Badger Bits: Do the Badgers have a plan in place?

Presumably we'll be hearing about the Badgers' new offensive coaching staff sometime soon, though the exact timetable is unclear. And presumably that staff won't include Chuck Long or Jay Norvell, the only two names to have been mentioned in connection with the offensive coordinator position vacated by Paul Chryst. That staff won't include Joe Rudolph either, whose departure Friday officially stuck Wisconsin in a place between hard things.

Jeff Potrykus says this all makes sense. I'm somewhat skeptical.

I get wanting a promotion. I don't quite understand Wisconsin's inability to make a better offer. We don't have the full details and perhaps we never will, true. But I hear that uprooting a family is difficult and I know that packing is annoying. I'm assuming counter offers were discussed. Rudolph supposedly could have been swayed, considering he had recommitted to the Badgers' staff at one points. Was Wisconsin unwilling to let him coach quarterbacks and add "assistant head coach" to his business card? Was that really all he wanted?

Maybe Rudolph was intent on leaving the second he didn't receive the coordinator position. Ditto Bob Bostad. But then who, if not them? Did we have to dismantle nearly the entire staff that oversaw the last two years of offensive success for some to-be-named outsider? Barry Alvarez and Bret Bielema were so cavalier about Chryst leaving, that it was tough to imagine they didn't have some kind of plan in place. Whatever that plan is, it's impossible to tell at the moment. The questions outweigh anything else.

Monday's Links

Basketball has its worst offensive game of the season yesterday in Ann Arbor, losing 59-41 to the Wolverines. With the loss, the Badgers are out of the Top 25 for the first time in 19 weeks.

More on the game from the State Journal. Potrykus offered up some late-night thoughts as well.

Chryst announces his full staff at Pittsburgh, which includes even more former Badgers. Former O-line coach Jim Hueber while former strength coach Todd Rice handles strength and conditioning.

Senior associate athletic director John Chadima has resigned after being placed on administrative leave under vague allegations of misconduct. He oversaw football, as well as men's and women's golf and rowing. His resignation is under campus review.

On a happier note: J.J. Watt did something awesome on Saturday. Check the video:

(Via TheNFLOnDemand).