Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.
Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/78098
Grind of camp helps answer questions LUCAS AT LARGE MIKE LUCAS • UWBADGERS.COM s a fifth-year senior, UW of- fensive tackle Ricky Wagner has been conditioned to the rigors of a preseason training camp. He knows the demands and challenges. But that doesn't make it any easier. A "Training camp is one of the hardest things you can do in the football world,'' said the 6-foot- 6, 322-pound Wagner. "It's more emotionally and mentally drain- ing than it is physical. You can get through the physical aspect. You train (in the offseason) to get through that. But just being emo- tionally and mentally into every practice is hard.'' He smiled faintly and said, "I think after four years I can do that fine.'' Wagner is carrying more weight — literally and figuratively — on the practice field than his freshman year, when he was a 262-pound walk-on tight end from West Allis. Potentially, he's now a No. 1 draft pick. But to get where he wants to go, Wagner knows that he can't take any shortcuts; nor can any of his Badger teammates, especially dur- ing the toughest part of any camp, two-a-days. "The toughest thing for a player is not looking ahead — coming into it (training camp) and going, 'Oh, my goodness, we have three weeks of this,''' said UW wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni. "The toughest thing is getting them to focus on one meeting at a time, one drill at a time, one prac- tice at time because if they do look ahead, they get overwhelmed.'' 10 » VARSITY AUGUST 9, 2012 Wagner, who has 24 career starts, is a fixture on the offensive line along with center Travis Fred- erick (17 starts). Left guard Ryan Groy and right tackle Rob Haven- stein are pretty sure things, too. Who will wind up starting at right guard is far less certain. Senior Robert Burge and sopho- more Kyle Costigan, a converted defensive tackle, are the leading contenders for the job. "Training camp is one of the hardest things you can do in the football world. It's more emotion- ally and mentally drain- ing than it is physical." Two-a-days can be telling in this respect. Observed offensive line coach Mike Markuson, "This is a great time to really study the game, especially for guys who take it seri- ous. It's a great learning curve.'' In addition, he said, "It's the mental part that they have to get over, and you have to help them get through it — the mental grind of the full days and all those days (practices) yet to come.'' No position group has been dealt a harder blow via graduation losses the last two years than the O-line. The roll call: Gabe Carimi, John Moffitt, Bill Nagy, Kevin Zeitler, Peter Konz and Josh Oglesby. That's a major storyline. To be sure, there are others. Who's the starting quarterback? Danny O'Brien? Curt Phillips? Joel Stave? Who's going to complement Jared Abbrederis at wide receiver? On defense, who's going to re- place Jordan Kohout in the defen- sive tackle rotation? Who's going to put consistent pressure on the op- posing quarterback? David Gilbert? Brendan Kelly? Other? Some of the answers will be- gin to surface over the next three weeks of training camp. Yes, the daily grind can be tough on the players. But the coaches are also dealing with challenges. "The toughest thing for me is just really not swaying, not com- promising,'' said Azzanni, one of six new assistants on the staff. "It's going to get hot and receivers run a lot (during practice). But we can't back off. You have to go with what you believe in, and keep pound- ing.'' What's the best thing about camp? "I absolutely love the fact that there are no distractions,'' said defensive line coach Charlie Par- tridge, noting that the players are solely committed to football before the fall semester gets underway. "They're all in, and it's a great time to move forward.'' Azzanni is on the same page of the playbook. "I like the fact that we're all together, all the time,'' he said. "There are no outside people coming in, no outside forces. Nobody knows what these kids, coaches, trainers and managers are going through but us, and I like that.''