COLUMBUS, Ohio -- University of Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema was chatting this week with Ed Domsitz, the football coach at Archbishop High School in suburban Dayton, Ohio.

Domsitz was the high school coach of UW linebacker Chris Borland, the freshman who has been such a hit with teammates, coaches and fans after only five games.

Was there any way to see this coming? Should we have known Borland would make such an impact this quickly?

"You like to think that you knew how special he was," Bielema said. "And I did. But the intangibles that Chris Borland has are second to none. When you meet his mom and dad and you see the bigger picture of the way he was raised and the program he comes from, it makes a lot of sense.

"I've never had a player where I've had so many people say to me, 'I just watch (No.) 44, wherever 44 is.' Especially people that don't know football. I think they're even watching him on the sidelines, just to see what he's doing over there.

"So he's gifted, but he's so hungry and nowhere even close to being as good a football player as he'll be here."

Contemplating what the future holds for Borland is enticing for the Badgers, given what they have seen already, going into today's game at No. 9 Ohio State.

Borland has been the Badgers' best overall player on special teams. He was named the Big Ten Conference's special teams co-player of the week after finishing with four tackles, a blocked punt and a forced fumble against Wofford.

He also is a pass rusher in the Badger package (3-3-5) used in passing situations. He had a tackle, a half-sack and recovered the fumble that clinched the victory over Minnesota last week, after playing like a man possessed on the Golden Gophers' final possession.

"He was awesome the last five plays," defensive coordinator Dave Doeren said.

In his first Big Ten game against Michigan State the week before, Borland had a career-high five tackles, his first sack, a pass breakup and four quarterback hurries.

"Every game, he seems to impress me a little more," UW sophomore defensive tackle Patrick Butrym said. "We did these pretty hard workouts in the summer. He was just running faster than everybody. He was beating successful older guys in drills. (We were thinking), 'Who is this kid?'

"A young guy showing up the older guys. Then he blocked that punt. He's just a man. He's a man and he's a freshman. I'm glad we're going to have him for three more years."

Always a Badger

Borland always knew what he wanted.

Growing up a UW fan in Ohio, watching the Badgers win back-to-back Rose Bowls, he never doubted where he wanted to play college football, after the possibility first entered his mind as a high school sophomore.

His dad, Jeff Borland, lived in Madison from second grade through high school and played football at Edgewood High School for George Chryst, the late father of UW offensive coordinator Paul Chryst.

Jeff and Zebbie Borland have seven kids. Chris is fifth in birth order among the six boys. It wasn't hard raising Green Bay Packers and Badgers fans in the heart of Ohio. A grandmother lived in the Kenosha area and the boys would call on Sundays, when the Packers were playing.

"When my mother died, the boys couldn't decide who got her Green Bay Packers sweatshirt, so they framed it," Jeff Borland said. UW sports "were kind of the same thing."

The family is extremely athletic. Among the sports the kids played in high school: soccer, football, basketball, swimming and diving, volleyball, baseball and track and field.

"Everything but golf," Jeff Borland said.

Three of Chris' older brothers went on to play sports in college. Mark played basketball at Wittenberg, 25 miles northeast of Dayton. John played soccer at Army and Matt played soccer at Wittenberg.

"His older brothers all played through high school and into college and they all deferred to him a long time ago," Jeff Borland said. Chris "is biggest, fastest, strongest, has got good vision, great hands."

Chris holds the family record as the youngest to put a full-size basketball through a 10-foot hoop in the driveway -- before the age of 3. They played football in the backyard, but it was too small, so they had to go back and forth several times to score a touchdown.

Chris "learned to duck," Jeff Borland said. "He learned to avoid elbows and people swinging for his head."

Chris played mostly on offense, as a running back and wide receiver, before his senior year. When it came time to attend football camps that summer -- the time many players earn scholarship offers -- Jeff Borland thought his son's best chance might be at linebacker. So Jeff and a couple of Chris' older brothers got some blocking dummies and headed into a gym to teach Chris how to play linebacker.

All that was left was to impress the UW coaches and earn that coveted scholarship offer.

"We almost took a single rifle shot (approach)," Jeff Borland said. "I thought if he got (to UW) and he had the chance (for a scholarship), that's what he would do. We weren't concerned about (recruiting service) star ratings or other offers."

An easy decision

The story of Chris' performance at UW's camp is legendary. Over three days, he showed there is not much he can't do on a football field. He wowed coaches at linebacker, his new position, the first day. He also rocketed four punts about 50 yards each.

The second day he kicked field goals. On the third day, he ran pass routes, including a one-handed catch on a deep ball.

"It couldn't have gone any better," Jeff Borland said. "He had done a lot of different things. He could run, catch, kick, throw. I give the coaches credit -- they saw him, they tested him in all those different aspects and they made a decision. That wasn't happening the few other places he had gone and looked.

"I think that was part of the decision-making process. If they were professional enough to see something, test it and, together, come to a decision almost on the spot, to me that was good."

Ohio State never offered Chris and never recruited him. His only contact was saying hello to a coach who visited his school while recruiting the team's quarterback.

"I wanted to be offered from Wisconsin," Chris said. "I never wanted to play at Ohio State. I wanted to play here. I'm really pleased with how things worked out."

The Buckeyes make a lot of their recruiting decisions early and Borland didn't play much linebacker until his senior year. He is listed at 5-foot-11 and 235 pounds, but is actually shorter.

Bielema asked Chris one day how tall he really is. "I'm 5-10," Chris said. "But I'm kicking 5-10's (butt)."

But this is not a story of a player who gets overlooked by the state school and comes back seeking to prove a point. Chris got the only offer he wanted. It took a couple of hours and a quick phone conversation with his dad to accept the offer after it was made at camp.

"I think it would be reaching to think there's anything there," Jeff Borland said of proving anything to the Buckeyes. "I think he ended up where he wanted to be."

In position to succeed

As impressive as Chris has been, his dad is quick to point out UW coaches have done a good job putting him in positions to have success.

"All of the attention has probably been a little unexpected," Jeff Borland said. "Yet I think he's kept it -- hopefully -- in perspective. I think he knows his role.

"There are other guys doing every-down work. The coaches have put him in a position to do things he can be successful at, without having a lot of experience. He's got a lot to learn and he knows that."

Chris gives a lot of credit to older players who have shown him the way.

"I think hard work, opportunity and the support of the guys around me," he said of making such a quick impact. "Coming in, I did all right but I made a lot of mistakes. They were patient and helpful. I think the leadership of this team has really helped me personally."

Just like he worked to make an impression at camp and earn his scholarship, he prepared coming into this season. Maybe that was the only way to see this coming, to see the effort and dedication that went into it before he got here.

"I'm more proud of the fact he prepared for it," Jeff Borland said. "He showed up and had prepared to contribute."

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