Wisconsin's most compelling transfer: Matt Jung's unlikely rise from D-III to the Big Ten

MADISON, Wis.

Matt Jung met with Bethel University football coach Mike McElroy the Monday morning after the season ended with a Division III quarterfinal playoff loss for an emotional conversation about the future.

Jung was torn about what to do.

He loved the two years he had spent starring at Bethel, but he also believed there might be a higher ceiling for his college football career.

Advertisement Over the course of a tear-filled hour in McElroys office, they laid out the possibilities and concluded that Jung would be best served entering the transfer portal.

Jung, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound safety with two years of eligibility remaining, had just finished a season in which he earned Division III first-team All-America honors.

He recorded a team-high 109 tackles while leading all of Division III with nine interceptions and four pick sixes.

If all went well, maybe a Football Championship Subdivision school would take notice.

McElroy himself had been an all-conference defensive back in the FCS at Southern Illinois and felt confident that Jung would be a great player in the same conference for a high-end program like North Dakota State or South Dakota State.

It was hard for me to project, McElroy said.

I was like, Hes the best player in the country at our level.

But I have no idea what that means.

Jung (pronounced Young) posted on his X account the following afternoon, Tuesday, Dec.

17, that he had officially entered the transfer portal, with a link to his Hudl highlights, then turned off his cell phone because he needed to take an Accounting final.

When Jung powered the phone back on, he had dozens of calls and text messages from college programs across the country and not from the FCS.

I was like, Whoa, this is a lot more than I expected,' Jung said.

It was crazy.

By the end of the night, he had earned scholarship offers from Eastern Michigan, Kent State, UTEP , Buffalo, Washington State, Montana and Western Michigan.

The next morning, Iowa State offered.

Then Wisconsin offered in the afternoon.

Jung, a native of Neenah, Wis., had grown up hoping to play for the Badgers but never thought it would become a reality.

He fielded phone calls or exchanged messages with Badgers safeties coach Jack Cooper, offensive line coach AJ Blazek and defensive coordinator Mike Tressel.

Advertisement Jung immediately scheduled a visit to Wisconsin, went to dinner with Badgers coaches at Johnny Delmonicos Steakhouse that Wednesday night and committed the following day after breakfast, a facilities tour and more meetings with coaches.

He had visits planned for Iowa, Iowa State and Northwestern but canceled them to fulfill a childhood dream that he called surreal.

Obviously, growing up a Badger fan made it more exciting than anything else, Jung said.

But I didnt want to make a decision based off that.

So I got to campus as soon as I could.

Then once I realized that the program, the people, the coaches were a place with a culture that I could fit in at, thats when I knew that I wanted to commit.

Not only growing up a fan but also feeling like home there and feeling like a place where I could see myself at.

Wisconsin has added 17 players (and counting) from the transfer portal as part of what has become an annual offseason roster shakeup.

But Jung might be the most interesting from the group, considering the rarity of Division III players making the leap all the way to the Badgers.

Two of the best-known examples have come on the offensive line in Joe Panos (UW-Whitewater) 35 years ago and Ryan Ramczyk (UW-Stevens Point) a decade ago.

Jung is one of just two portal additions this offseason from the state of Wisconsin, joining former Arkansas long snapper Eli Stein .

Jungs father Steve has been the varsity football coach at Neenah High School for 12 seasons and was a former Division III All-American safety at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis.

He has four sons Joe (26), Sam (22), Matt (20) and Luke (18) and doesnt hesitate to say that Matts journey is the most unexpected.

Matt was the only one of the four boys not to play for Steve on the varsity team as a sophomore.

Thats because he was just 5 foot 8 and 130 pounds, too small and too slow to compete at the varsity level.

Advertisement It seems kind of funny when we talk about that now, Steve said.

But for most of his life, hes been not the best kid on the team, probably the smallest on the team.

He was always battling with his older brothers and hes always been really fiery, got himself in circumstances where the big brothers would pound on him.

And its just in his latter part of high school and then in college where hes become a big, strong, fast kid.

Jung finished his sophomore season of high school playing through a broken tailbone, and his junior season was pushed back to the spring of 2021 because of the pandemic.

By that time, he had grown six inches but wasnt on the radar of any major college coaches.

Jung played cornerback, middle linebacker and quarterback for Neenah.

He finished his senior season with 97 tackles, six tackles for loss and two interceptions.

At quarterback, he completed 57.7 percent of his passes for 802 yards with nine touchdowns and no interceptions while adding 785 rushing yards with 15 scores.

His college opportunities came at the Division II and III levels from schools in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

He began his career in Division IIs NSIC with Minnesota State in Mankato but suffered a broken left fibula and tears in the tendons on both sides of his ankle and took a redshirt season.

Jung said he already had been struggling at Minnesota State with what he felt was a program that didnt fit the culture he desired.

He ended up transferring down to Bethel to play for McElroy, whod recruited him out of high school.

McElroy said Jungs length and athleticism were evident when he arrived but that his recovery from ankle surgery required time.

Jung added roughly 20 pounds during his first year at Bethel, earned a starting safety role and led the team in tackles (72) and interceptions (seven), with two picks returned for touchdowns.

Advertisement His first year was pretty ridiculous, McElroy said.

And then he followed it up with an even better one.

Jungs All-America 2024 campaign showcased his versatility.

In a game against Saint Johns (Minn.), he played wide receiver and caught a 69-yard touchdown pass, while finishing with 14 tackles, two tackles for loss, a forced fumble and an interception returned 84 yards for a touchdown.

He had 10 tackles, a sack and two pick sixes in a game against Concordia College.

Jung also served as Bethels primary kick and punt returner, bringing a punt back 43 yards for a touchdown against Macalester and ranking 11th in Division III for punt return average.

Jung recorded 16 interceptions in two seasons, and his six interceptions returned for touchdowns tied the Division III career record.

McElroy said Jungs abilities to bait quarterbacks into making throws and to take over a game from the safety spot were on a level that he had never seen.

Jungs transfer path was entirely uncertain.

Steve said he believed there was a really good chance his son would end up returning to Bethel even after entering the portal because of his strong relationship with McElroy.

And if Matt moved on, Steve thought North Dakota State (where older brother Sam recently finished his senior season) or Minnesota-Duluth (where younger brother Luke will be a freshman linebacker) were good options.

But then the offers quickly poured in, and Wisconsin shot to the top of the list.

The Jung family attended numerous Badgers football and basketball games when the boys were growing up because their grandparents had season tickets.

Steve said he wanted to make sure Matt had enough time to process his visit to Wisconsin and compare it with other schools.

But Matt was 30 minutes into his drive to Iowa City when he called his dad and said he wanted to be a Badger.

Hed be less than two hours from home, could attend his dream school and would have a chance to earn immediate playing time.

Advertisement He said, Hows it get any better than that? Steve recalled.

It just seems like a great opportunity.

So he basically said, Can I turn around now? And I said, Yes.

You can come home.

Wisconsin returns veteran safeties Preston Zachman and Austin Brown as potential starters.

Jung and former Richmond safety Matthew Traynor were brought in from the transfer portal.

Traynor was the defensive rookie of the year in his conference as a redshirt freshman.

The rest of the scholarship safeties have no college playing experience, including four incoming freshmen.

Jung should have a legitimate opportunity to break into the two-deep, which means his remarkable rise is far from finished.

I dont really know what to expect, Jung said.

I honestly didnt really expect to be here a few weeks ago.

But theres a chance for competition, and Im just going to go in there, compete and see what I can do.

(Photo courtesy of Bethel University Athletics).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.