Bostad's time with the Badgers came to an end at the conclusion of the 2022 season. Bostad coached the offensive line for one season and the inside linebacks for five.
This was his second stint with the program he helped reach unprecedented offensive success during a six-year run that saw the Badgers claim a pair of Big Ten championships. Overall, he has 24 years of experience coaching offensive linemen at the college and professional levels.
For Bostad, coaching the Badgers' offensive line marks a return to the role that saw him help Wisconsin build the most explosive offenses in school history while churning out an impressive list of pro linemen. Bostad previously served as UW's offensive line coach for four seasons (2008-11), developing nine players who went on to become NFL draft picks, including three first-round selections in Gabe Carimi (2010 Outland Trophy winner), Kevin Zeitler and Travis Frederick. In addition, eight of Bostad's pupils would go on to be named first-team All-America.
Frederick became the NFL’s highest-paid center in 2016 and Zeitler signed the largest contract by a guard in NFL history in 2017, the same year another of Bostad’s players, Rick Wagner, became the league’s highest-paid right tackle.
With Bostad as run game coordinator and O-line coach under Paul Chryst — then UW's offensive coordinator — the Badgers won back-to-back Big Ten championships on the strength of an offense that averaged 41.5 points per game in 2010 and 44.1 points per contest in 2011. Bostad's line helped pave the way for RB Montee Ball to rush for 1,923 yards and match Barry Sanders' single-season record with 39 touchdowns on his way to being a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2011. That front also protected QB Russell Wilson, who set an FBS record for passing efficiency, at 191.8, and threw for 3,175 yards and 33 touchdowns. The Badgers averaged at least 200.0 rushing yards per game in each of Bostad’s five seasons as run game coordinator, leading the Big Ten in rushing three times.
Bostad's first two seasons on staff at Wisconsin (2006-07) were as tight ends coach. Three of his players at that position — Owen Daniels, Travis Beckum and Garrett Graham — were drafted by NFL teams. Beckum was a first-team All-American and finalist for the John Mackey Award in 2007 and set both UW’s single-season and career records for receptions and receiving yards by a tight end. Daniels was a two-time Pro Bowl selection with the Houston Texans and won a Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos.
After leaving Wisconsin following the 2011 season, Bostad spent four seasons on NFL staffs as an O-line coach, first in Tampa Bay and then with Tennessee (2014-15). His time with the Titans included drafting and developing Pro Bowl tackle Taylor Lewan, who was named to the Pro Football Writers Association All-Rookie Team in 2014.
Upon returning to the Badgers' staff in 2017 and coaching on defense for the first time, Bostad mentored two more first-team All-Americans in T.J. Edwards (2017) and Leo Chenal (2021). Both were finalists for the Butkus Award, while Ryan Connelly (2018) also was a semifinalist for the award presented to the nation's top linebacker.
Edwards, Connelly, Jack Cichy and Chris Orr each have gone on to play linebacker in the NFL after being coached by Bostad, with Chenal selected in the 2022 NFL Draft. Jack Sanborn, a first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2021, also signed with the Chicago Bears as a free agent.
Across his 11 years on staff at UW, Bostad has directly coached 11 first-team All-Americans.
Bostad graduated from UW-Stevens Point in 1989 with a degree in physical education. He was a four-year starter as a linebacker for the Pointers and earned all-conference mention each year.
Bostad is a native of Pardeeville, Wisconsin. He has three daughters, Rachel, Bryn and Annika; and a son, John.
Bostad’s Coaching Career
1990-91: Offensive Line, UW-Stevens Point
1992-94: Graduate Assistant (Offensive Line), Minnesota
1995-96: Offensive Line, California State Northridge
1997: Offensive Line, San Jose State
1998: Co-Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line, San Jose State
1999-2005: Offensive Line, New Mexico
2006-07: Tight Ends, Wisconsin
2008-11: Offensive Line, Wisconsin
2012-13: Offensive Line, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2014-15: Offensive Line, Tennessee Titans
2016: Tight Ends/Fullbacks, Northern Illinois
2017-21: Inside Linebackers, Wisconsin
2022-present: Offensive Line, Wisconsin
