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Last week, Jon McNamara at Rivals reported that the Wisconsin Badgers were hiring a new inside linebackers coach and, late on Tuesday afternoon, UW made that official when they announced the hiring of Bill Sheridan. Former Wisconsin ILB coach, Bob Bostad, was officially announced as moving back to the offensive side of the ball to coach the o-line.
Welcome to @UWCoachSheridan!
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) February 22, 2022
“This team had the No. 1 defense in the country last season and has shown nothing but consistent excellence on defense under Coach Chryst and Coach Leonhard. I'm looking forward to helping sustain that success moving forward." pic.twitter.com/y0xYJqmE68
“I’m thrilled to join the staff here at Wisconsin,” Sheridan said. “This is a program that I’ve admired for a long time, and now having the chance to work with Coach Chryst, Coach (Jim) Leonhard and this staff is an exciting opportunity for me. This team had the No. 1 defense in the country last season and has shown nothing but consistent excellence on defense under Coach Chryst and Coach Leonhard. I’m looking forward to helping sustain that success moving forward.”
Sheridan has had a lengthy coaching career, most recently as the defensive line coach at Air Force. Before that, he was the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Boston College. He also coached in the NFL for 13 seasons, prior to his return to college ball, where he served as defensive coordinator for the New York Giants in 2009 and for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2012-13. He also coached linebackers for Giants (2005-08), Dolphins (2010-11) and Lions (2014-17).
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Sheridan also has some Big Ten experience, as he coached linebackers at Michigan State from 1998 to 2000 and later spent the 2002-04 seasons mentoring linebackers and defensive linemen at Michigan. A Detroit native, Sheridan graduated in 1982 from Grand Valley State, where he was a three-year starter at linebacker.
“Bill is a strong addition to our staff,” head coach Paul Chryst said. “As we went through the hiring process, I was impressed by what he brings to the table in terms of his experience, his knowledge of the game and his ability to connect with players. Inside linebacker has been a strength for us over the last few years and I’m excited to see the impact of Bill’s coaching on what is a relatively young group as we look to maintain a high level of success from our linebackers.”