The Wisconsin football staff has grown by one today as the program announced a familiar face would be joining the staff for the 2024 season.
Jack Del Rio, a longtime former NFL coach, has joined the Wisconsin football staff as a senior adviser to the head coach. Del Rio will be reporting on both offense and defense, giving the Badgers a different and more experience look at football. The coach had been around the Wisconsin team and staff at multiple practices during training camp and now will join the team for the entirety of the 2024 season.
Wisconsin Football Staff Adds Jack Del Rio as Senior Adviser to the Head Coach
After a few months away from football, former NFL coach Jack Del Rio has accepted a role as the senior adviser to Head Coach Luke Fickell. Del Rio was once the coach of the Jaguars and Raiders, and also served as the defensive coordinator for the Broncos, Panthers, and Commanders. The coach was most recently on the Commanders staff before being fired following his Thanksgiving game performance.
Del Rio had quite the tumultuous time with the Washington Commanders, with his time on the team coming to a screeching halt. The coach was fined $100,000 by the Commanders due to comments he had made regarding the George Floyd protests. The coach was fired just four months later after he allowed 45-points against the Cowboys, the most scored by one team up to that point in the season.
Since being fired, the first appearance Del Rio made back on the football field was with the Wisconsin Badgers. Del Rio was recently spotted at practice in Madison after the team returned from a two-week stay in Platteville. The coach attending practice led to plenty of speculation regarding the potential of Del Rio joining the Badgers staff, which eventually did happen.
The length of the contract that Del Rio has been given has not been released, but rather it seems as though it will be a rolling contract. The Wisconsin football staff offered a similar contract to former NFL coach Mike Vrabel, but Vrabel soon left the Badgers to return to the NFL. This position could be a foot in the door for Del Rio to return to football as a coach once again following this season.
What Can Jack Del Rio Offer the Wisconsin Badgers Football Program?
Perhaps the biggest reason why Del Rio is spending the season with the Badgers from the viewpoint of Wisconsin is his experience. The 61-year old former head coach has been around the block plenty of times and coached at the highest of levels. Luke Fickell has had plenty of success at the collegiate level, but there is a different level of understanding of the game at the professional level.
Wisconsin had been searching for a senior adviser to join the team throughout the offseason and training camp, but came up empty. Longtime friend and former teammate of Fickell, Mike Vrabel, had spent time with the Badgers early in the offseason. Vrabel was offered an advisory role at the NFL level by the Cleveland Browns, and elected to take that position instead after assisting the Badgers.
Del Rio recently attended practice in Madison with the Wisconsin football team and took time to walk through the practice. The former coach was scouting out the team and getting a feel for what Fickell and the rest of the staff needed out of him. Del Rio eventually settled on this Wisconsin advisory role after being fired by the Washington Commanders.
What Del Rio can truly bring to the Wisconsin football program is a different understanding of the game and another set of eyes alongside Fickell. Fickell was vocal during camp about the fact that everyone makes plays from time to time, but the coach cannot always see everything that is going on. Del Rio is going to work as another set of eyes for Fickell, providing him with extra information regarding the play of the team.
For More Great Wisconsin Sports Content
Follow me on Twitter (X) @JarrettGuerrera, and follow us @WiSportsHeroics for more great content. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on all things Wisconsin sports, click here
