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James Madison is hiring former Wisconsin football assistant Colin Hitschler as its new defensive coordinator. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel, then later confirmed by both On3 and 247Sports.
Hitschler is set to take the position after coaching for one season at Alabama. He was fired in January after the team’s disappointing 9-4 season.
Hitschler was previously Wisconsin’s safeties coach, co-defensive coordinator and top recruiter in 2023. He finished the 2024 recruiting cycle as 247Sports’ No. 15 recruiter in the nation, helping the Badgers secure a top-25 class and the program’s first-ever blue-chip ratio of 50%. On the field, he also helped guide Badgers star safety Hunter Wohler to a career year: 120 tackles, six for loss, six pass deflections and two interceptions.
The veteran assistant previously coached under Luke Fickell at Cincinnati before moving to Wisconsin for the 2023 campaign. He began as a quality control coach in 2018, was promoted to senior defensive assistant in 2019, then to safeties coach in 2020 and 2021, and finally to co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach in 2022.
Wisconsin replaced Hitschler with former Oklahoma and USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch in 2024. Grinch has since left for the defensive coordinator job at UCF, leading to the Badgers promoting rising young assistant Jack Cooper to the vacant position.
Sources: Colin Hitschler is expected to become the new defensive coordinator at James Madison. He’s a former assistant coach at Alabama, Wisconsin and Cincinnati. He worked for JMU coach Bob Chesney at Salve Regina in 2011. pic.twitter.com/9OfY504hHV
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 6, 2025
Hitschler joins a James Madison program entering its fourth season at the Football Bowl Subdivision level in 2025. Current Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti led the Dukes to a 19-5 overall record from 2022-23. New coach Bob Chesney took over in 2024, finishing his first season at 9-4.
Hitschler’s career trajectory is worth monitoring after his departure from Alabama. It’s hard to argue against the impact he made in his one season at Wisconsin, an impact the program then badly missed during the following season.
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This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Wisconsin football coach Colin Hitschler defensive coordinator hire