BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — After studying the Wisconsin offensive line's motivational handiwork — a self-generated list of qualities or characteristics that were "owned" and others that were still to be "earned" — Chris McIntosh came away impressed by not only the earnestness in setting goals but the drive in striving to meet them.
His curiosity was definitely piqued.
"There wasn't anything earth-shattering on the list to those who are familiar with the tradition or heritage of what it means to be an O-lineman here," said McIntosh, a consensus All-American left tackle and Outland Trophy finalist with the Badgers in 1999.
"As someone who's an alumnus and a part of that fraternity, it was really refreshing to see a group of young men come up with a list like that on their own … I took each one of these characteristics and thought about some of the tangible stories that would support them."
Regardless of the title, or job description, he has always welcomed the opportunity to get back in the trenches. (In early February, the 39-year-old McIntosh was named Associate Athletic Director for Business Development after a 14-month stint as a director of development at Wisconsin.)
After UW offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph asked McIntosh to speak to the offensive line this spring, he also shared with him the aforementioned list. So before addressing the group, McIntosh did some advance work, dialing up substantive examples/stories from his career to illustrate points.
"They want to be a family unit," said McIntosh, quoting from the list. "They want to earn that. They want to be seen as that. They want their actions to communicate that. And we talked about what that means. How do you do that? I talked about what my unit (O-line) used to do."
Among other feel-good things, they would celebrate the Fourth of July together — McIntosh, the left tackle; Bill Ferrario, the left guard; Casey Rabach, the center; Dave Costa, the right guard; and a right tackle to be named year to year. McIntosh played with Jerry Wunsch, Aaron Gibson and Mark Tauscher.
Whenever Ferrario's mom Sandra made the trip to Madison from Scranton, Pennsylvania, it was a holiday. "She would make authentic Italian meatballs for us," said McIntosh, acknowledging, "There were so many little stories like that — one after another (confirming their bond)."
As a unit, the 2016 offensive line wants to be "smart, tough, dependable."
"Kind of the battle cry for Paul Chryst's teams," McIntosh pointed out.
Two other words, consistent and durable, he learned, also carry weight with the players topping the spring depth chart: centers Dan Voltz (who's rehabbing from ACL surgery) and Michael Deiter; guards Jon Dietzen, Beau Benzschawel and Micah Kapoi; tackles Ryan Ramczyk and Jacob Maxwell.
After McIntosh was quizzed on consistent and durable — "What did that look like for you guys?" — he summarily got in touch with Rabach to make sure that he had his facts straight before proceeding with a history lesson. His starting point, fittingly, was career starts.
McIntosh started 50 games; the first Wisconsin player to ever do so.
"I was the second player in Big Ten history to start 50," McIntosh said.
The first was Ohio State tailback Archie Griffith, a two-time Heisman Trophy winner.
Ferrario, a year younger than McIntosh, also ended up starting 50 games. Rabach missed one start in four years. Wunsch, Gibson and Tauscher never missed a start. Costa missed only one during his first three years before breaking his leg in the fourth game of his senior season.
Doing the math, McIntosh noted, "Up until the Costa injury, there were two missed starts in the course of four years for the five guys starting on the offensive line.
"One of the things that I communicated (to this year's O-line) is that it didn't happen by accident. It's not that all five of us felt like we were at 100 percent for each of those games. But there was a desire to leave it all out there for your teammates and, certainly, for that unit.
"To be consistent on the O-line is imperative … there was such chemistry built between those five positions."
Inconsistency was avoided at all costs. Not playing was not an option, either, raising a time-honored question. "Distinguishing between being injured and being hurt, the old adage," said McIntosh. "I shared with them the story of my right thumb hanging off my hand in the wrong direction."
That was during the 1998 opener at San Diego State. He didn't miss a snap. "I shared with them playing in the Rose Bowl with a steel plate in my shoe because I had a broken foot," said McIntosh, who had many more stories about his linemates playing "hurt" because that's how they were built.
"At that time, we dictated the tempo of practice," he said of the offensive lines that opened holes for the NCAA's all-time leading rusher, '99 Heisman winner Ron Dayne, and helped carry the Badgers to back-to-back Rose Bowls. McIntosh and linebacker Donnel Thompson captained both teams.
On the topic of leadership, McIntosh said, "My advice to them was to lead authentically. Don't be someone that you're not. Not everyone has to be a cheerleader or a rah-rah guy. A unit of five guys can dictate what your practice is like and the energy comes from that."
While citing the importance of carrying over that role as a tempo-setters to the games, McIntosh added, "I said to them, 'There are guys in this room that have the ability to be leaders — true leaders (and captains) — in addition to the unit being a program leader."
McIntosh could not have been more pleased by the tone of the dialogue.
"Honestly," he said, "it made me proud to hear their thought process; how they want to view things, what they want to be known for. It was very unselfish. Nowhere along the conversation did they want to be known for their accolades or achievements. It was so consistent with the tradition here."
As a sophomore in 1997, McIntosh was the "veteran" on an offensive line with four redshirt freshmen starters (Ferrario, Rabach, Costa, Wunsch). "They just went through a similar process," he said, pointing to last year's growing pains due to youth and injuries. "That experience pays dividends …
"And now is when you reap the benefits of that. I'm really excited to watch them this year and anxious to see the strides that they make.
"And it will be necessary that they do so if the team is going to accomplish what they want to."
McIntosh's words resonated with the players even those who didn't know of his legacy.
Ramczyk, for one, wasn't previously familiar with McIntosh's history.
"But I thought it was really cool," said Ramczyk, "when he talked about being a family, how those guys bonded together; they were brothers. They were there for each other, on and off the field. And he talked about how hanging out off the field with each other will translate to on the field."
On developing a level of commitment and togetherness that can rival those O-lines of the late '90s, Ramczyk said, "It has come a long way (this spring) since we really constructed this offensive line that we have now. But guys are opening up to each other and I think it will continue to grow."
