MADISON, Wis. — Muskego's Hunter Wohler is now starting for the Wisconsin Badgers. So what's his area of growth?
"All of it," Wohler says. "I mean you gotta know what the offense is gonna do as often as you can. You gotta be sound on communication with the defense. Talking to the corners every play. Talking to Torch (safety John Torchio) and the other safeties every play. So it's, you know, there's a lot asked of us. We're up for the test and ready to take it over."
Playing for legendary former safety and Interim Head Coach Jim Leonhard is a little daunting.
"It's unreal," Wohler says. "He's as intelligent as they come. You know, playing 10 years in the league? He's been around a little bit. Knows how to play the game. Knows how to play it right. And just knows how to teach it too. So to learn from him is, it's special. It's something that you don't take for granted. You gotta pick his brain as much as you can."
Rivals yet friends in high school with Franklin quarterback Myles Burkett, among others, and now they're teammates.
"It's definitely a little different," Wohler says. "But you know, now that we're all here? We're all wearing the W. So we're all teammates. Same with Braelon. I would have loved to have played against him back in the day. Now that we're all here, we're all teammates, we're all brothers. Family. So now it's just kind of, you know, what can we do to get each other better? Just being a Wisconsin kid in general. Playing for your home state, your home team. It's special. And there's a lot of pride that you're gonna work and you're gonna do everything you can to contribute to a win...get this team to where we know and we think we can be."
So how could the Wisconsin D surprise some people?
"I think there's a lot of speed," Wohler says. "We have a standard, and everyone knows the standard on the defense. We're going to be the best defense year in and year out. I think it's going to be a good year. It's going to be a special year. I think there's a lot of guys that are going to make a lot of plays this year and are going to help this team win."
Wohler was named the Wisconsin high school player of the year his senior year at Muskego, a pretty amazing award for a safety.
