So the Wisconsin job is open now

Another Big Ten job in the midwest has come open, which means it is time once again for national media members to wonder if Dave Doeren might be a candidate. Wisconsin fired Paul Chryst over the weekend despite an overall excellent record there, and hey, did you know that Dave Doeren once was an assistant there?

Bruce Feldman thinks that interim Wisconsin coach Jim Leonhard, who is an alum, is the favorite to get the full-time gig, but also has Doeren on his list of potentials. How potential is this potential? Probably not all that potentially potential, even in Feldman’s own words:

Dave Doeren also has Badgers ties from his days as defensive coordinator at Wisconsin from 2006 to 2010. He did well in the MAC at Northern Illinois and has done very well at NC State, as the Wolfpack are going strong. Would he leave there for Madison if pursued? Maybe, but we’re not so positive of that.

Then we are agreed! Glad we could raise the notion and then immediately put it straight to bed. Thanks, Bruce.

But who knows, maybe the pull of Madison really is that strong. If the idea is to move to a place where Doeren could possibly win more than he does in Raleigh, well, I don’t know about that. The Badgers are fortunate to not be in the death division with Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State, but it ain’t like those programs are going anywhere. It’s the same problem, just from a different perspective, but with more money—how to overcome other league programs that will always out-recruit your own.

All while having to operate under more pressure. Chryst was 67-26 in 7+ seasons and won 10 games or more four times.