Just saw that story about Ballard and Finley on the AD search committee and it got me thinking about something that has been gnawing at me for years now. We have lost the walk on culture at Wisconsin and nobody seems to care. That used to be our identity. That was the backbone of everything Barry Alvarez built in the 90s. You look at the 1993 Rose Bowl team and half those guys were walk ons or guys who got zero stars out of high school. We took kids from Wisconsin towns nobody heard of and turned them into Big Ten champions. That is gone now and it breaks my heart.
I remember watching the 1998 team and we had a fullback who walked on from some town up north nobody can pronounce. He opened holes for Ron Dayne and never complained once. That kid worked four years for a scholarship that might never come. He did it because he loved this program. Now you got kids transferrig in from other schools because they want playing time tomorrow. The portal killed the walk on. NIL killed the walk on. The whole system is set up so you either get a bag or you leave.
What happens to the kid from Waukesha who wants to try out? What happens to the third string linebacker who runs scout team for three years and then becomes a captain as a fifth year senior? Those stories are dying. We used to have a whole culture built around earning your stripes. You showed up in August and you proved it on the field. Now the roster is full of portal guys who are here for a year and gone. There is no loyalty. There is no development.
We need to get back to that. I do not care about five star recruits. I care about the kid from Wisconsin who grew up dreaming of running through the tunnel at Camp Randall. That is who built this program. That is who we need to get back to. The AD search committee needs to understand that. Ballard and Finley both know what real football looks like. I hope they remember where we came from.