LUCAS AT LARGE
BY MIKE LUCAS ▪ UWBADGERS.COM
QBs ‘all in it’ for each other and the team
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ack Coan was raised on Long Island as a New York Jets fan. He remembered having “Jets stuff all over the walls” of his bedroom. Danny Vanden Boom became a Boston Red Sox fan after a family trip to Fenway Park. He was in his early teens, impressionable and “fell in love with the history of the club.” Chase Wolf grew up in Loveland, Ohio — 30 minutes from Cincinnati — and has been an unabashed fan of the Reds and Bengals through thick and mostly thin. “More power to him if he’s cheering for those guys,” Vanden Boom playfully chided. Graham Mertz is from Overland Park, Kansas — 20 miles from Arrowhead Stadium where a second uncle, Dustin Colquitt, a 14-year veteran, punts for the Chiefs. “For me, it’s the Chiefs and Packers,” Mertz said of his allegiances. “My grandma has lived in Green Bay.” Wisconsin’s four quarterbacks are big fans. Of others. And each other.
Left to right: Budmayr, Coan, Wolf, Mertz and Vanden Boom
“They’re good people,” Coan said, “and three of my best friends.” “Bunch of good dudes in the room,” said Vanden Boom. “We really care about each other.” “The whole quarterback group is like brothers,” Wolf said. “There’s a great bond.” “We all kind of have the same mindset,” said Mertz, “when it comes to life and football.” That unity extends to their viewing habits. None of them are currently watching “Game of Thrones” — the immensely popular HBO series which is in its final season. “We get a lot of hate on that from the big guys over there,” Mertz said pointing in the direction of the offensive line in one corner of the field. “They’re all into it.” Wisconsin quarterbacks coach Jon Budmayr can’t relate to fire-breathing dragons or the Iron Throne, either. When he finds the spare time, he’s more inclined to watch reruns of “The Office” on Netflix (“Love it, makes me laugh, stupid comedy.”).
Mostly, of course, he has been watching his four QBs get closer over 15 spring practices. Their growth — individually and collectively — is no laughing matter. “They are a tight unit, and it’s not just lip service,” Budmayr said. “They care about one another. With that, there’s a great sense of competition among them, too, whether it’s on the field or it’s on the dart board in the quarterback room or it’s on the ping pong table in the locker room. “They thrive on that competition. Yet, they are very close.” It helps explain the budding chemistry between Coan, Vanden Boom, Wolf and Mertz. “I feel like we’re meshed pretty well,” said Coan, a junior. “Whenever we’re on the field, we’re always watching and trying to learn from each other. Whenever we come back from a play, we’re always talking to each other about what we saw … we’ll bounce ideas off each other and ask questions.”