Paul Chryst hopes longer camp, thanks to no two-a-days, won't become tedious for players

Jeff Potrykus
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Wisconsin football coach Paul Chryst hopes the new camp schedule will keep his players fresh and focused.

CHICAGO – With rules prohibiting two-a-day practices in camp this year, Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst and his staff had to devise a new schedule that they hope will keep the players fresh mentally and physically and allow them to gradually build momentum toward the Sept. 1 opener against Utah State. 

“I think the best thing to do is once they give you the legislation is embrace it and figure out a way to make it really good for your team,” Chryst said this week during the Big Ten preseason meetings. “So that’s what we’ve done.

“Do we know? No. We haven’t gone through it with this much time before a game. So you try to come up with a good plan and be ready to adjust it if you need to.”

UW’s camp spans 26 days – from Saturday through Aug. 23 – with 22 scheduled practices and four off-days.

Last year, camp opened Aug. 8 and lasted less than three full weeks.

Players from past teams rarely complained about practicing twice a day. Rather, they grew fatigued mentally by the overall length of camp and near the end their anticipation for the opener grew. 

“It is a longer camp so you don’t want to peak too soon,” Chryst said. “You don’t want to burn them out. It is a long season as it is.

“I think you’ve got to have a schedule but…how can you make changes and variations within the schedule? Because guys want to get into a rhythm and a routine. But how can you change it up to make sure it doesn’t become monotonous?”

The NCAA decided to do away with two-a-days in an attempt to improve player safety. But is it possible that more days of camp might negate any benefits?

“You’ve got to make sure you do all that you can to try to minimize that,” Chryst said when asked about injuries. "Two-a-days, just by definition, doesn’t mean there were more injuries.

“One more week doesn’t mean there’s more. We don’t know.

“And then we’ve all been around some of those injuries that just happen. So you just try to be smart with the plan and be willing to adjust it and listen to your players.”

RELATED:T.J. Edwards enters camp healthy

UW BY POSITION:QBs OL RBs

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​At home in Michigan: One look at the list of 19 players who have given UW an oral commitment for the 2018 class reveals an unusual pattern.

UW has as many commitments from Michigan (five) as from Wisconsin. 

The natural assumption is that UW is taking advantage of the struggles of Michigan State, which plummeted to a 3-9 mark last season after winning the Big Ten title and qualifying for the playoffs in 2015.

Chryst can’t speak publicly about specific players who have not signed but stressed the reasons for the uptick in commitments in Michigan has more to do with geography.

“For us, in recruiting, we're always going to start in Wisconsin,” he said. “And I think if we can keep the best players in the state there, it gives us a really good chance. And then it's going out wherever we go, and certainly going to start in the Big Ten footprint, but finding kids that are a good fit for Wisconsin.

“I think that’s the key to recruiting is finding kids that certainly athletically, but academically, socially...personality, all that, that fit Wisconsin.”

Captains named: UW’s captains for 2017 will be offensive lineman Michael Deiter, safety D’Cota Dixon, defensive lineman Conor Sheehy, tight end Troy Fumagalli and linebacker Jack Cichy.

"I think it is a good group," Chryst said, noting the player vote was held at the end of spring ball. "We didn't have the freshmen votes, which probably is a good move. They don't know. But I think it is a good cross-section."