Joe Rudolph coached seven seasons as Wisconsin’s associate head coach and offensive line coach, a homecoming for the UW alumnus who won Big Ten championships with the Badgers both as a player and assistant coach. Rudolph wrapped up his time in Madison with the conclusion of the 2021 season.
Rudolph returned to Madison in 2015 following a three-year stint as offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at Pittsburgh under UW head coach Paul Chryst.
A former Badgers captain who helped Wisconsin to Big Ten and Rose Bowl titles in the 1993 season, Rudolph also was UW’s tight ends coach from 2008 to 2011, winning two more Big Ten crowns with the most prolific offenses in school history.
He then followed Chryst to Pittsburgh and ran the Panthers’ offense from 2012-14, also serving as interim head coach for the 2015 Armed Forces Bowl.
In his first five seasons back at UW, Rudolph mentored five first-team All-Americans on the offensive line. That group is led by a pair of consensus All-America selections in tackle Ryan Ramczyk and Tyler Biadasz, who claimed the 2019 Rimington Trophy as the nation’s best center, as well as two-time first-team pick Beau Benzschawel.
Those five All-Americans were among the six Rudolph-coached linemen on NFL rosters in 2020. Ramczyk, who was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, was named first-team All-Pro in 2019.
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| Rudolph at a Glance |
| Hometown |
| Belle Vernon, Pa. |
| Alma Mater |
| Wisconsin, 1995 |
| Coaching Experience |
• Ohio State graduate assistant (2004-05)
• Ohio State strength coordinator (2006)
• Nebraska tight ends coach (2007)
• Wisconsin tight ends coach (2008-11)
• Pittsburgh offensive coordinator (2012-14)
• Wisconsin associate head coach/offensive coordinator
(2015-2021) |
| Bowl Games |
• 2004 Alamo Bowl (Ohio State)
• 2006 Fiesta Bowl (Ohio State)
• 2007 BCS National Championship (Ohio State)
• 2008 Champs Sports Bowl (Wisconsin)
• 2009 Champs Sports Bowl (Wisconsin)
• 2011 Rose Bowl (Wisconsin)
• 2012 Rose Bowl (Wisconsin)
• 2012 BBVA Compass Bowl (Pittsburgh)
• 2013 Little Caesers Pizza Bowl (Pittsburgh)
• 2015 Military Bowl (Pittsburgh)
• 2015 Holiday Bowl (Wisconsin)
• 2017 Cotton Bowl (Wisconsin)
• 2017 Orange Bowl (Wisconsin)
• 2018 Pinstripe Bowl (Wisconsin)
• 2020 Rose Bowl (Wisconsin) |
Three of Rudolph’s offensive lineman were named All-Americans for the 2017 season, led by first-team selections in Benzschawel at right guard and David Edwards at right tackle, with left tackle Michael Deiter named second-team All-America.
The Badgers’ imposing line — a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award presented to the nation’s top unit — led the way for a historic season by running back Jonathan Taylor in which he ran for 1,977 yards to set the FBS freshman rushing record. As a team, UW averaged 222.9 yards per game and 5.0 yards per carry.
With a pair of first-teamers in repeat All-Americans Benzschawel and Deiter, the Badgers’ line led the way for another historic season by Taylor in 2018: the sophomore rushed for 2,194 yards and 16 touchdowns en route to winning the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back.
Remarkably, the Badgers claimed four of the five O-line spots on the All-Big Ten first team with Benzschawel, Biadasz, Edwards and Deiter, who was named Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year.
Pro Football Focus rated Biadasz the nation’s top center, with sophomore reserve Cole Van Lanen graded as the top tackle in the country. Those two anchored the Badgers’ line in 2019, when Taylor rushed for another 2,003 yards and repeated as the Doak Walker Award winner.
Rudolph’s group also helped the Badgers excel through the air, with junior quarterback Jack Coan completing a school-record 236 passes for 2,727 yards, the third-highest single-season total in UW history. Coan enters his senior season ranked third all-time at Wisconsin in completion percentage (68.0%) and passing efficiency (144.7).
Under Rudolph’s direction in 2016, Ramczyk and Co. helped pave the way for first-team All-Big Ten running back Corey Clement to average 105.8 rushing yards per game and score 15 touchdowns. As a team, the Badgers averaged 203.1 rushing yards per game.
Little came easy for Rudolph’s unit during the first season of his return to Madison in 2015, with the Badgers forced to use eight different starting lineups on an offensive line beset by injuries. By the end of the 2015 season, Rudolph was using four redshirt freshmen to complement senior All-Big Ten selection Tyler Marz.
The payoff for one of Rudolph’s best coaching jobs was a 10-3 season that culminated with a win over USC in the Holiday Bowl.
Senior WR Alex Erickson earned first-team All-Big Ten honors after making 77 catches for 978 yards, while senior QB Joel Stave became UW’s all-time winningest quarterback while setting school records for passing attempts and completions. The Badgers averaged a school-record 32.2 passing attempts per game.
UW’s performance came on the heels of Pittsburgh enjoying its most productive year offensively under Rudolph in 2014, averaging 31.8 points and 435.4 yards per game. Pitt ranked No. 3 in the ACC in total offense and No. 5 in the league in scoring offense.
Much of that production came from sophomore RB James Conner, who earned 2014 ACC Player of the Year honors by rushing for 1,765 yards and an ACC single-season record 26 touchdowns.
In all, Rudolph’s offensive players at Pitt earned a total of 12 all-conference honors. That included two-time All-ACC performer Tyler Boyd, who earned Freshman All-America honors in 2013.
In his first coaching stint with the Badgers, directing UW’s tight ends, Rudolph contributed to the two highest-scoring offenses in school history. The Badgers averaging 44.1 points per game in 2011 and 41.5 points per game in 2010 en route to back-to-back Big Ten championships.
He coached four UW tight ends that earned playing time in the NFL in Travis Beckum, Garrett Graham, Lance Kendricks and Jake Byrne. Beckum was taken in the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the New York Giants, Kendricks was a second-round pick of the St. Louis Rams in 2011 and Graham was selected in the fourth round by the Houston Texans in 2010.
Kendricks was a first-team All-American and finalist for the John Mackey Award as a senior in 2010, leading the Badgers in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns.
Rudolph served as tight ends coach at Nebraska in 2007. He also assisted on all special teams units, overseeing the punt team. Prior to Nebraska, Rudolph served as a strength coordinator (2006) and offensive graduate assistant coach (2004-05) at Ohio State, with the Buckeyes playing in the 2007 BCS National Championship game.
Rudolph entered coaching after earning his master’s degree in business administration from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University.
Rudolph played two seasons in the NFL, earning a roster spot with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1995 before joining the San Francisco 49ers in 1997.
A standout lineman, Rudolph was a member of head coach Barry Alvarez’s first recruiting class at Wisconsin.
He went on to earn three letters (1992-94) and help the Badgers to the 1993 Big Ten title and 1994 Rose Bowl victory. Rudolph was a team captain in 1994, a year that ended with a victory in the Hall of Fame Bowl on New Year’s Day.
A three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection, Rudolph was the team’s 1994 Scholastic Award winner and went on to play in the East-West Shrine Game and Senior Bowl. He earned his bachelor’s degree in zoology in 1995.
Rudolph is a native of Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Dawn, have three sons, Alex, Andrew and Austin.
