Chryst says Badgers found the right fit in Justin Wilcox

MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin Badgers introduced former USC defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox as their new defensive coordinator on Monday afternoon, one month after former UW defensive coordinator Dave Aranda left for the same position at LSU.

Both Chryst and Wilcox said it was a long process to get where they are today, but both coaches the move is a good fit for everyone involved.

"When this whole process started it was important for us and for me to find a defensive coordinator who'd be a great fit for this university, and I think we did that," Chryst said Monday during his press conference. "I'm excited about that. I know our coaches are excited about that."

"The more people I talked to, the more Justin's name surfaced," Chryst said.

Chryst said he had know of Wilcox for a few years, both during his playing years and when he started his coordinating career at Boise State in 2006. Wilcox moved from Boise State to Tennessee in 2010, before moving to Washington in 2012. Wilcox then followed Steve Sarkisian from Washington to USC in 2014, but was fired at the end of the 2015 season by new head coach Clay Helton after Sarkisian was fired mid-season.

When asked about the end of his tenure at USC, Wilcox said there were a lot of different factors that prevented things from working out the way he wanted them to but added that he's taken time to reflect on what he could have done differently.

"I think that's the big thing, you look back and say 'How could I have done this better?'" Wilcox said. "Obviously the results are what drive this world of college football, but as long as we're doing the best things we can to help the team win then you can sleep good at night."

Wilcox said he can't worry about trying to replicate the success that the Badgers had on defense under Aranda either, in part because he wants to stay focused on preparing his players to have success.

"Our job as coaches is to prepare the guys on the team as best you can to help them have success," Wilcox said. "That's really my only goal, and I'm just a piece of the puzzle. If you add in these external things you might lose track of what's really important, and that's just preparing the team as best you can."

Wilcox said his defenses will use the 3-4 as their base in part because of their personnel, but added that he will play to the strengths of his roster and could change things up week by week to try and take advantage of a good matchup for his players.

Chryst said that willingness to focus on using the team's personnel the right way helped him find common ground with Wilcox during the hiring process, and said having an "all about the players" attitude will be a good fit as the team moves past National Signing Day on Wednesday and in to spring camp.

"I just kept feeling like it was a really great fit," Chryst said. "I'm excited for our players to be around Justin, as well as our coaches. I think he's going to bring a lot to us and add a lot of value to our staff."

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John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.