There's one statistical category in which Wisconsin senior tight end Brock DeCicco truly stands out.
Number of head coaches had: Seven.
Yes, seven.
DeCicco (6 feet 5, 250 pounds) began his career at Pittsburgh before transferring to Wisconsin after the 2010 season. Wisconsin expects to use at least four tight ends this fall, and DeCicco -- whose brother, Dom, was a star safety at Pitt from 2007-10 -- will be one of the top four. While he has only three career catches, he is a good blocker.
But let's start at the beginning.
DeCicco was a consensus national top-10 tight end in the 2009 recruiting class. He signed with Dave Wannstedt (that's coach No. 1) and hometown Pitt, then redshirted that fall. He played in 13 games, starting three, for the Panthers in 2010. Wannstedt was fired after that season, and Mike Haywood (coach No. 2) was hired. But Haywood lasted a bit less than a month; he was fired after a domestic dispute led to his arrest. Defensive coordinator Phil Bennett served as the interim coach in the bowl game that season (that's coach No. 3). Pitt then hired Todd Graham (coach No. 4).
DeCicco, though, didn't think Graham's offense was friendly to tight ends. Thus, he left for Wisconsin, where offensive coordinator Paul Chryst always had made good use of the tight end.
Under NCAA transfer rules, DeCicco sat out at Wisconsin in 2011. (In a move rife with irony for DeCicco, Chryst was hired as coach at Pitt following that season after Graham decided one year was enough for him with the Panthers.) DeCicco played in all 14 games last season for Wisconsin, which was coached by Bret Bielema (coach No. 5). Bielema left after the regular season for Arkansas, and Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez served as the Badgers' interim coach in the Rose Bowl (coach No. 6). Then, in January, Gary Andersen was hired as Wisconsin's coach (coach No. 7 -- whew).
There was some angst among school officials and Badgers fans after Bielema left. DeCicco, though, wasn't fazed. A coaching search? He scoffs at coaching searches.
"Yeah, definitely, because I've been through it so many times," DeCicco told the Wisconsin State Journal. "I'm kind of comfortable with it now."
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.