Lucas: New faces on defense look to make an impact
April 25, 2023 | Football, Mike Lucas
Transfers Maitre and Pietrowski adding experience to Badgers
BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. – The Most Valuable Player roll call was lengthy and unprecedented. Jack Cichy. Garret Dooley. Joe Ferguson. Lubern Figaro. Troy Fumagalli. Rachid Ibrahim. Leon Jacobs. Natrell Jamerson. Alex James. Chikwe Obasih. Austin Ramesh. Conor Sheehy. Derrick Tindal.
At the 2017 Wisconsin football banquet, the MVP award was shared by the 13 seniors. As a class, they posted a four-year record of 45-10 (29-5 in the Big Ten, 11-1 in rivalry games). During that span, the Badgers won three Big Ten West titles and four bowls (Outback, Holiday, Cotton and Orange).
Figaro, for one, played in 50 games with 11 starts. He was often utilized as a nickel, or hybrid-defensive back. Born in Haiti, his family immigrated to the United States when he was 4. Growing up, his passion was hoops. In fact, he didn't play football until his freshman year at Everett (Mass.) High School.
Long story short, Wisconsin slot corner Jason Maitre is also an Everett alum. After playing five seasons at Boston College, he entered the transfer portal. "During the process," Maitre said, "I talked to Lubern Figaro." And he heard nothing but positive things about the school, campus and conference.
Maitre did his background checks. He also spoke with one of his former BC teammates, Tyler Vrabel, an offensive linemen now on the Atlanta Falcons practice squad. Vrabel is the son of Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel, a former Ohio State teammate of Luke Fickell. To this day, they remain close.
"When I talked with Tyler, he said that coach Fick was just like an uncle to him and how good of a guy he is," Maitre related. "I needed a guy who could develop me in my last year (of college ball) – really coach me hard and get me to where I need to get, on and off the field."
Maitre had his bases covered with Figaro endorsing the UW program and Vrabel endorsing Fickell. Factoring into his change of heart – initially he was transferring to Liberty before buying into the Badgers – was Fickell's hiring of veteran Paul Haynes to coach the corners. He views Haynes as a mentor.
"I just felt like for me, personally, I needed a change for myself," Maitre said of his decision to leave Boston College. "I don't want to say that I was comfortable there – I felt like I had to compete. But I just needed a fresh start. When I found out coach Fick was taking this job, it was a no-brainer for me.
"Being here has been eye-opening on how great of a football coach and good of a person he is."
&&&
There was a pathway for Jeff Pietrowski, the Michigan State transfer, and Maitre to be teammates long before they crossed timelines here. During the early stages of recruiting – February of 2019 – Pietrowski was offered scholarships by a number of Power Five programs, including Boston College.
Back then, Maitre was completing his first year at BC.
Pietrowski, a defensive end at St. Edward High School (Lakewood, Ohio), also got offers from Cincinnati, Pitt, Purdue, Minnesota, Rutgers and Michigan State, to name just a few. In December of '19, he signed with the Spartans whose head coach then Mark Dantonio said, "He's a relentless guy."
A few months later, Dantonio stepped down and Mel Tucker took over the program. Tucker retained linebackers coach Mike Tressel, a longtime Dantonio assistant. "I've known him (Tressel) since my sophomore year in high school," Pietrowski said. "He had a great relationship with my coaches."
Tressel was a big reason why Pietrowski was in East Lansing.
"He had recruited me to Michigan State," Pietrowski said. "That relationship was pretty strong."
Tressel stayed with the Spartans for one season – Pietrowski's freshman year – before joining Luke Fickell's staff at Cincinnati. Pietrowski got to know Fickell a little bit during the recruiting process after the Bearcats offered him. His connection with Tressel and Fickell led him to Madison.
"With coach Fickell and coach Tressel coming here (UW), it just made sense and felt right," Pietrowski said. "It's a program that I always had a lot of respect for. I knew they had a great culture and they were tough. When they added guys that I kind of knew, it seemed like the perfect opportunity."
Pietrowski made the most of his time at Michigan State. "My time was good," he reaffirmed. "For sure, there are elements of a fresh start now. And then there are elements of, 'You've been playing football for a long time, it's just a new place with new people. Football is football.'
"I just want to be the best teammate I can and help Wisconsin football be the best it can be."
In 2021, the Spartans were at their best, and so was Pietrowski, who logged 483 snaps and finished with 33 tackles (7 TFLs, 5.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles) on a MSU team that went 11-2. "That was kind of my breakout year," Pietrowski said. "You have all the momentum and expectations were high."
It was all short-lived. In 2022, Michigan State, minus tailback Kenneth Walker who had moved on to the NFL, struggled to a 5-7 record, 3-6 in the Big Ten. Pietrowski suffered a leg injury in the third game at Washington and was lost for the season. "To have it end like that was tough," he admitted.
His bad luck and/or timing followed him to Madison. This spring, he was sidelined for three weeks with mono. "It was tough getting out there for practice and then getting sick," he said. "It's tough because you're just excited to play, excited to get back into the rhythm and then you have to sit out."
Nonetheless, while inactive, he said, "It was good to watch the guys. Every rep, whether you're in it or not, you can get a mental rep out of it. Being in film sessions, trying to learn the defense and help guys out, that helped me a lot to where at least schematically I can be on-point with everything."
On transitioning from playing defensive end in Michigan State's 4-3 base to Tressel's Badger scheme, Pietrowski said, "Playing on the edge is playing on the edge. Defensive end-outside linebacker are pretty similar in 70 percent of it. The coverage stuff is a little bit different, more complicated drops.
"But he (Tressel) tries to craft the personnel to whatever the situation. He's a brilliant guy. Ultra-competitive. And his defenses take on that image. They're going to be competitive and they're going to run to the ball. Whatever the situation, we have that ability to get our best personnel on the field."
Pietrowski and Maitre were the only scholarship transfers on defense to see action in Saturday's scrimmage at Camp Randall Stadium. Defensive end Darian Varner, a Temple transfer, has not taken part in spring practices due to an injury. At Michigan State, Pietrowski dealt with the portal ebb and flow.
"I've been on both sides … we had a ton of guys transfer into us (at MSU), a whole new team, so I've kind of seen it before," Pietrowski said, adding, "The locker room here is great. It's full of good guys. The whole team has been tight and cohesive. All the guys have been fantastic."
Maitre has found the same things to be true. At Boston College, he experienced a head coaching transition from Steve Addazio to Jeff Hafley, a former Ohio State assistant and defensive coordinator. "Different styles of coaching," Maitre said. "Definitely some adjusting to do in different things."
One thing has never changed for Maitre … his competitive spirit and fire.
"Quite frankly, I was always a smaller guy, weight-wise and height-wise," said Maitre who's listed at 5-10, 188. "I always felt like there was more that I had to do. I always had to go overboard to get to where I wanted to get. I always wanted to work harder and push myself harder …
"When you turn on the tape, I'm always going to be playing harder. I'm going to be running fast and I'm going to give it my all on every play. That's what I try to pride myself on. I'm a smaller guy but on tape, you'll say, 'He's moving faster than everyone else.' That's my goal."
Not unlike Figaro, who was suited to be a nickel, Maitre Is a fit at slot corner. "Sometimes it's going to be a run fit, sometimes you're going to be playing pass," Maitre said. "You're a corner and safety all in one. You have to have the edge and nastiness – someone who's willing to compete every play."
That was the case for Maitre during BC practices when lined up opposite wide receiver, Zay Flowers, a projected first round pick in this week's NFL draft. They made each other better. Competing on every snap applies to Pietrowski's makeup. He's a Metallica fan, notably "Enter Sandman." Mood music.
Pietrowski went into the 2022 season in that kind of mood – to compete as a starter – before getting injured. Last August, he outlined his goals to SpartanMag.com, "Everyone looks at sacks but it's your total pressures. There's a whole bunch of different advanced stats that you can look at."
More so than anything, the 6-2, 244-pound Pietrowski wanted to upgrade his game on the edge by "getting more pressures and getting your win rate higher so that way you're affecting the quarterback on more throws and not just the ones where you're getting home." That's carried over to Wisconsin.
One thing he will do is strike you. "That's something from a young age, I developed that part of our game," he said. "A lot of stuff that coach Fickell talks about now is what we were incorporating back in high school. Coming through your hips and striking with your eyes. It's something bred in me."
UW outside linebackers assistant Matt Mitchell has been helping mold his techniques. "You can tell that he was a great head coach for a long time," Pietrowski said of Mitchell, the former head coach at Grand Valley State. "He's a great leader of the room. We're excited to work for him."
Maitre's excitement level, his feistiness, his chatter is brand-worthy. And it's related to his size. Even though he has lived in New England since age 12 (when his family moved there from Florida), he's not a fan of the Patriots. Instead, he has always liked the New Orleans Saints, particularly Drew Brees.
"I like quarterbacks who like to compete," he said. "Smaller guy. Shorter guy. Likes to compete."
It was that relentless attitude that he took into 'The Launch' last Saturday. "I don't know what happened here last year, but we feel together as a team," he said. "I want to show everybody there's a new edge to this team and how hard we're going to play." Maitre and Pietrowski check those boxes.
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. – The Most Valuable Player roll call was lengthy and unprecedented. Jack Cichy. Garret Dooley. Joe Ferguson. Lubern Figaro. Troy Fumagalli. Rachid Ibrahim. Leon Jacobs. Natrell Jamerson. Alex James. Chikwe Obasih. Austin Ramesh. Conor Sheehy. Derrick Tindal.
At the 2017 Wisconsin football banquet, the MVP award was shared by the 13 seniors. As a class, they posted a four-year record of 45-10 (29-5 in the Big Ten, 11-1 in rivalry games). During that span, the Badgers won three Big Ten West titles and four bowls (Outback, Holiday, Cotton and Orange).
Figaro, for one, played in 50 games with 11 starts. He was often utilized as a nickel, or hybrid-defensive back. Born in Haiti, his family immigrated to the United States when he was 4. Growing up, his passion was hoops. In fact, he didn't play football until his freshman year at Everett (Mass.) High School.
Long story short, Wisconsin slot corner Jason Maitre is also an Everett alum. After playing five seasons at Boston College, he entered the transfer portal. "During the process," Maitre said, "I talked to Lubern Figaro." And he heard nothing but positive things about the school, campus and conference.
Maitre did his background checks. He also spoke with one of his former BC teammates, Tyler Vrabel, an offensive linemen now on the Atlanta Falcons practice squad. Vrabel is the son of Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel, a former Ohio State teammate of Luke Fickell. To this day, they remain close.
"When I talked with Tyler, he said that coach Fick was just like an uncle to him and how good of a guy he is," Maitre related. "I needed a guy who could develop me in my last year (of college ball) – really coach me hard and get me to where I need to get, on and off the field."
Maitre had his bases covered with Figaro endorsing the UW program and Vrabel endorsing Fickell. Factoring into his change of heart – initially he was transferring to Liberty before buying into the Badgers – was Fickell's hiring of veteran Paul Haynes to coach the corners. He views Haynes as a mentor.
"I just felt like for me, personally, I needed a change for myself," Maitre said of his decision to leave Boston College. "I don't want to say that I was comfortable there – I felt like I had to compete. But I just needed a fresh start. When I found out coach Fick was taking this job, it was a no-brainer for me.
"Being here has been eye-opening on how great of a football coach and good of a person he is."
&&&
There was a pathway for Jeff Pietrowski, the Michigan State transfer, and Maitre to be teammates long before they crossed timelines here. During the early stages of recruiting – February of 2019 – Pietrowski was offered scholarships by a number of Power Five programs, including Boston College.
Back then, Maitre was completing his first year at BC.
Pietrowski, a defensive end at St. Edward High School (Lakewood, Ohio), also got offers from Cincinnati, Pitt, Purdue, Minnesota, Rutgers and Michigan State, to name just a few. In December of '19, he signed with the Spartans whose head coach then Mark Dantonio said, "He's a relentless guy."
A few months later, Dantonio stepped down and Mel Tucker took over the program. Tucker retained linebackers coach Mike Tressel, a longtime Dantonio assistant. "I've known him (Tressel) since my sophomore year in high school," Pietrowski said. "He had a great relationship with my coaches."
Tressel was a big reason why Pietrowski was in East Lansing.
"He had recruited me to Michigan State," Pietrowski said. "That relationship was pretty strong."
Tressel stayed with the Spartans for one season – Pietrowski's freshman year – before joining Luke Fickell's staff at Cincinnati. Pietrowski got to know Fickell a little bit during the recruiting process after the Bearcats offered him. His connection with Tressel and Fickell led him to Madison.
"With coach Fickell and coach Tressel coming here (UW), it just made sense and felt right," Pietrowski said. "It's a program that I always had a lot of respect for. I knew they had a great culture and they were tough. When they added guys that I kind of knew, it seemed like the perfect opportunity."
Pietrowski made the most of his time at Michigan State. "My time was good," he reaffirmed. "For sure, there are elements of a fresh start now. And then there are elements of, 'You've been playing football for a long time, it's just a new place with new people. Football is football.'
"I just want to be the best teammate I can and help Wisconsin football be the best it can be."
In 2021, the Spartans were at their best, and so was Pietrowski, who logged 483 snaps and finished with 33 tackles (7 TFLs, 5.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles) on a MSU team that went 11-2. "That was kind of my breakout year," Pietrowski said. "You have all the momentum and expectations were high."
It was all short-lived. In 2022, Michigan State, minus tailback Kenneth Walker who had moved on to the NFL, struggled to a 5-7 record, 3-6 in the Big Ten. Pietrowski suffered a leg injury in the third game at Washington and was lost for the season. "To have it end like that was tough," he admitted.
His bad luck and/or timing followed him to Madison. This spring, he was sidelined for three weeks with mono. "It was tough getting out there for practice and then getting sick," he said. "It's tough because you're just excited to play, excited to get back into the rhythm and then you have to sit out."
Nonetheless, while inactive, he said, "It was good to watch the guys. Every rep, whether you're in it or not, you can get a mental rep out of it. Being in film sessions, trying to learn the defense and help guys out, that helped me a lot to where at least schematically I can be on-point with everything."
On transitioning from playing defensive end in Michigan State's 4-3 base to Tressel's Badger scheme, Pietrowski said, "Playing on the edge is playing on the edge. Defensive end-outside linebacker are pretty similar in 70 percent of it. The coverage stuff is a little bit different, more complicated drops.
"But he (Tressel) tries to craft the personnel to whatever the situation. He's a brilliant guy. Ultra-competitive. And his defenses take on that image. They're going to be competitive and they're going to run to the ball. Whatever the situation, we have that ability to get our best personnel on the field."
Pietrowski and Maitre were the only scholarship transfers on defense to see action in Saturday's scrimmage at Camp Randall Stadium. Defensive end Darian Varner, a Temple transfer, has not taken part in spring practices due to an injury. At Michigan State, Pietrowski dealt with the portal ebb and flow.
"I've been on both sides … we had a ton of guys transfer into us (at MSU), a whole new team, so I've kind of seen it before," Pietrowski said, adding, "The locker room here is great. It's full of good guys. The whole team has been tight and cohesive. All the guys have been fantastic."
Maitre has found the same things to be true. At Boston College, he experienced a head coaching transition from Steve Addazio to Jeff Hafley, a former Ohio State assistant and defensive coordinator. "Different styles of coaching," Maitre said. "Definitely some adjusting to do in different things."
One thing has never changed for Maitre … his competitive spirit and fire.
"Quite frankly, I was always a smaller guy, weight-wise and height-wise," said Maitre who's listed at 5-10, 188. "I always felt like there was more that I had to do. I always had to go overboard to get to where I wanted to get. I always wanted to work harder and push myself harder …
"When you turn on the tape, I'm always going to be playing harder. I'm going to be running fast and I'm going to give it my all on every play. That's what I try to pride myself on. I'm a smaller guy but on tape, you'll say, 'He's moving faster than everyone else.' That's my goal."
Not unlike Figaro, who was suited to be a nickel, Maitre Is a fit at slot corner. "Sometimes it's going to be a run fit, sometimes you're going to be playing pass," Maitre said. "You're a corner and safety all in one. You have to have the edge and nastiness – someone who's willing to compete every play."
That was the case for Maitre during BC practices when lined up opposite wide receiver, Zay Flowers, a projected first round pick in this week's NFL draft. They made each other better. Competing on every snap applies to Pietrowski's makeup. He's a Metallica fan, notably "Enter Sandman." Mood music.
Pietrowski went into the 2022 season in that kind of mood – to compete as a starter – before getting injured. Last August, he outlined his goals to SpartanMag.com, "Everyone looks at sacks but it's your total pressures. There's a whole bunch of different advanced stats that you can look at."
More so than anything, the 6-2, 244-pound Pietrowski wanted to upgrade his game on the edge by "getting more pressures and getting your win rate higher so that way you're affecting the quarterback on more throws and not just the ones where you're getting home." That's carried over to Wisconsin.
One thing he will do is strike you. "That's something from a young age, I developed that part of our game," he said. "A lot of stuff that coach Fickell talks about now is what we were incorporating back in high school. Coming through your hips and striking with your eyes. It's something bred in me."
UW outside linebackers assistant Matt Mitchell has been helping mold his techniques. "You can tell that he was a great head coach for a long time," Pietrowski said of Mitchell, the former head coach at Grand Valley State. "He's a great leader of the room. We're excited to work for him."
Maitre's excitement level, his feistiness, his chatter is brand-worthy. And it's related to his size. Even though he has lived in New England since age 12 (when his family moved there from Florida), he's not a fan of the Patriots. Instead, he has always liked the New Orleans Saints, particularly Drew Brees.
"I like quarterbacks who like to compete," he said. "Smaller guy. Shorter guy. Likes to compete."
It was that relentless attitude that he took into 'The Launch' last Saturday. "I don't know what happened here last year, but we feel together as a team," he said. "I want to show everybody there's a new edge to this team and how hard we're going to play." Maitre and Pietrowski check those boxes.
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