The University of Wisconsin football team's defensive backfield should see a further uptick in speed next year.
Grant Dean, who announced his commitment last week, is a three-sport athlete for in-state Neenah. He excelled as an All-State standout at football, but he also recently turned some heads on the track.
“In football, he's always had great speed, but I really feel like in the last year or two, just in our training in adding coach Ben Stumpf into the weight room, his speed is really coming along," Neenah coach Steve Jung said. "And his times that he's run in track right now are really good.
"And he's basically gone football (to) basketball to track. He hasn’t had any time off this year, and he's getting all his stuff done in the weight room. So he puts the time in, I think that that's very evident, but we're very excited about where he's at speed-wise."
247Sports and Rivals evaluate Dean as a three-star recruit. He announced offers from Army, Northern Illinois, Wyoming and FCS powerhouses North Dakota State and South Dakota State before committing to Wisconsin. He also tweeted about multiple visits to Minnesota and said Iowa State also was showing interest.
Dean took a couple of recent visits to Wisconsin, which included one that sealed the deal
Dean said communication with Wisconsin started at a camp in River Falls last year, where he caught the attention of former co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Colin Hitschler. Hitschler then invited the Neenah standout to a camp, and he attended Wisconsin's June 13 session.
Dean later made the trip to a couple of Wisconsin's home games against Buffalo and Northwestern last season.
He returned for unofficial visits on consecutive Tuesdays earlier this month and came away with an offer after the second trip to Madison.
"They mentioned something about it last Tuesday," Dean said. "Coach (Luke) Fickell wanted coach (Alex) Grinch to make the decision. So then they wanted me to come back next Tuesday. I came back, and coach Grinch told me he didn't want me to leave the state."
The turnaround from offer to verbal commitment was quick.
"When I talked to him," Jung said with a laugh, "he's like, ‘Yeah, they offered me.’ And before I could even ask him if he committed, he said, ‘And I committed right in that instant as well.’”
Dean announced his decision to stay within the state a day later.
"I've been watching them since I was a little kid, and it was kind of a dream come true for me," Dean said. "And the people met what I was looking for as well."
Three of those commits come from within the state: Roeske (Wautoma), Catalano (Germantown) and Dean.
“I think it means a lot more than people really realize," Dean said of heading to Wisconsin as an in-state recruit. "I think those guys would say the same."
Dean finished his junior season with large school All-State honors from the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association and a second-team All-State selection from the Associated Press. He rushed for 1,774 yards on 7.3 yards per carry with 25 touchdowns in 2023, according to wissports.net. The site also reports he caught 20 passes for 239 yards and three touchdowns.
“We run a lot of power football, and so we run power and counter," Jung said. "We're a gap team, but Grant does a great job of getting the ball to the outside. We've hit him out of the backfield, throwing short passes to him, so not only running back, he's a really good receiver.
"Matter of fact, he probably tracks the ball the best on our team. He is a really good receiver at tracking the ball. And so offensively, we're set up to get him the ball.”
Dean also shined as a defensive back, recording 59 tackles, one tackle for loss and two interceptions last season, according to wissports.net. Neenah runs multiple looks, according to Jung, but the Rockets like to play him deep because of his ability to cover ground.
"But in our two high safety look, he's really good at his run fits," Jung said. "And if we can get him at the run fits, he gets his read, his comes downhill, and he makes plays at the line of scrimmage, and I think that's what makes him special as a safety for us.”
“And so we really feel that when we can get Grant in the run fits on every play against the teams that we go against, we are plus one, and we have a really good tackler and a guy that can chase down anything.”
How Dean could be used at Wisconsin
Those speed and ball skills could come in handy when Dean, who said he's between 6-foot and 6-1 and 185-190 pounds, arrives in Madison as an early enrollee in January. He projects to play safety, though there's versatility in Wisconsin's secondary.
“They feel like they can use me in a multitude of ways," Dean said. "They don't want me being just a one-dimensional player, being just a safety or just a nickel or something like that. So they feel like they can put me wherever.”