BADGERS’ QUARTERBACK DERBY
Russell Wilson
start. “Absolutely. What you see in a first impression — the more you spend time with him — you see it’s an accurate picture.” During the recruiting pro-
cess, Chryst made sure to keep all of his quarterbacks advised on what was going on. That was especially true of Jon Budmayr, the starter coming out of spring practice.
Said Chryst, “I told Jon right
away, `Here’s what’s going to happen: There’s a guy that we’re looking into and maybe nothing might come from it; he may not have any interest. “But I’ll keep you informed if something comes up. I’ll let you know.”
He later made sure that Bud- mayr knew when Wilson was visiting.
“I told him, `There’s enough interest that Russell is going to come on a visit,’” Chryst said. “I didn’t want him (Budmayr) to be surprised by anything.” Chryst has always believed in being honest and upfront with his players. “If you’re honest with them, and have been honest with
“And with all those dif- ferent avenues — peo- ple you have talked to, and things you have watched — you came away saying, `This is certainly worth pursu- ing,’” Chryst said of Wilson’s recruitment.
them,” he said, “then you can keep them abreast of things as far as `This is why we’re looking at him.’ Jon understood that.” Chryst expected Budmayr to handle the situation well. And he didn’t disappoint.
“To me his stock has risen,” he said, `’because his focus is on the right things. I think the world of Jon. How he handled it speaks volumes for who he is; that makes him that much more of a special guy.”
The Badgers opened their 2011 training camp with a Fri- day afternoon practice. Maybe it was only a coincidence but Chryst used a baseball meta- phor to describe his plans for Budmayr and Wilson. “Jon and Russell will split reps,” he said. “They need at-
