Ranking Every Wisconsin Football Position Coach by Confidence Level

Before I started covering college football for a living, I wasn't aware of just how important good position coaches are.

They make key personnel decisions, spearhead recruiting and development at their position and set the tone for every player in their room.

Wisconsin football head coach Luke Fickell's first few laps around the track in Madison have been defined by a multitude of failures, including some big swings and misses on assistant coaches (former offensive line coach Jack Bicknell Jr. and defensive line coach Greg Scruggs readily come to mind).

But ahead of the 2026 season, the Badgers have a total of five new position coaches. Not all are external hires, but that's still half of the positions on Wisconsin football led by a new face this fall.

Focusing only on position-specific coaches (excluding offensive, defensive and special teams coordinators), Badgers On SI ranks the coaches in Madison by confidence level below.

The ranking reflects a combination of how that coach's position has performed on the field, how well they've recruited and how highly they're spoken of by players and fellow coaches alike.

1. DL Coach EJ Whitlow

Defensive line coach E.J. Whitlow. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Whitlow orchestrated a major turnaround on Wisconsin's defensive line last season, turning the Badgers from a middling run defense into a top-15 unit nationally. He did it by recruiting big, experienced defensive lineman in the portal, and he did just that once again this offseason. In the class of 2027, Whitlow has also earned a verbal pledge from two players (Yahzeen Zion and David Hill) who are considered a four-star prospect by at least one of the two major recruiting sites.

2. OL Coach Eric Mateos

Erica Mateos — Eric Mateos | Christian Borman.

Mateos has yet to coach a snap in Madison, but it's hard not to love him already. His philosophy meshes perfectly with offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, and the pair go way back. Offensive tackle Kevin Heywood said the addition of Mateos "lit a spark" in the offensive line room, and Grimes said he's already seeing improvement this spring. Oh, and on the recruiting trail? He's nabbed five verbal commitments in the 2027 cycle.

3. CBs Coach Robert Steeples

Cornerbacks coach Robert Steeples. | Christian Borman.

Again, Steeples has yet to coach a down at Wisconsin. But based on how his fellow coaches talk about him, especially secondary coach Paul Haynes who called him a "Very very sharp individual, very good young football coach," and lauded his ability to teach man coverage, an area the Badgers have sorely lacked, this was a home run hire. And if you take a look at the cornerback room he's assembled for this fall, it looks like Wisconsin's most talented since I began covering the team.

4. OLBs Coach Matt Mitchell

Wisconsin football outside linebackers coach Matt Mitchell. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Wisconsin's outside linebackers haven't always been productive under Mitchell's tutelage, but the room took a big step forward last season. If Sebastian Cheeks can develop the way Darryl Peterson did in his final season, the Badgers should be just fine on the edge once again in 2026. Mitchell has been with Fickell in Madison since day one, and his past as a D-III head coach helps him view the game with a unique lens.

5. TEs Coach Nate Letton

Wisconsin tight ends coach Nate Letton. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Another coach who's rode with Fickell through thick and thin in Madison, Letton has quietly been very solid. His players clearly love him; Grant Stec called him the "greatest coach in the country" this offseason. Meanwhile, last season he turned an FCS transfer (Lance Mason) into Wisconsin's leading receiver. With a well-balanced room in 2026, Letton's unit looks poised for another good year this fall.

6. RBs Coach Jayden Everett

Wisconsin running backs coach Jayden Everett. | Christian Borman.

Everett has bounced around a little in his career, but he's coached running backs since his JUCO days in 2011. We don't know much about Everett's coaching ability yet, as it's also his first year in Madison. Still, the room he helped assemble for this fall looks quite formidable, and the Badgers' projected RB1 Abu Sama likely doesn't sign with Wisconsin out of the transfer portal if it wasn't for Everett.

7. QBs Coach Kenny Guiton

Guiton is tough to evaluate. He spent his first fall in Madison as the wide receivers coach before switching to quarterbacks. Of course, Wisconsin's quarterbacks were abysmal last season, but the room was also infamously decimated by injuries. What he's able to do with Old Dominion transfer Colton Joseph this fall should tell us everything we need to know.

8. ILBs Coach Tuf Borland

Cooper Catalano (left), Mason Posa (center) and Tuf Borland (right). | Christian Borman.

Borland was an internal promotion ahead of the 2026 campaign, taking over the inside backers coach gig and allowing defensive coordinator Mike Tressel to focus on that role alone. Borland has potentially one of the best linebacker rooms in the country this season; if Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano play like we expect them to, Borland is going to look great. He has yet to make a major splash on the recruiting trail, however.

9. Safeties Coach Jack Cooper

Wisconsin safeties coach Jack Cooper. | Courtesy of Jake Kocorowski

Cooper enters his second season as safeties coach in Madison. Last fall, the Badgers' secondary was pretty rough at times. But Cooper also lost his most cerebral and arguably best player (Preston Zachman) to a season-ending injury three games in. That forced him to start D-III transfer Matt Jung, who clearly needed some time to acclimate to the Big Ten level. The Jury is still out on Cooper as he enters year two.

10. WRs Coach Ari Confessor

Wisconsin wide receivers coach Ari Confessor watches his players field punts in practice. | Christian Borman.

We know next to nothing about Confessor as a coach. He has four years of experience as a D-I receivers coach, but three of those years were at Air Force, and the final came at Wake Forest. He then spent last season in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a coaching fellow. Confessor joined the Badgers' staff in March, after all the transfer portal dust had settled, so he can't be blamed for the construction of this room. Still, he's got an underwhelming group of receivers to work with year one in Madison.

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