In all, five Wisconsin assistants have left for different jobs after the Badgers capped off their season with a loss in the Rose Bowl to Oregon. Four of them left for Pittsburgh, and one left for Arizona State. In all, the Bret Bielema needs to come up with some combination of assistants to replace an offensive coordinator, a quarterbacks coach, a linebackers coach, an offensive line coach, a running game coordinator, a wide receivers coach, a tight ends coach, and a recruiting coordinator.
But of course, this is all old news. We know who's leaving, the real question is: who will replace them on Bielema's staff? The Badgers head coach said on Twitter last week he'd like to have most of his new staff in place before the Badgers hit the recruiting home stretch, so news should be emerging soon. Keep checking back at @B5Q for the latest on all breaking news.
12:42 PM: Have the Badgers found their new wide receivers coach? Zach Azzanni, the wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator at Western Kentucky has emerged as a candidate to replace DelVaughn Alexander, according to a report from the Wisconsin State Journal. Azzanni coached with Urban Meyer at Florida, and is said to be a good recruiter. The Badgers are always active in Florida, so it would definitely help to have another coaching connection in the Sunshine State.
The report speculates that Azzanni would only be the receivers coach, as Bielema is looking at two candidates to become the new offensive coordinator. The WSJ specifies that nothing has been offered to Azzanni at this point, because they are waiting on final approval from whoever ends up as the offensive coordinator, but things are "heading that way."
In addition, the Badgers have been contacted on behalf of Temple offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler, but Bielema does not have Loeffler high on his list at this point.