This Week in Badgers: Media Updates and a Zach Heilprin Interview
This Week in Badgers: Season 1, Episode 41
Welcome to a special This Week in Badgers where we have a special guest interview with The Zone's Zach Heilprin.
This week's format will be a little different. Zach's responses to my dumb questions were so good I'm going to run it as its own Newsletter. I'm working on a super dorky recruiting piece and we'll do the usual remembering of some guys and other nonsense next week.
Before we get to Zach, three things that caught my eye since the last Newsletter.
Tom Oates is retiring from the State Journal. I'm sure I've taken my share of shots at him on Twitter over the past decade but it is a bummer to see him go. From all indications he was an incredibly generous guy and there was all kinds of support on Twitter from other Badger media people after the announcement came out. I had some friends cover the team for the Herald and Cardinal back in the day and they all had nothing but great things to say about Oates.
I'm also assuming the State Journal isn't replacing him so we're down another resource. Oates wasn't really part of my weekly reading list but was still a guy with enough tenure and confidence to take a shot at the coaching staff when warranted. Its great to see younger guys on the beat, but you also need guys like Oates who have seen it all and aren't afraid to go against the UW Narrative from time to time.
Heller reporting six positive COVID tests from the Football team. Starting to get down to the wire on this. Feel like July and August MLB and NBA are the true tests to see if team sports will work in 2020.
Wolken had a good piece on Learfield IMG backing out of some agreements with schools. If you've listened to any Badger radio broadcast the Learfield name is all over the place, so assume this has potential to really affect UW.
The Zach Heilprin TWIB Interview
Now we'll get to Zach. Before we start I'd like to thank him for taking the time on these. It is a REALLY fun read with some great stories and sports takes to tide me over through July. Cannot thank Zach enough for taking the time to put this together.
I've got a quick debrief at the end and then we'll be back next week.
TWIB: Are there any previously off-the-record Paul Chryst stories you'd like to share? This is a safe space.
Zach Heilprin (ZH): I don’t have any off-the-record stuff to offer on the current staff, but I do have a couple memories of sending out information that I shouldn’t have and some folks being less than pleased.
The first came in 2006 when I covered my first fall practice, which also happened to be Bret Bielema’s first year. I was still in college at the time and had essentially zero experience as a reporter outside of the classroom. I was working for BadgerNation (for free) and was tasked with writing the practice report. One of the first plays of the day was a screen pass that caught the defense napping and turned into a big gain. Later, cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu got absolutely torched on an out-and-up route. I thought both were noteworthy, so I included them in my report.
Fast forward to the next day and I get a call from someone at the UW asking me if I could come down and speak with them about it. Ok, no big deal, I’m thinking. A little later, another call came asking me to head to the stadium to talk about it with someone higher up on the food chain. Now, I’m starting to freak out a little bit. First ever practice and I’m already on the bad side of the sports information people. Not good. Finally, about an hour before I’m supposed to be there, another call comes and this time they are telling me that Bielema wants to talk to me. I nearly threw up at the thought. Me, an absolute nobody, being called into the head coach’s office after only one day.
So, me and another reporter for the site make our way to Bielema’s office and he’s sitting in there with reggae music blaring. He proceeded to express his displeasure with the reporting and warned if that kind of stuff continues he’d be forced to close practice. The other reporter I was with pushed back a bit, but all I did was nod my head and agree with everything Bielema said. After about 10 minutes, we got up, shook hands and walked out the door. That was the one and only time I’ve ever spoken to him.
The other came my first full year on the Badgers beat in 2013. We were getting ready for individual interviews with assistants after a fall practice, and I was chatting with offensive line coach TJ Woods. He joked that he had a ton of sleepless nights in the spring when thinking about Tyler Marz as his starting right tackle. I really didn’t think it was a big deal because by that point Marz had proven that he could do the job, so I included that in the practice report.
A few days later, I requested Woods for a post-practice interview. A UW spokesman shook his head and said, “He won’t talk to you.” I asked why not and he referenced the quip about Marz. Woods had thought the conversation was off the record. I could totally see it from his perspective, so I waited until all the interviews were done and then approached him to address the issue. We talked it out and 10 minutes later we were talking football again. The next two seasons were great, and I found TJ to be one of the most sincere and forthcoming assistants on that staff.
TWIB: You've been covering the Badgers in some capacity for as long as I can remember, what has your career progression been like, how did you get your start, end up where you are now?
ZH: I had always wanted to cover sports and doing sports talk radio was a goal of mine. But coming out of college in 2008 there weren’t any jobs in that field. I did the next best thing and that was to get hired by a company that owned a bunch of sports stations — Good Karma Broadcasting (now Good Karma Brands).
My first gig was as a news reporter in Beaver Dam. I really thought I’d stay for one year and then move into sports. I could not have been more naive. One year went by, two years went by, three years went by and now it’s the summer of 2011. At that point I’m just doing news and a little bit of sports on the side. It was then that I made a decision that ended up changing my career — I reached out to Jason Wilde (He worked for ESPNWisconsin, which is owned by GKB) and asked if he wanted any help covering Green Bay’s training camp.
I didn’t really know Jason outside of his weekly appearances on our station in Beaver Dam, but I thought what’s it going to hurt to ask. To my surprise, he said yes and I’m forever grateful. With Jason mentoring me, I learned more in two years covering the Packers than I had in five years of school and the first three years of my radio career combined.
In 2013, ESPN Madison’s Badgers reporter decided to change careers, which presented me an opportunity to move into sports full time. With Jason’s help I got the job. I spent three years there before being let go in 2016 when Good Karma largely did away with beat writers. Luckily, three months later I latched on part time with Zone Madison and outlasted everyone else to become the sports director in the fall of 2017.
TWIB: Some Badger media use their Twitter to go to (sometimes weirdly, not naming names...) personal stuff, but you're all sports. What sort of hobbies/interests do you have outside of covering Wisconsin sports?
ZH: Posting personal things is something that has never appealed to me. Perhaps it’s because I live a boring life, but it’s also that I know the way I react to certain tweets and I don’t want people to have the same thoughts about my posts. I think, in general, fans couldn’t care less who reporters are and what they’re interested in.
Also, my Mo***rest of answer redacted at the request of the interviewee***
TWIB: You're given a choice- the NCAA will either count old bowl stats in their rushing records, therefore giving Ron Dayne the official title over Donnel Pumphrey, OR they will retroactively give the Badgers the 2012 Rose Bowl win over an Oregon team that surely had a bunch of NCAA violations. Which do you choose and why?
ZH: Um…we all know the answer to this one. There is not a greater injustice (there are actually plenty greater) in college football than Ron Dayne not being considered the NCAA’s all-time rushing leader. It’s beyond frustrating to see graphics in the fall touting Donnell Pumphrey as the man that holds that crown.
I’ve told myself I should just do the research that the NCAA won’t, going back to every bowl game and pouring over box scores to add in those numbers to career totals. It was actually something I really thought about doing when coronavirus broke out, but here we are, almost four months later, and I’ve done nothing.
TWIB: Jason Galloway mentioned Michael Dieter as a guy who wasn't a media darling (like say, Chris Orr) but was a great interview, are there any current or former players that stick out in your mind as people who were under the radar great quotes/interviews?
ZH: Derrick Tindal had short answers early in his career, but as he got more comfortable, he was almost always a very good quote. His brashness and self confidence was gold for stories, though there was more to him than that. My conversations with him after his mother passed away was one of the toughest/intense interviews I’ve done.
I’ll add that Cole Van Lanen is an underrated interview. He’s a straight shooter that tells it like it is, whether it’s good or bad.
TWIB: I've had an idea that the Badgers should have a ring of honor type thing at Camp Randall, similar to what the Packers do at Lambeau. If they did go through with this, who are your 5 guys you'd put in the inaugural class? (Retired numbers like Dayne, Amache wouldn't count in this).
ZH: I couldn’t do just five, so I twisted your idea a little bit. I took the 25 players on the Lambeau Field facade and broke them down by position. Then I went position-by-position and matched that with the same number of Wisconsin players. For example, the Packers have five offensive linemen in their ring of honor, so I picked five Badgers for my list.
Here it is
Executive (1)
Pat Richter (He makes it in a dual role: 9-time letter winner, hired Barry Alvarez, oversaw the complete overhaul of the athletic department)
Head coach (2)
Barry Alvarez
Phil King (You could argue Bret Bielema belongs here with the second-most wins in school history, but King has the best winning percentage and can also claim three conference titles. Also, Bielema has me blocked on Twitter, so, you know, screw him.)
Quarterback (3)
Russell Wilson (Yeah, just one year, but he put up the best season by a UW quarterback and it’s not really close.)
Darrell Bevell (Played a vital role in turning Wisconsin’s program around and has more touchdown passes than anyone in school history.)
Joel Stave (Only QB that can claim he’s the all-time leader in wins at UW. ;) )
Running back (4)
Melvin Gordon (The best RB I’ve seen at Wisconsin)
Jonathan Taylor (Just slightly behind Gordon in my eyes)
Montee Ball (A workhorse who deserves more love for his 2011 season than he gets)
James White (Never the lead back, but all he did was produce. Is third all-time in yards per carry, trailing only Gordon and Taylor)
Fullback (1)
Matt Bernstein (This was the easiest choice)
Wide receiver (2)
Lee Evans (Greatest receiver in school history)
Al Toon (Almost went with Jared Abbrederis, but Toon was too good to pass up)
OL (5)
Joe Thomas
Gabe Carimi
Mike Webster
Chris McIntosh
Corey Raymer
DL (3)
Tim Krumrie
Tarek Saleh
Wendell Bryant
LB (2)
Chris Borland (This was an easy choice)
Pete Monty (This was not. Considered a bunch of guys, including Joe Schobert, Vince Biegel and Mike Taylor, but went with the all-time leader in tackles)
DB (2)
Jamar Fletcher (Off the charts play-making skills, tied for the most interceptions in school history and Jim Thorpe award winner)
Jim Leonhard (Tied with Fletcher for the most picks, Leonhard was a three-time first-team All-Big Ten pick)
Best football road trip as a media person (bowls don't count) and worst?
ZH: The best ones are usually those that are easy to get to, have a nice press box and let you on the field before games. Based on that criteria, Ohio State is at the top. You can get a direct flight from Madison to Columbus and the press box is huge with pretty good sight lines.
The worst? Rutgers. New Jersey sucks, the stadium and press box are not ideal and the only time UW has played there it was a blowout. Honorable mention to Northwestern and Illinois. Driving is nice, but their post-game media rooms are the size of broom closets.
Do you think Bielema will ever un-block you on Twitter or has that ship sailed?
ZH: Maybe he’ll take a cue from Ben Roethlisberger and unblock everyone, but I won’t be holding my breath.
Were you Team Bollinger or Team Sorgi?
ZH: Team Owen Daniels
Quick debrief from a great interview:
The Bielema story is fantastic
Krumrie, Saleh and Bryant at DL, love to see it! We're on the path where 30 years from now JJ Watt is the only former Badger defender people know of, so I love to see the support for 3 guys that had better college careers than him.
I've mentioned this before but I used to be annoyed at Zach's constant Pumphrey tweets until something clicked and I learned to embrace it. Now its something I continually look forward to.
I was watching a Stave game over the weekend and forgot how frustrating he was. Lets just say I disagree with some things said above.
I think Zach is Team Bollinger but too afraid to take his shot on this platform
That'll do it for this week. I'm headed to campus to yell at any players I see not practicing social distancing. Back next week with the usual stuff.
As always, send your Tweets or reply to this email with any topic suggestions or Ring of Honor takes. Go Badgers.