Coaches Corner: Fenelus finds a home at UW once again
November 06, 2015 | Football, Mike Lucas
After journeyman professional career, former Badger settles in on coaching staff
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. -- Antonio Fenelus crossed time zones, and borders. He played outdoors, and indoors. He was an Indianapolis Colt, an Omaha Nighthawk, a Saskatchewan Roughrider and an Arizona Rattler.
All in pursuit of a dream.
After earning first-team All-Big Ten honors as a senior cornerback at Wisconsin, he probably wasn't banking on his post-college journey morphing into a professional football odyssey. But it did.
As an undrafted free agent, he had auditions with teams in the National Football League, the United Football League, the Canadian Football League and the Arena Football League.
And when Fenelus finally felt like he had found his niche in Arena ball, maybe even a home, he heard his knee snap after breaking up a pass. He went to the sideline with a torn ACL.
Undaunted, he embarked on the long rehab – determined to come back from the injury and play again – when fate intervened. Fenelus got a call from UW defensive coordinator Dave Aranda.
Shortly after surgery, Fenelus had reached out to former Badgers assistant Charlie Partridge, the second-year head coach at Florida Atlantic, about a coaching opening. But he didn't have any.
Former UW cornerback and assistant coach Ben Strickland, who had joined Partridge's staff, put in a good word for Fenelus with Aranda and Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst.
Not that Chryst needed an introduction to Fenelus.
Chryst was the Badgers' offensive coordinator while Fenelus was starting 32 of 52 games in the UW secondary and collecting 155 tackles and nine interceptions.
In 2011, Chryst's final season before taking the Pitt job, Fenelus was named one of four team MVPs, along with quarterback Russell Wilson, tailback Montee Ball and linebacker Mike Taylor.
Fenelus, who's Boca Raton, Florida, watched the Badgers beat Auburn in the 2015 Outback Bowl in Tampa. He was still in rehab mode. "I was still trying to make a comeback," he said.
But when offered a chance to be a Wisconsin grad assistant, he jumped at it.
"I was super-pumped to be able to come back and be a part of something great," Fenelus said.
There has been no looking back with any remorse about his pro football experience.
"It was a fun journey," he said. "I didn't want to have any regrets. I wanted to chase it (the dream) for as long as I felt like I needed to, and that's exactly what I did."
Fenelus was cut after the third preseason game with the Colts. He signed up to play eight games with the Knighthawks, but the Omaha team and the UFL shut down after the fourth game. Bankrupt.
"We got two checks," Fenelus said. "One for $1,000 and another for $500."
That was less than half of what he was expecting to get paid weekly. (He's a part of a lawsuit filed against the defunct league.) So he took a year off from playing and went back to Boca Raton.
Besides working as an assistant football coach with his old high school team, he coached track.
"I started working out with the guys and I didn't feel like I was done yet," said Fenelus. "I had an itch to play again. That's when I signed with the Saskatchewan Rough Riders."
Fenelus was in Canada for the preseason games but was cut before the regular season got underway. He returned to Florida, networked, and landed with the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena League.
"It's made for skill position guys," said Fenelus whose career was cut short with the knee injury. After fielding the coaching offer from the Badgers, he admitted, "It wasn't worth tearing it again."
So he welcomed a new career path and the chance to get started on a coaching career.
"That's my goal right now," said Fenelus, 25. "I'm just taking my time and trying to learn as much as I can. There's a lot more that goes into it – it's a lot different being a coach than a player."
Fenelus has the support of his fiancé and two small boys, ages 4 and 3. "She's willing to take this journey with me – to let me chase this (dream)," he said.
UW secondary coach Daronte Jones has become a role model. He came up the hard way with coaching stops at Lenoir-Rhyne College, Nichols State, Bowie State and two Louisiana high schools.
Jones paid his dues for nine years before getting to UCLA as a grad assistant.
"He's a great dude and I'm learning so much from him," Fenelus said, "Just hearing his story on how he became a coach and the paths that he took, I'm thankful to start at this level."
In addition to his scout team responsibilities, he has much to share with UW's corners. The 5-foot-8, 190-pound Fenelus compensated for his lack of size with techniques, footwork and smarts.
Who better to profile their work? When he was a senior, Darius Hillary was a freshman.
"He's a hard worker; Darius and (Michael) Caputo are in that same boat," Fenelus said. "They're dedicated and they're going to go beyond what you ask of them.
"He (Hillary) is kind of like me. I didn't do a lot of talking when I played and he's the same way. He lets his play handle everything on the field. He's physical on the runs and he just plays his game."
In 2013, Sojourn Shelton had an auspicious freshman debut with four picks in his first 10 games.
"He was special the way he was jumping routes and just playing the game," Fenelus said. "He has great instincts and passion. And he has so much potential. I keep reminding him, 'Live up to it.'"
Fenelus feels like sophomore Derrick Tindal has many of the same qualities.
"He's still maturing," Fenelus observed. "Another kid with a lot of potential. He just needs to play the game like he did in high school – understanding what level that he has to play at to be good."
Fenelus obviously has a soft spot in his heart for Florida-bred DBs. Tindal is from Fort Lauderdale; so is Shelton. Meanwhile, Titus Booker has impressed him as a freshman redshirt.
"He's fast and covers a lot of ground," Fenelus said. "He played a lot of running back in high school, so a lot of this stuff is new to him, the footwork and stuff, but he's picking it up really fast."
As a player, Fenelus wasn't a burner; he made up for the lack of straight-line speed with anticipation and attention to detail. Now he's conditioning others to think and play the same way.
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