Senior Year Box Set

Because this was, in essence, an away game, we three were the only recruits here this weekend. We were also on an unofficial visit, so they couldn’t spend any money on us except for giving us game tickets. They wanted all their recruits on official visits to come to home games so they would get the game-day experience. I personally wasn’t looking forward to a bus ride from Madison to Lambeau Field in Green Bay, but this was the only weekend we could fit Wisconsin in.

We were met by a group of coaches: Coach Paul, Head Coach; Coach Sleigh, Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator; Coach Lennart, Defensive Coordinator; Coach Boss, Inside Linebackers; and Coach Chet, Tight Ends. I was glad we’d stopped at the local student bookstore and bought Wisconsin t-shirts to show our school spirit.

Tim had a great suggestion and eased my mind about wasting money.

“We should hang them on our bedroom walls to remind us of everywhere we’ve been.”

“We could mount them on square pieces of wood and attach hardware on the back to hang them,” Wolf suggested.

“Maybe Artist Boy can figure out something to make it look nice,” Tim said, looking at me.

“Let me think about it,” I offered.

I figured that between the three of us, we would come up with something cool.

We walked in with our dads, and all had on red Wisconsin t-shirts. Coach Paul saw us as we walked in and smiled.

“I see you have good taste,” he said to greet us.

Introductions were made.

“I’m sorry this is such a short greeting, but we have to be leaving to play a football game. Typically, we would spend more time with you today. But at the very least I wanted to meet you all and let you know that you’re each a priority for Wisconsin football,” Coach Paul assured us.

We understood they had a huge game today against fifth-ranked LSU, and he needed to get going. His team was already in Green Bay, getting ready for the game. It was a big deal that he and his coaches had taken the time away to greet us. They would fly up to Green Bay so they wouldn’t miss much. That gesture wasn’t lost on us.

We then followed the schedule they’d sent us. Coach Bud was put in charge of us. He had the title of ‘Quality Control.’

“What does a quality control coach do?” Jared Tams, Wolf’s dad, asked.

“We do just about everything. It’s the first step in becoming an assistant coach. I played at Wisconsin four years ago and decided to get into coaching. We don’t coach a specific position but have several other responsibilities. Among those duties are breaking down film of upcoming opponents, scouting those opponents, and acting as an assistant during practices,” Coach Bud explained.

“And babysitting this group,” Dad added.

“I’m not sure I would call it that, but yeah, I help out with recruiting.”

At the photo shoot, they had jerseys with our names and football numbers on them. We stood in front of a wall with Wisconsin football logos all over it. I sent Lily photos of our dads and us all together.

I’d brought my camera with me, so I spent time taking photos to document our trip. Then I connected it to my tablet and posted pictures on social media. The rest I uploaded to my cloud account so Frank and Lily could get access to them.

Fan interest was running high at the schools where we’d arranged visits. One recruiting site had ‘experts’ who would pick where they thought we would end up. Those picks were called ‘crystal balls.’ The early favorite was Michigan because they’d held a camp at our high school. Michigan was followed, surprisingly enough, by Kentucky. They’d been the first to offer, and I’d made comments about how much I liked their campus and how I felt they really wanted me.

We toured the facilities at Wisconsin. They were better than State, but Ohio State and Alabama outdid them. Don’t get me wrong, though. Wisconsin was a Big Ten school, and they cared about football. Besides, I wasn’t planning on picking my college solely based on their football facilities.

Coach Bud was passionate about Wisconsin, doubtless because he’d played there himself. We quizzed him about his experience, and he told us how much he loved Madison. It was an actual college town, and the state capitol was located here. Tim and I smiled when he pointed out that the University of Wisconsin Hospital was a prominent regional teaching hospital. I was sure Tami would get a full report.

Everyone gave me an eye-roll when Coach Bud told us about the Department of Art and their Department of Theatre and Drama. He did follow up with their business school and also admitted that they had a landscape architecture program but not a general architecture program.

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