BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer

MADISON, Wis. – Whether it's safety Hunter Wohler positioned closer to the ball like a linebacker in one defensive package or linebacker Darryl Peterson playing in space like a safety in another, there have been on-going adjustments individually to a new scheme throughout the spring.

While there are variables with each personnel grouping, there are also constants. Moreover, they apply to the team as a whole. Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell accented them before the first practice. Preaching togetherness, he said, "You do it with speed. You do it with energy. You do it with passion."

The defense has definitely been doing everything with speed and/or tempo.

"It's just fast-paced," Wohler described. "It's non-stop. It's go, go, go."

As a result, the energy has been high, high, high.

"That has to do with us going so fast," said Peterson. "We have no choice but to bring energy."

Or passion. Especially in matching up with the UW's up-tempo, no huddle offensive attack.

"It's literally so fast," Peterson said. "It's not anything scheme-wise that is a challenge to me really. But the tempo itself is harder than any scheme they could run. They're keeping us on our toes. It's mentally tough. We've got to get back to the line real fast. Get the call. Execute the call."

Added Wohler, "It's obviously different from last spring ball and last camp and everything. Now the offense is going hurry-up so defensively you have to play the play, come back, get the play and get ready to go right away. There's no standing around."

The big picture benefits are obvious, too, according to Wohler. "It's going to prepare us for teams like Ohio State that are going to throw the ball around and try to spread you out. Playing in the Big Ten we're going to need a little bit of that and we're going to need a little bit of defending the run.

"Playing against our offense right now is just preparing us for the future."

Competing with tempo was an emphasis during winter conditioning. And it has translated.

"In a way it was just like our practices – fast-paced, fast tempo, speed, speed, speed," Peterson said. "We got a lot in … in a short amount of time, which I love. We were able to do as much as we did last off-season but in a 45-minute to an hour period. We get in. We get out. We get great work.

"They've done a great job making us compete. It's the most competitive since I've been here."

Peterson, a redshirt sophomore from Akron, Ohio, touched on the key word. Compete.

"This winter, we really got after it and we got after each other," Wohler said of the competition in the weight room and indoor facility. "It was every day … somebody going against somebody else … it pushes you more than if you're doing it on your own and you have to get that motivation internally.

"One of the things that I liked from this winter was how up-tempo and intense it was. It's very much like practice."

Wohler, a junior from Muskego, endorsed how the group has been tested through a variety of challenges, tug-of-wars, etc., some more unique than others. "Nothing crazy," he said. "But things that really make you compete and really make you work for it instead of getting it handed to you almost."

In fighting for your turf, standing your ground, he noted, "It's kind of like life."

The attitude filters down from the top, from Fickell who will be the big 5-0 in August. At Ohio State, he started 50 consecutive games on the D-line. Last November, Fickell appeared on the Pat McAfee Show.

Fickell coached one of McAfee's co-hosts, A.J. Hawk, the former Packer linebacker. It was during Fickell's appearance that Hawk suggested that Fickell was the toughest dude that he has ever been around, bar none, including Fickell's close friend and former Buckeyes teammate, Mike Vrabel.

Toughness can manifest itself in different ways. For Fickell, it's often about answering the bell. Fighting through bumps and bruises to play or practice. Toughness is one of Fickell's buzz words along with speed, togetherness and passion. He's fond of saying, "How you do anything is how you do everything."

In the Fickell playbook, spring practice is a critical building block.

"Everybody gets the same amount of days. Not everybody gets the same out of them."

It's another saying that he has shared with his UW players. His coaches reflect that attitude.

"He's intense and I love it," Peterson said of defensive coordinator Mike Tressel, who was with Fickell at Cincinnati. "He wants to be great, and I feel like it's rubbing off on us because we want to live up to his expectations. I've enjoyed being part of his journey."

On adjusting to Tressel's system, Wohler said, "Every single day you start to feel a little more comfortable."

Asked about that transition to a new defensive approach, Wohler went on, "It has been a big adjustment for sure. With the new defensive scheme, it's almost like starting from ground zero. But the guys are growing, not only in the safety room, but across the field."

That applies to Peterson. "I've been placed in a little bit more of a leader's role," he said. "And I've been asked to play different positions. In our new dollar package (featuring two down linemen, three linebackers, six DBs), I'm off the ball the whole time and playing the deep half sometimes.

"It's a lot of space to cover and I've got a different respect for those safeties and corners who are out there for the entire game. It has been a big changeup for me. But I feel like the coaches have been patient and they've kind of allowed me to just grow with it.

"I'm excited to keep getting better, which I feel I have so far, and I want to just keep growing," continued Peterson, who believes that he has reached an early crossroads. "I don't want to be a roller coaster anymore. I feel like I'm getting to that point in my career where I want to be consistent.

"I want to be a leader and I want to be a voice for the younger guys. These past couple of years, I can't say that I was having as much fun as I would have liked. I have high expectations for myself and to be honest with you I wasn't reaching them."

With the new staff, Peterson wants to take advantage of his playing opportunities – wherever he lines up defensively – as an edge rusher or a box safety or whatever is called for. Keep in mind that the 6-1, 247-pound Peterson functioned almost entirely out of a 4-point stance in high school.

"It's been tough on him," Fickell said of Peterson transitioning to different assignments this spring. "I think he's done a really good job. He's got a great attitude. He works really, really hard. He's out here every single day (earning bonus points, no doubt, from Fickell for his commitment to practice.)

"We might be putting him in some positions that are not real natural to him. But, all in all, it's going to make him a better football player in the long run. Maybe it's not the most comfortable but it's going to make him a much more well-rounded football player.

"It's on us now to get him into a position as we get closer to the season – not now – to where he's going to best fit, not just us, but himself and his future. Most importantly, in the first year, you've got to find out what guys can do.

"Guys need to understand the concepts to what we're doing as opposed to specifically what position you play. In the long run, it will make us a better football team and defense and make him a better player."

Peterson has appreciated the confidence that the coaches have shown in him. Their patience has been timely, too. "They've done a great job of letting us play through our mistakes," he said. "Which has been great for us, especially the young guys who haven't had a chance to play much.

"We're not afraid to mess up which is going to help us in the long run."

Wohler's job description has also been expanding. "We have safeties playing all over the field right now," he said. "It's fun. You get to learn new positions. You get to understand the game and have a greater football knowledge (overall).

"Being able to play different roles on the field, it makes you more versatile. It makes you more skilled. We have plenty of personnels that we can match up with whatever the offense wants to bring, giving us the best chance of winning."

Wohler kept coming back to how the defensive tempo has been emphasized and accelerated. "They're preparing us for the games," he said. "The big reason for changing the tempo was to make us think when we're under pressure, when we don't have the time to catch our breath.

"When you're tired, you don't have much time to think about your responsibilities. You just have to know them and you just have to go. That's really what coach Fick and coach Tress are teaching. You have to work under pressure and you can't panic."

On his personal goals for the spring, Wohler said, "The biggest thing is my effort. When the ball is snapped, doing my job, but then getting to wherever I need to be. That's the big thing the coaches have been preaching. Do your job and then finish the play. End it."

Generally speaking, the process has been no different this March and April than it has been in the past. "You learn in the classroom, and you come out here and you put it on tape," Wohler said. "The confidence builds every single day. By the end of spring, our confidence will be high for sure."

Wohler and Peterson are both looking forward to practicing in front of Badger fans at what has been billed as 'The Launch' on Saturday, April 22, at Camp Randall Stadium. "It will be fun to roll out the new team," Wohler said, "and show a little bit of what we've got."

Peterson was in full agreement. "I feel it will be good for the fans to see that this is new, this isn't anything that we've done maybe in history. It's going to be a lot faster tempo. We're going to give them something a lot different."

Togetherness. Speed. Energy. Passion. That's Fickell's check list for getting off on the right foot.

It's no different from his playing days when he cultivated the toughness that won over Hawk.