Mike Tressel on sophomore corner: ‘He believes it’s his time now’

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The Wisconsin Badgers were big players in the transfer portal this offseason, looking to upgrade several position groups as they hoped to make a bigger push in 2026.

Defensively, the Badgers went after talent on the defensive line, at linebacker, and especially in the secondary, where several transfers are projected to start right now. But they also had some young returners who are looking to take that next step. We saw Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano break out as freshmen at linebacker in 2025, but there were several other freshmen who were touted coming out of high school.

At cornerback, Cairo Skanes was in the two-deep as a true freshman at the field corner spot. And Jai’mier Scott was also in the two-deep mix as a freshman, even if the snaps weren’t there.

With a lot of newcomers at cornerback, those returners may get overlooked a bit, but defensive coordinator Mike Tressel spoke to some of the consistency that Scott has shown from Year 1 to Year 2.

“I think the biggest thing is he truly believes, ‘hey, it’s his time now,’” Tressel said of Scott. “It’s his time to at the very least compete and, shoot, in his mind, why not me, right? And he should believe that because he’s that talented. I think that he was a pretty smart dude and had the length and could run and all that from last season too, but I don’t know if he quite believed it was his time and he should be the guy out there. And so that’s night and day.”

Scott, standing at 6’1, 192 pounds, will compete to be a part of the two-deep this season, but the Badgers have a much deeper cornerback room with depth than they did in 2025, when true freshmen were forced up the depth chart.

Wisconsin added Arizona State transfer Javan Robinson, Florida State transfer Cai Bates, Ohio State transfer Bryce West, and Oklahoma State transfer Eric Fletcher from the transfer portal this offseason. They also added Carsen Eloms and Donovan Dunmore in their freshman class. So, only Skanes, Scott, and fellow redshirt freshman Jahmare Washington return at cornerback from the 2025 season.

There should be a lot of competition in this room throughout spring ball without a ton of experienced returners, and that battle should be one of the best this offseason.

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