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FOOTBALL COACHING SEARCH "My interests are in controlling the football, being successful on first down and scoring touchdowns, not field goals, in the red zone," Bielema said. "Those are things that have guided this program for years. I don't want to deviate from that.'' "When you have success,'' Bielema said of re- cruiters, "they want to get ahold of your people.'' That applies to both verbally committed foot- ball prospects and coaches, he noted. By the way, Bielema was not caught off guard by any of this. He was locked and loaded. "When each one of these positions opened up, I knew the direction that I was going,'' Bielema said. "Along the way, I've had a couple of pleas- ant surprises pop up, too.'' Citing the "great support from the administra- tion, the university and Coach Alvarez '' — UW athletic director Barry Alvarez — Bielema has had a plan in place to fill the vacancies. "Transition is the key to success,'' Bielema said. "If you have good coaches, you can't keep them for long. On the same account, I welcome new ideas, and personalities and new ways of thinking.'' In general, there has been a blue print for Bielema's hirings. "My offensive coordinator is no different than a defensive line coach or a linebacker coach,'' he said. "I want to know first and foremost why they got into the profession and what drives them.'' That's how he has always approached the in- terview process. Regardless of a coach's particu- lar area of expertise — offense, defense or spe- cial teams — he also wants to measure teaching ability. "I will sit down with them,'' Bielema recount- ed, "and tell them, 'I'm a freshman in your office, I'm meeting with you for the first time, install your base plays and teach me.''' In turn, he will get a read on how they react in 22 » VARSITY JANUARY 12, 2012 that setting. That's just one step. "I really try to get to know some personality traits,'' he said. "As a head coach, I always want to balance my room (with different personali- ties). It's important for me to do that.'' Bielema has been armed with some priorities in reshaping his offensive staff. "I've always thought the quarterback makes everything go,'' he said. "But the foundation of our program is the offensive line. I want a con- nection between the O-line coach and quarter- back coach.'' What about his own parameters in hiring an offensive coordinator? "I have been strong with our commitment,'' he said, "and they (the candidates) have been strong back to me with running a certain style of offense at Wisconsin that can have success. "I'm not looking for a cookie-cutter from what we've been (under Chryst). I'm just looking for us to be in the same family (as far as philoso- phy). They have to use two backs and two tight ends. "I'm not interested in no-huddle and spread offenses. My interests are in controlling the foot- ball, being successful on first down and scoring touchdowns, not field goals, in the red zone. "Those are things that have guided this pro- gram philosophically for years. "I don't want to deviate from that.'' That doesn't mean that Bielema will name a single coordinator. Defensive line coach Charlie Partridge and secondary coach Chris Ash have been co-coor- dinators. Ash, though, has been responsible for