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When Dave Doeren got the job at Northern Illinois, his first as a head coach, two of his sons immediately switched their allegiances from Wisconsin to the Huskies.
The third? Well, that could be a little complicated this week.
''One of them has a great affinity for both,'' Doeren said.
Northern Illinois (1-1) faces No. 7 Wisconsin (2-0) at Soldier Field on Saturday, and Doeren insists the game has no greater meaning than any other on the Huskies' schedule.
Never mind that he spent the last five years in Madison, the longest stop in his professional career. Or that he's been friends with Wisconsin's co-defensive coordinators so long he considers them brothers. Or that he knows the Wisconsin players so well he refers to them by their first names instead of their last names or uniform numbers.
''When we get on the football field and we play, I'm going to coach our guys. I'm not going to look at their sideline and worry about what they're doing,'' Doeren said. ''When the game's over, we'll do what we do as friends and we'll talk, but this week is about us playing against them. That's all it is.
''It's competitive no matter who you're coaching against,'' he added. ''The fact that I've got friends on that sideline doesn't make it any more or less.''
Doeren played with Chris Ash and Charlie Partridge, Wisconsin's co-defensive coordinators, at Drake, and the three began their coaching careers together at their alma mater. After stints at USC, Montana and Kansas, Doeren was hired by Bret Bielema in 2006 as linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator.
Two years later, Partridge arrived in Madison. Last year, Ash joined the Badgers staff.
''If you sat in your office, and two of your best friends were sitting in the same office with you every single day, that's a pretty neat deal,'' said Doeren, whose wife remains close friends with Partridge's wife. ''As a coach, you work 100 hours a week sometimes, and I was working those hours with guys that I consider brothers.''
They built one of the country's most rugged defenses together, too.
In 2009, Wisconsin had the nation's fifth-best run defense, allowing a measly 88.2 yards rushing per game - no small feat considering the Big Ten is the home of smashmouth football. Last year the Badgers were 20th in total defense, allowing just under 322 yards a game.
The Badgers were 49-15 while Doeren was at Wisconsin. Last year Wisconsin won a share of the Big Ten title and played in the Rose Bowl for the first time in 11 years.
While Doeren might not recognize the names of the Wisconsin plays or its signals - Bielema changed them in the spring knowing the Badgers would be seeing Doeren - the defense will look as stingy as he remembers. Wisconsin got its first shutout since 2009 last weekend against Oregon State and held the Beavers to 23 yards rushing.
Yes, that's total yardage, not carries.
Wisconsin has yet to allow a touchdown rushing and has given up just 17 TDs on the ground since the start of the 2009 season.
''The entire body of work probably is what you're most proud of,'' Doeren said when asked to name his favorite memories from Wisconsin. ''You look back on the five years, we won a lot of games, hosted a lot of good players, helped guys improve and get better. I was a part of an experience with a good staff and a group of young men that was a lot of fun, and I grew a lot as a coach.''
Though Doeren did offer his congratulations to the Badgers following their shutout of Oregon State - ''I think it's a big deal when a team gets a shutout'' - his contact with folks at Wisconsin has been limited since the season started. But they talk often during the summer, and Bielema was one of the first to reach out to Doeren when Huskies linebacker Devon Butler was shot in April. Butler will miss this season as he recovers.
''He's one of my best friends in the profession,'' Doeren said of Bielema. ''He was extremely good to me as a person and an employee, and is somebody I care a lot about.''
For the next few days, however, Bielema and the rest of Doeren's old friends are opponents.
''I'm really excited about it,'' Wisconsin free safety Aaron Henry said. ''It's a love-love relationship, and after the game's over, we can be best friends. While the game's going on - I love coach Doeren, but there's hate between those lines. I'm trying to do my best and I want (them) to come out and play their best.''
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Follow Nancy Armour at http://twitter.com/nrarmour
