The offensive position with arguably the most question marks heading into the 2006 Badger football season has a new man in charge. John Settle, who has coached 6 of 13 1,000-yard rushers during his eight years at Fresno State, has been hired as the new running backs coach at Wisconsin, head coach Bret Bielema announced Wednesday.
Settle replaces former running backs coach and co-offensive coordinator Brian White, who had been with the Badgers for 11 years under Barry Alvarez.
'John's experience as a college and NFL running back, as well as the coaches he has both played for and coached with, makes him an ideal person to coach our backfield,' Bielema said in a UW release. 'He has been successful coaching both NFL and college running backs. We are very fortunate to have him join us.'
Settle has playing experience at both the collegiate and professional level.
A four-year letterman at Appalachian State, Settle finished as the school's career rushing leader with 4,409 yards (then third-most in NCAA Division I-AA history) and 43 touchdowns. He was the Southern Conference Player of the Year as a senior and two-time All-American.
Settle signed with the Atlanta Falcons as a free agent and played a total of six seasons in the NFL.
With the departure of Brian Calhoun to the NFL and Booker Stanley's dismissal from the team earlier this month, UW returns only two backs, junior Dywon Rowan and sophomore Jamil Walker, with game experience. Complicating matters, freshman P.J. Hill, the most promising of the young Wisconsin backs, was recently suspended for violating the student-athlete discipline policy and his status with the team has yet to be determined.
