As Rachid Ibrahim’s summer unfolded last year, the former University of Pittsburgh and Wisconsin starting running back found himself based out of Washington, D.C., not far from his roots in Rockville, Maryland, and selling insurance across the country for London-based Aon.
The Covid-19 pandemic had derailed Ibrahim’s shot at professional football in the XFL, halted his initial plans to enter the coaching ranks at his second alma mater, Wisconsin, as the 2020 season first neared, then was cancelled in the Big Ten and then later unfolded in a truncated form.
“By then, I was 25 years old, and I felt like God was telling me to get into coaching,” Ibrahim told FootballScoop. “I called Wisconsin and my old coaches and said I want to get into coaching. But Covid hit and our O.C. at the time, Joe Rudolph, said hold tight, maybe plan on January (2021).
“I was actually getting recruited into the corporate world at that time, and I went to work for Aon and told them I’d commit a year to them.”
Ibrahim, in an element that mirrored his on-field dedication, overdelivered to Aon; he stayed more than a full year. But as last summer unfolded, he received a call from mentor and former coach Bobby Engram about a return to Wisconsin to join the Badgers’ staff.
And after Wisconsin’s topsy-turvy 2022 season resulted in the dismissal of Paul Chryst, Ibrahim’s former coach at both Pitt and Wisconsin, Ibrahim found himself transitioned from insurance salesman to assistant running backs coach to running the Badgers’ position group throughout December in preparation for the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against Oklahoma State.
By then, Wisconsin had hired Luke Fickell to helm the program into the future, and some Badgers assistants began to secure employment with other schools. Engram, the former Penn State standout and longtime NFL wideout who had coached at the both the collegiate and NFL levels, shifted responsibilities.
Ibrahim got a month-long immersion into the job..
“I was extremely motivated,” said Ibrahim, who had a pair of interviews with new Badgers coach Luke Fickell for the permanent running backs job before the Badgers elected to go with a slightly more experienced candidate. “I had been the whole season, whatever I do, I’m going to go in 110%, but knowing that they were counting on me and end of day I wanted to make sure that I was serving them to the highest quality possible and giving them everything I have. It was just spending the extra time, making sure everything was detailed for them in how we approached everything.
“Coach (Al) Johnson had done a really good job with the foundation of the room already, so we had that; if I changed something up, it was just because I felt we could do something just a little bit differently or try to show them something different. I think they appreciated those viewpoints.”
More prep time for Oklahoma State, the end of classes shortly into December and the calendar afforded Wisconsin – and every team – the chance to stretch out its bowl process with more days but shorter hours.
Peeling back the curtain, Ibrahim said the Wisconsin staff largely had 12-, 13-hour days during December.
“In that month of December, get in around 7; didn’t have games on Saturday, so it was a bit different,” he said. “Only so much game-prepping you can do for one game, and once we found out our opponent, it was like, ‘OK, let’s get going through the breakdowns. How do we want to create our game plan, our run-game and our passing game?’ Then building that together. Spending time with Coach Ingram and getting with the run-game guys and the pass-game guys, putting the plan together and once we had the plan together, it was introducing it to the players. This is going to be our down-and-distance runs and passes, our third-down runs and passes, red zone, short-yardage and goal line. Just getting them that plan, little by little. Because you didn’t want to give them too much during that period but introduce it slowly and give them time to learn it.
“Usually, we’d be out by 7, 8 p.m. So, 12-hour days during bowl prep whereas during the season, you might be having some 16-hour days, 17-hour days.”
Ibrahim, already hearing from additional Power-5 and Football Championship Subdivision programs regarding various opportunities in 2023, approached his month-long apprenticeship with a twofold purpose: maximize everything he poured into his players and absorb as much of the process as possible for his own coaching foundation.
“No. 1, I wanted to prepare them as much as possible and make sure they were as prepared as possible going into the game,” Ibrahim said. “The good thing is that I had three, four weeks to do it, whereas normally you have four days [for game prep during the season].
“It was basically a full-time trial of doing what I want to be able to do for the future. That is to have a room to yourself and coach that room. I enjoyed every bit of it, the kids were great, they showed up to work every day and gave everything they had. I never had to question effort, so then now it was just on me to make sure, ‘Hey, am I doing everything I can and equipping these kids with everything they need to be successful, on and off the field.’
“A lot of wasn’t just on-the-field stuff. We were talking academics, training room, life outside of football and providing that environment for them, to give them everything they need. So for me, it was a blessing getting a chance to coach them but also a chance to listen to them and see what they have going on and help them in any way possible.”
Badgers tailback Braelon Allen ran for 116 yards en route to bowl-game offensive MVP honors; 13 of the team’s 21 first downs came via the run, part of a 258-yard ground effort. Back for just his third game since injury, Chez Mellusi added 77 yards and a touchdown rushing as Wisconsin capped its season with a 24-17 win against Oklahoma State.
“You always want to end the season with a win, and No. 1, the guys did a great job overcoming everything and earning that opportunity for a 13th game,” said Ibrahim, who handled the Badgers’ tailback rotation and other gameday responsibilities from the sidelines against the Cowboys. “That’s big, because Wisconsin has done a great job, and I think they were 7-1 in the last eight bowl games [now 8-1]. The kids played with tremendous effort, gave everything they had to get that opportunity. You gotta have pride in what the kids did and they earned that.
“I really appreciated the way Coach Fickell handled it, and I just thought he did a really good job of working through the transition. Showed great poise and just a calmness and how to create a productive environment for us and support us through the bowl prep. I learned a lot from it, too. It gave me knowledge and experience on how to handle it and then prior to having dealt with it at Pitt as a player, I was just trying to help the room and be a benefit to them in any way possible.”