Badgers lose veteran defensive line coach
Breckterfield leaving, but receiver Pryor returning
MADISON - Paul Chryst, who has endured minimal staff turnover during his six seasons as Wisconsin's head coach, is in the market for a new defensive line coach.
Inoke Breckterfield, who coached under Chryst for three seasons at Pittsburgh before coming to UW, is set to be named the defensive line coach at Vanderbilt.
Bruce Feldman of Fox first reported the move Sunday and the Journal Sentinel confirmed the hiring with a source close to the UW staff.
Breckterfield joins the staff of firstyear head coach Clark Lea, who has been the defensive coordinator at Notre Dame for the last three seasons.
Later, senior wide receiver Kendric Pryor announced he is returning to UW next season.
UW offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph noted last month he thought there was a good chance both Pryor and fellow wide receiver Danny Davis would return in '21. Davis has not announced his intention.
Pryor suffered an apparent concussion at Michigan and was knocked out of the Indiana game. He did not play in UW's final four games.
He played in three games and recorded eight catches for 119 yards and rushed two times for 9 yards.
Lea and Breckterfield worked together in 2011 at UCLA. Breckterfield coached the defensive line; Lea coached linebackers.
Breckterfield's total compensation package at UW for the 2020-21 academic year was $425,000. Details of his new contract at Vanderbilt aren't known.
Because Vanderbilt is a private institution, schools officials are not required to provide compensation figures.
Chryst had to replace one assistant after the 2019 season when wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore took the job of tight ends coach at Michigan State.
UW hired Alvis Whitted, who coached wide receivers for the Green Bay Packers in 2019.
Chryst and Breckterfield have known each other since the 1990s.
Breckterfield was a standout defensive end at Oregon State from 1995-98 and Chryst was the Beavers' offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach in '97 and '98.
UW has allowed an average of 16.6 points per game and only 107.8 rushing yards per game in the last six seasons.
The Badgers held opponents to less than 100 rushing yards per game in five of the last six seasons. The outlier was in 2018, when UW's defensive line was hampered by injuries and inexperience and opponents rushed for 155.1 yards per game and 17 touchdowns.
Some of the linemen who excelled during Breckterfield's time at UW include current senior ends Garrett Rand and Isaiah Loudermilk, nose tackle Keeanu Benton and end Matt Henningsen, a former walk-on.
Although UW's offense struggled in 2020, the defense allowed only 17.6 points and 96.1 rushing yards per game. Opponents had only two rushing touchdowns in even games.
Rand and Loudermilk are expected to enter the 2021 NFL draft, stripping UW of two experienced play-makers.
Rand, Loudermilk and Henningsen helped anchor the front in 2019 when UW held opponents to 16.9 points and 99.8 rushing yards per game.
End Alec James, Chikwe Obasih and Conor Sheehy were seniors on the 2017 unit that limited teams to 99.8 rushing yards, 287.1 total yards and 16.9 points per game.
UW finished 13-1 that season and the trio of defensive ends were part of the winningest senior class in school history with their four-year record of 45-10.