Three years. THREE YEARS since we committed to this "modern offense" experiment and I still cannot tell you what our identity is supposed to be. You look at that ESPN offseason ranking and they probably gave us a C-plus or something for our portal work and I just sit here thinking about the 1999 Rose Bowl team. We ran the ball down UCLA's throat and dared them to stop us. We knew who we were. Now we are out here trying to be Oregon-lite with tempo and spread concepts and we keep losing the guys who actually understand what Wisconsin football is supposed to look like.
The portal giveth and the portal taketh away and frankly I am tired of the whole thing. We lost some kids this winter that I thought were going to be the backbone of this program for three or four years. Kids that sat in the stands at Camp Randall when they were 12 years old and dreamed about running through that tunnel. Now they see a bag from some SEC school or a starting job guarantee somewhere else and they are gone before the snow even melts. Barry Alvarez would have sat those kids down and told them you earn your carries in practice and you wait your turn. Now they do not even unpack their bags before they are entering the portal.
I remember when we had a fullback who knew every snap was going to be a handoff between the tackles and he was happy about it. I remember when our offensive line stayed together for four years and you could name all five of them by the time they were juniors. Now we are piecing together a line every spring from portal scraps and hoping they figure out how to communicate by September. That is not how you build a program that beats Ohio State or Michigan in November. That is how you go 7-5 and hope the Gator Bowl still remembers who you are.
The worst part is watching these other programs do it and get praised for it. Colorado brings in 43 transfers and everybody calls it innovative. Oklahoma State brings in 50 and they call it a bold rebuild. We bring in a handful of guys to patch holes and the national media acts like we are desperate. We are not desperate. We are trying to survive in a system that rewards loyalty to absolutely nothing except the next paycheck. I miss when a commitment meant something. I miss when your letter of intent was the last time you thought about leaving. I miss when we did not have to worry about some booster at another school offering our sophomore running back more money than my first house cost.
Notre Dame is coming to Camp Randall this fall and I cannot tell you a single thing about our roster with confidence. I do not know who is starting at quarterback. I do not know if our leading receiver from last year is still here or if he hit the portal in the winter window. I do not know if the offensive line is going to look like the 2011 group or if we are going to get pushed around like we did against some of those mid-tier Big Ten teams last year. That is not how it is supposed to feel in May. You are supposed to be ex...