Climbing up the ladder quickly
Former walk-on Seltzner may start for Badgers
MADISON – Josh Seltzner wasn’t the headliner of Wisconsin’s 2017 football recruiting class.
Seltzner, from Columbus High School, was among six offensive linemen who joined the program in 2017.
Kimberly’s Logan Bruss, Port Washington’s Tyler Beach, Menomonie’s Alex Fenton and Middleton’s Kayden Lyles were scholarship signees.
Seltzner and Waunakee’s Blake Smithback were preferred walk-ons. Fast-forward to today. Seltzner, a 6-foot-4, 327-pound redshirt sophomore, is already on scholarship and, with
UW having to replace four starters, has been working with the No. 1 unit at right guard in camp.
“He works,” redshirt junior center Tyler Biadasz said when asked to describe the key to Seltzner’s rise. “He works very hard. He always does the absolute most he can do, whether it is in the weight room, whether it is in conditioning drills.
“Whatever we’re doing, he is always going as hard as he possibly can.”
Fifth-year senior Jason Erdmann, another former walk-on; Seltzner; and Lyles, who played defensive end last season, have been the top three guards in camp.
“He has been in the program now so he is playing (confidently),” head coach Paul Chryst said of Seltzner. “There is that learning phase, then there is having confidence in what I’m doing. Then there is (playing) physically…because I’m not thinking. That plays into his strengths, because he is a physical player.”
Seltzner's rise isn't a surprise to Chryst or offensive line coach Joe Rudolph.
When UW's coaches invited him to join the program as a walk-on, they believed they were getting an athletic big
man. In addition to playing on the offensive and defensive lines at Columbus, Seltzner was on the basketball team and participated in the shot put and discus in track. He also wrestled from kindergarten through eighth grade.
He finished fifth in the Division 2 shot put at the WIAA state track and field meet as a sophomore and junior and then won the shot put title and finished fifth in the discus as a senior.
“He certainly has size and strength and he's got good quickness for his size,” Chryst said. “He's got some movement skills. Now it is can you do it first, and then can you do it consistently? He has shown he is able to do it.
“We were excited when he walked on. And then it is: ‘What has he done since?' “He has put the work in.” Seltzner, who attended UW games with his family while growing up in Columbus, had zero Division I scholarship offers. Several FCS programs were interested.
“I figured I would check them out and see what they were all about,” Seltzner said of the FCS programs.
His plans changed after he attended a camp at UW during the summer before his senior season.
What changed?
“They noticed me,” he said of the UW coaches. “Coach Rudolph pulled me aside and told me that he wants me here and he was going to stay in contact with me. Sure enough, a month later I took an unofficial visit and I loved every second of it. My mind was made up.”
Seltzner made his mark on the defensive line as a sophomore and junior at Columbus but then got more work on offense as a senior. He was named to the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association all-state team on offense that season.
His great football love, before coming to UW, was on defense.
His mother, Carmin Seltzner, deserves credit for that.
“My mom would pay me for sacks in youth games,” Seltzner said. “I loved playing D-line. It was so much fun tackling the quarterback.”
How much did he earn from mom? “It was 20 bucks a sack,” Seltzner
said, eliciting laughter from a small group of inquiring reporters.
How much?
“One game it was 120 bucks or something like that,” he said.
How did he spend the money? “Probably on video games at the time,” he said. “A lot of video games.
“She finally cut me off. …She still gets a crack out of it.”
Just as he earned $20 per sack playing youth football, Seltzner had to earn a scholarship, which he received early last season from Chryst.
While UW was posting a 13-1 mark in 2017, Seltzner was redshirting and learning about life in the Big Ten by working on the scout team. He battled linemen Conor Sheehy, Alec James, Chikwe Obasih and Olive Sagapolu every day in practice. Toss in the top four linebackers – T.J. Edwards, Ryan Connelly, Leon Jacobs and Garret Dooley – and Seltzner faced outstanding talent for several months.
“We had a bunch of brutes on the Dline,” said Seltzner, who played in 12 of 13 games last season. “It has allowed me to become a better player, understanding those are the types of guys you're going to go against.
“There were many times that you realized you have to step up your game and give them a good look to be able to compete on Saturdays.”
Seltzner stepped up his game, earned a scholarship and now could be on the No. 1 line when UW opens the season Aug. 30 at South Florida.
“It is kind of fun to see as a coach," Chryst said. "There will be opportunities and with the exodus of a number of people, the work that he has been doing has now given him a chance to make the most of this.”