Wisconsin football: Alvis Whitted tabbed as WR coach

After former wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore accepted an offer he couldn’t refuse to become the tight ends coach at Michigan State, the Wisconsin Badgers football team was in need of a new wide receivers coach for the 2020 season.

That vacancy was just filled.

Alvis Whitted, who spent 2019 as the wide receivers coach of the Green Bay Packers, has been named to the Wisconsin coaching staff.

In addition to his time with the Packers, Whitted was recently the wide receivers coach at Colorado State from 2012-2018. In his time with the Rams, spanning two coaches (Jim McElwain and Mike Bobo), Whitted was credited with the development of three All-Americans turned NFL players who are all currently on NFL rosters: Preston Williams of the Dolphins, Michael Gallup of the Cowboys, and Rashard Higgins of the Browns.

Colorado State had a run of five consecutive seasons under Whitted’s watch, with a 1000 yard receiver, with both Gallup and Higgins receiving national recognition as Biletnikoff Award finalists, an award given to the top receiver in the country.

Whitted has also spent time as an offensive quality control coach at UCLA in 2011, after a very brief stint at Appalachian State and a year at Millsaps College (DII) in Mississippi as wide receivers coach.

“I’m excited to be back in college and making an impact on young men’s lives. I can’t wait to get going. I’m ready to get to work,” Whitted said in a press release sent out by the UW Athletic Department.

Whitted is a native of Durham, North Carolina. He later attending North Carolina St, where he had a prolific college career as a wide receiver. Following college, he went on to have a nine year NFL career from 1998 to 2006, where he played for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Atlanta Falcons, and Oakland Raiders.

With recruiting ties to both California and the southeast, primarily the Carolinas, the 45 year old Whitted will hopefully bring solid recruiting chops to the staff. The Badgers have recently had some success in some of his key regions: Colorado (Max Lofy and Deron Harrell), North Carolina (Gio Paez, Devin Chandler, Madison Cone), California (Titus Toler, Spencer Lytle, Alexander Smith). Hopefully he can continue to use those inroads forged, and his previous relationships to bolster recruiting success on the trail.

“I like to lead by example, teach, build relationships and earn trust,” Whitted said of his coaching style. “It is a privilege to play this game and all I want for my players is to play for each other and play for something bigger than themselves, which is the team.”

While the loss of Ted Gilmore is not ideal, Paul Chryst has generally done a phenomenal job of vetting potential replacements. With NFL experience as a player and as a coach, as well as his run of receiving successes at Colorado State, fans should have some reason for optimism.

“We’re excited to add Alvis to our staff,” Chryst said. “What he’s done as a coach and his experience as a player obviously stood out, but as we went through the process and got to know more about him and who he is, the more impressed we were. It became clear that he made a big impact on the coaches and players he’s been around, and I’m excited for him to have the opportunity to help our players continue to grow.”