When Dave Aranda left after last years Holiday Bowl, the Wisconsin Football program seemed to be at a lost. The leader of a dominate defense gone, and question marks started to circulate. In looking to fill the void, one name constantly floated around Head Coach Paul Chryst’s social circle. That name was Justin Wilcox.
Chryst reached out to Wilcox shortly after Wisconsin’s Holiday Bowl victory over USC, where Wilcox formally coached. Wilcox was let go before the Bowl game after a Pac-12 Title Game loss to Stanford. For whatever reason, USC fans were ecstatic. Head Coach Clay Helton was praised after the move.