could add to our team, certainly we would look at that.”
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