Linebacker Taylor Schaefer’s road from Southern Door to the Wisconsin Badgers

GREEN BAY — From Southern Door to JuCo to the Wisconsin Badgers.

It was quite the journey for former Eagles linebacker Taylor Schaefer to achieve his D-1 dream, but next fall he will be suiting up for Wisconsin and will be playing at Lambeau Field when they take on Notre Dame.

“To go back home now, I can go like 'yeah, I’m a Badger,'” Schaefer said. “It’s cool because there’s not too many guys to come out of those schools.”

HEAR SCHAEFER TALK ABOUT HIS JOURNEY!

After having zero D-1 offers coming out of high school in 2023, Schaefer went to play D-2 ball at Minnesota Duluth. He redshirted his freshman year and left the program due to a personal reason back home, but once that was resolved, he wanted to play football and chose Iowa Central Community College.

“It was either going to be here or (Iowa) Western, and I chose Central,” he said. “It’s the first stop on the highway—that’s what I tell everyone.”

Schaefer knew getting any playing time at the JuCo level was going to be hard work, but it’s something he’s never shied away from.

“There’s 160 guys, and you got 40 guys in one room trying to compete for two spots,” Schaefer said. “It took something different, but I’m here now, right? So I can’t complain.”

He didn’t immediately start for the Tritons, but eventually earned a starting spot. After his first year of JuCo, colleges took notice.

“Well, out of spring, I only had four or five FCS offers, but at that point I was like, might as well bet on myself here, and I know I can let it rip, so let’s do it,” said the now Wisconsin Badgers linebacker.

Let it rip he did. In his second season at Iowa Central, he amassed 97 tackles, five sacks, and 10 tackles for a loss, all leading the team. Just a few games in, big-time programs started to come calling.

“Arkansas called me, and they offered me," he said. "They were like my first Power 4 offer, and I was just speechless—like an SEC school—what are we talking about?”

However, Schaefer grew up a Wisconsin fan, and once they put an offer on the table, there was nowhere else he wanted to go.

“Yeah, it was pretty hard to pass up on that one,” he said.

As cool as becoming a Badger is, he knows he’s back at the bottom and has to earn everything once again.

“I gotta get to work now, you know what I mean,” said Schaefer.

Schaefer said the Badgers envision him playing the mike linebacker role, but they like his versatility—that he can play all three linebacker spots.