Multiple reports are confirming what has been rumor for weeks: former Badgers offensive line coach Joe Rudolph is heading east to Blacksburg.
While it hasn’t been officially announced by Virginia Tech as of the moment I’m writing this sentence, former Wisconsin Badgers offensive line coach/run game coordinator/associate head coach/offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph is leaving Madison and will be joining Brent Pry’s first staff in Blacksburg.
Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting the news as well as Colten Bartholomew of the Wisconsin State Journal.
#Badgers Joe Rudolph says this is a difficult day but one can that eventually benefit both sides.
— Jeff Potrykus (@jaypo1961) January 3, 2022
Rudolph, a Wisconsin alum, has been coaching with Paul Chryst since 2008 when he was the tight ends coach at UW. He followed Chryst to Pitt and then returned to Madison when Chryst took the head coaching job at UW in 2015. Rudolph was a member of head coach Barry Alvarez’s first recruiting class at Wisconsin. He won Big Ten titles in Madison as both a player and a coach.
A native of Pennsylvania, Rudolph told Potrykus that moving closer to his home was a big benefit of the Va. Tech job.
While many people, myself included, were clamoring for change on the offensive coaching staff it is worth noting that Rudolph, by all accounts, is a beloved coach by his players and co-workers and has had nothing but good things to say about Wisconsin and Chryst on his way out the door.
People may scoff, but losing Joe Rudolph is tough for Wisconsin. Great program man, super recruiter, and a solid coach. Still, this is an opportunity for Chryst to shake up staff. Could move ILB coach Bob Bostad back to OL, give OLB Bobby April both LB positions, and hire an OC.
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) January 3, 2022
We’ll have a post up later this week taking a look at what directions Chryst could choose to go in now that he has to rework his staff.
— Joe Rudolph (@CoachJoeRudolph) January 3, 2022
UPDATE, 1:00 p.m. CT, Jan. 3:
Virginia Tech has officially announced Joe Rudolph as joining their coaching staff. He will serve as Brent Pry’s associate head coach/run game coordinator/offensive line coach.