Nickel: Pressure is on Graham Mertz, Wisconsin teammates as they share responsibility to move forward following coaching change

MADISON – There will be changes.

Thankfully. If not, what was the point of firing Paul Chryst in the first week of October?

As the Wisconsin Badgers prepare this week for the next opponent, Northwestern, they’ll have to do it with their defensive coordinator, Jim Leonhard, taking over the entire program. And we don’t know much about how Leonhard wants to run an offense.

So the challenges for the 2-3 Badgers in practice this week will be handling the leadership change, the emotions that come with the firing, the week itself — it is midterms for a lot of students, remember, they’re supposed to study and take tests — and then some first steps toward re-examining at least some of their offensive goals and strategies.

“Yeah, there’s some new stuff,” said quarterback Graham Mertz. “But that’s for us to know.”

He laughed a little.

Wisconsin Badgers players speak publicly for first time since Paul Chryst firing in strange press conference 

But there is a lot of pressure on this team, and always on Mertz, and it’s clear they are tightening their circle right now for their own survival.

Mertz and a handful of his teammates spoke to reporters Wednesday in the Dave McClain Athletic Facility, where for the first time players could publicly comment on the tumultuous week they’ve faced. Chryst, in his eighth year, was canned as head coach Sunday evening, in the fourth quarter of the Packers-Patriots game.

The player press conference was a bizarre set up. Players sat at a table and media was kept several feet away, marked off by boundary tape, in an exchange that was capped off at 12 minutes for everyone. But again, it’s understandable, for the sake of the student-athletes caught in the crosshairs of a rare Wisconsin in-season coaching dismissal.

Graham Mertz was 'shocked' by firing of Paul Chryst, took day to process it

Mertz was not expecting the news of Chryst’s dismissal.

“I’d say initially the first day I was shocked,” Mertz said. “Obviously I’ve got a great relationship (with Chryst) and I can speak for anybody that’s played under Coach, or coached with him. Just the type of man he is, he’s the guy you want to play for. He’s so down to earth and he always wants the best for his players.”

Mertz took Monday for himself, to process the change, and to talk to Chryst himself.

“Anytime you go through something in life, you’ve got to take a step back and figure out what happened,” Mertz said. “And then it’s, how quick can you move forward.”

What choice does Mertz have? A decorated and heralded recruit, by standards that are loosely defined at best, the quarterback as one of the team’s captains can only thrive in the environment in which he’s placed. He’s dependent on the leadership and coaches to his development, consistency. It’s evident we can see the talent. The question is, who is going to help him get even better and more consistent?

It’s funny, after the Packers’ overtime win Sunday night, Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur was talking about his defense. And LaFleur said:

“You’re only as good as your last performance. That’s just the reality of the world we live in. We always talk about: you’re either getting better or you’re getting worse, you’re never staying the same.”

That’s the ridiculously high standard pro and college coaches and athletes have to work and perform in now.

But the Badgers did not look like they were getting better, not in recent games, and not this season overall, for whatever reasons. And it looks like that’s why Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh sacked the sometimes bland, hardly marketable, but apparently respected and admired Chryst, from the perspective of the players.

Jim Leonhard is working with a Badgers team filled with injuries 

The rest of this season is intriguing.

Maybe this is a trial period for the 39-year-old Leonhard to show what he can do with this same group of Wisconsin Badgers — or at least the ones who aren’t out rehabbing injuries. Remember, TE Clay Cundiff, S Travian Blaylock are done and these key players are out this week: OLB Aaron Witt, S Hunter Wohler and QB Chase Wolf. Meanwhile we are awaiting status updates on RT Riley Mahlman, who hasn’t played since the opener; CB Alexander Smith, who hasn’t played this season; TE Hayden Rucci; TB Isaac Guerendo; and WR Keontez Lewis.

Or, maybe this is merely setting the stage to anoint Leonhard the head coach after all, it doesn’t matter.

It’s the players who are running and throwing, tackling and making split-second decisions. While every podcaster and your great aunt can have an opinion on this and the supposed certainty that it needed to happen, it’s the people in the jerseys that have to either make or break Leonhard’s future, and or condemn or justify Chryst's past. It seems fair to give them some space to recalibrate.

“I’m focused on this group up here and the team down in the locker room. And getting us ready to go. That’s where I’m putting my energy towards,” Mertz said. “And then moving forward — that’s our motto, forever forward, here.

“And that’s what I’m focused on. All that’s on my mind is winning."

Mertz continued later:

"I don't think this should fall on any one person's shoulders and I think that's why this group is upset. ... We all have a sense of, 'I could have done this better.' That's what we need to turn in to fuel to move forward. And that's what Coach Leonhard did a great job of coming in, Day 1, saying is we need to be better. And how. Instead of saying you need to frickin' attack it.

"Yeah there's a sense of responsibility, but it's across the board. We're all figuring out how to do our job better. And we will figure that out.”

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Graham Mertz, Wisconsin players to move forward after Chryst firing