Wisconsin running backs coach Jayden Everett outlines vision for Badgers backfield
Wisconsin football running backs coach Jayden Everett explains his vision for rebuilding the Badgers backfield and restoring the program’s rushing identity.
Jayden Everett wasn’t looking for just another stop when evaluating his next move — he was looking for the right one. In Wisconsin football, he found a program where the internal expectations matched his own.
The opportunity pulled him away from border rival Minnesota to fill the vacant running backs coach position on Luke Fickell’s staff after Devon Spalding left after three seasons for the same role at Michigan State.
“Honestly, the opportunity to be the running backs coach at the University of Wisconsin is something that, if you aspire to be one of the best in the country, this is it,” Everett said. “In my opinion, one of only two schools in the country that has five Doak Walker Award winners… and honestly, just the tradition here is one that’s just unmatched. If you’re a running backs coach, I don’t know where else you would want to be.”
That reverence for tradition matters right now. Wisconsin is attempting to reestablish a ground identity after three straight seasons of declining production, and Everett arrives with clarity about what the job requires.
Wisconsin’s rushing production declined each of the past three seasons, both in total output and efficiency. Rushing yards dropped from 2,095 in 2023 to 1,844 in 2024 before bottoming out at 1,400 in 2025, while yards per carry slid from 4.6 to 4.4 and then down to 3.3. Now, the Badgers are betting that Everett’s experience across multiple offensive systems can help reverse that trend as the program works to reestablish its run game.
But tradition alone wasn’t what sold him.
