Badgers mourn ex-WR Chandler after UVA killings
MADISON, Wis.– Wisconsin interim head coach Jim Leonhard stated Thursday his players are still grieving the loss of previous Badgers receiver Devin Chandler and believes it might keep some from being focused enough to play Saturday at Nebraska.Chandler and Virginia colleagues Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry were returning from a class trip Sunday night when authorities say they were eliminated by a fellow student and previous football player.Chandler played for Wisconsin from 2020-21 before moving to Virginia.2 Related Leonhard said his players took the news hard, especially those who were closest to Chandler.
“They got close since of football, right?”Leonhard stated.”So each time they’re around football, it becomes fresh once again, whether that’s being in a meeting and having ideas about something that happened or hitting that field and bringing up a different memory.”Leonhard states he does not expect any players not to make the trip to Nebraska due to the fact that they’re still grieving, however
he questioned whether some would be emotionally prepared to play in a game.”You see a variety of guys who are getting that energy back and sort of having the ability to focus a little bit more, and then you see another handful that still are actually struggling, “Leonhard stated.” We require to support them in every way we can and try to find out what the best role for them on game day is going to be and how to continue to support them every day moving forward.” Leonhard stated the coaching personnel has the task of “searching for out who’s going to provide us the very best chance to win if the focus can’t
exist, if they can’t sort of manage the feelings either of the day or sort of the moment.” “It is difficult since I want our guys to understand those emotions are genuine and I’m not trying to make them eat them and proceed,”Leonhard stated. “We ‘d never ask them to do
that. But at the very same time, we need to prepare for a game, and we have to discover a method to win on Saturday. I provide a lot of credit. They’ve been through a heap.”Wisconsin’s players already dealt with the loss of previous running backs coach Gary Brown previously this year. Brown, who coached Wisconsin’s running backs last season, died April 10 at the age of 52 after stepping down from coaching for health-related factors.