MADISON, Wis. >> When Paul Chryst became head football coach at Wisconsin last December, he made a move that Norm Chow did not in 2012 when taking over at Hawaii. Or, you can turn it around, and say Chryst did not make a change that Chow did make.
Either way, Chryst and the Badgers benefited by keeping Dave Aranda on as defensive coordinator and the Warriors were hurt by not retaining him in Manoa three years ago. That will likely be amplified when UH tries to score against Wisconsin’s defense here Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium.
Usually when a head coaching change is made, most of the assistants must scramble to find a new job. Aranda is one of the fortunate exceptions. Aranda is the only holdover when Chryst replaced Gary Andersen who left for Oregon State.
"He has helped build Wisconsin’s defense into one of the best in the country over the last two years and the numbers back that up," Chryst said at the time. "He is able to identify the strengths of his players and play to those strengths, which I think is the mark of a good coach. When Dave expressed a great interest in staying, I was excited because I believe it is a great fit."
Here are some of those numbers: After Aranda arrived and switched the Badgers from a 4-3 base to a 3-4, UW allowed an average of 299.4 yards per game the next two seasons, third best among the 120 FBS teams. The 18.6 points allowed per game is sixth, and 184.6 yards allowed passing and 114.7 rushing are fifth and seventh.
This season, even including the 35-14 loss to Alabama, Wisconsin (2-1) has allowed 12.3 points and 304.7 yards per game.
"He’s the mad scientist," cornerback Sojourn Shelton said. "He’s always charting up things, finding ways for us to do things in different situations. He’s someone I definitely enjoy playing for."
Inoke Breckterfield, the Damien grad and Badgers defensive line coach who came with Chryst from Pitt, is glad Aranda stayed, too.
"As a coordinator he did a great job and the kids bought in so it was a no-brainer, everything meshed," Breckterfield said Thursday. "I’d met Dave and Daronte’ (Jones, the new secondary coach, also from UH), so it’s a room where everyone’s comfortable. He wanted to be here."
Aranda is a hot commodity now. In 2012 when Chow told him he would not be retained, he was still a relative unknown. But not to Andersen, who scooped him up to run the defense at Utah State. A year later Aranda was nominated for the Broyles Award as the nation’s best assistant and on his way to Wisconsin with Andersen.
In 2010, his first season as the UH defensive coordinator, four opponents scored 10 or fewer points and Hawaii led the nation with 38 turnovers caused and the Warriors were co-champions of the WAC in their last winning season.
In 2011, the defense wasn’t Hawaii’s biggest problem in going 6-7. It yielded 30 more yards and about four more points per game and caused 14 fewer turnovers.
Although the defense appears to be in capable hands now with Tom Mason, who joined UH after last season, Hawaii fans are left to wonder if the teams that went 8-29 from 2012 to 2014 would’ve been better if Aranda had been retained.
Not enough of a difference for a winning record. But an Aranda-led defense would’ve likely come up with enough turnovers and stops to take some of the ugly off of that 1-11 in 2013 that featured so many narrow defeats — and during which the defense surrendered 494.7 yards per game.
As it stands, Chow did Aranda a huge favor. His annual salary at Wisconsin was recently reported at $480,000, more than twice what he made at UH. It was also reported that he had a job interview with the Green Bay Packers recently.
After practice Wednesday, Aranda walked over from the Camp Randall field to the McClain indoor practice facility where he answered questions from a half-dozen reporters about the status of the Badgers defense. He also fielded one about his four years in Hawaii. As usual, he was professional and accommodating, but concise. Perhaps a little more emotional than usual.
"I miss the family atmosphere, the people. When I watch tape, there aren’t many players left," said Aranda, who recruited current senior captains linebacker Lance Williams and left tackle Ben Clarke. "How much UH football means to the state of Hawaii. I miss that."
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads
