What we heard from Jack Cooper about Wisconsin football’s safety room
Jack Cooper discussed Wisconsin’s safety leadership, Cairo Skanes development, and the Badgers’ emphasis on creating more turnovers.
The Wisconsin football secondary has plenty of experience at the top of its safety room entering 2026.
What Jack Cooper appears increasingly encouraged by is how the pieces are beginning to fit around it.
Wisconsin has established veterans at the top, a younger defensive back pushing for a larger role, and another versatile piece who finally appears to have found a permanent home at nickel. Just as importantly, Cooper believes the Badgers are developing the understanding and trust necessary to create more turnovers after finishing last nationally with only six takeaways a year ago.
Here were the biggest takeaways from Cooper’s fall camp media availability.
Wisconsin believes it has found the right role for Raphael Dunn
Wisconsin has spent considerable time figuring out exactly where Raphael Dunn fits.
The Badgers recruited the long, athletic defensive back from Lawrenceville (N.J.) with multiple possibilities in mind and initially envisioned him at the dollar position. Since then, Dunn has bounced between responsibilities in the secondary.
That experimentation appears to be over.
“He’s definitely found a home,” Cooper said. “He’s really settled into the position. We were kind of jerking him around a little bit, playing a little bit of safety and stuff. So now we’ve been able to really focus his eyes and just focus his job descriptors and just what he’s doing schematically, and it’s just built confidence in him.”
That stability has allowed Dunn to focus on learning one position rather than several. After making five appearances primarily on special teams as a redshirt freshman and logging just 10 defensive snaps, he now has an opportunity to take a more meaningful step defensively. Cooper believes the results are showing up beyond the physical side of his game.
“His football IQ has really risen the last, I’d say, six months for sure,” Cooper said.
For a player whose 6-foot-4, 220-pound frame isn’t necessarily typical of a nickel, Wisconsin believes Dunn has the athleticism to make it work. He currently sits behind Ohio State transfer Bryce West in the slot, giving him time to continue developing specifically for that role rather than searching for where he belongs.
Wisconsin has veteran leadership at the top, but Cairo Skanes is pushing
Cooper isn’t leaving much ambiguity about who sets the standard in Wisconsin’s secondary.
He described veteran safety Matt Jung as the “undisputed leader” of the group alongside J-Rob [Javon Robinson], a significant development after the player spent last season finding his footing within the program following his transfer to Wisconsin from the Division III ranks.
The Neenah, Wis., native appeared in all 12 games and made eight starts at safety in his first season with the Badgers, logging 628 defensive snaps, the third-most on Wisconsin’s defense. Jung finished the year with 50 tackles and one tackle for loss.
“It’s been clearly defined what’s expected of him,” Cooper said of Jung’s role on the defense. “You’re the leader of the group. It’s totally on you at the end of the day. A player-led culture is always going to be stronger than a coach-led culture. He’s run with it, and he’s only grown, especially this summer, June, July, and August. He’s been great.”
Wisconsin also likes pairing that leadership of Jung with another experienced safety in Missouri transfer Marvin Burks Jr. Burks brings multiple years of starting experience in the SEC, including starting all 13 games for the Tigers last season and finishing with 49 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and one pass breakup.
Cooper pointed to that experience, along with the adversity Burks has already encountered, as reasons he doesn’t become rattled easily.
That doesn’t mean the rotation is settled.
Cairo Skanes continues to make a push after Wisconsin moved him from cornerback to safety this offseason. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound defensive back appeared in all 12 games as a true freshman, recording five tackles while logging 80 defensive snaps at cornerback. Now playing safety, Skanes is trying to turn that early experience and versatility into a larger role in Wisconsin’s secondary.
“He’s a quick learner. He’s a quick study,” Cooper said. “And just as far as making plays on the ball, he’s probably one of our best guys from a ball-skill standpoint.”
Those ball skills have Skanes pushing for work at field safety and putting himself in position to become a rotational piece.
Creating turnovers starts with understanding the defense
Wisconsin doesn’t need to look far to identify one of its biggest defensive shortcomings from last season.
The Badgers forced just six takeaways, finishing last nationally. Cooper believes fixing that problem begins before anyone gets his hands on the football.
“Confidence in leverage, confidence in the defense,” Cooper said. “If you’re playing unsure and you’re playing at 60%, 70% of knowing what you’re doing, you’re playing a little bit more in survival mode.”
The difference Cooper wants is a secondary that understands not only its assignments but where the potential problems within each call can arise. That requires trust between safeties, corners and linebackers because those responsibilities routinely overlap.
“Turnovers are going to come when we have trust and belief in the system and confidence in our leverage and how we’re playing defense,” Cooper said.
Cooper believes Wisconsin is getting there, although he isn’t pretending the work is finished. The Badgers have reached the portion of fall camp where repetition can become tiresome. That’s precisely why Cooper believes the details matter now.
“They can’t get bored with the basic things,” Cooper said.
Wisconsin has experience on the back end with Jung and Burks, while Skanes is among the younger players pushing for a larger role after moving to safety. Iowa State transfer Carson Van Dinter and former Neenah high school standout Grant Dean provide additional competition and depth, giving the Badgers more options throughout the secondary.
Turning that depth into more takeaways will require Wisconsin to play with considerably more confidence in the secondary than it did a year ago. For Cooper, that starts with getting his players comfortable enough within the defense to trust what they see, play fast, and attack the football rather than simply trying to survive each snap.
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