Some things have changed for new defensive coordinator Dave Doeren during the University of Wisconsin football team's injury-plagued spring.

Other things haven't.

It has been hard to gauge the progress of the defense, which has been without as many as eight starters because of injuries.

It's not the way Doeren, 36, envisioned his first few months on the job, after being promoted from co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach to replace Mike Hankwitz, who was fired in January.

"It's not the ideal way to start calling plays," Doeren said of the injuries. "I've never been a guy who walks in and says, 'We're (in trouble).' I can't operate that way. ...

"We try to get done what we can. We don't deviate. We don't show any sign of weakness as coaches. Players will feed off what we show."

It hasn't been ideal, either, for a defense hungry to atone for its subpar 2007 performance.

"I think (last season) humbled us," senior linebacker DeAndre Levy said. "Everybody was picking us to do this or that. I think guys carry that disappointment from last year into this year and realize nothing is given, you've got to work and earn it."

The Badgers had one of the nation's best defenses in 2006, ranking first in pass efficiency defense, second in passing yards and second in scoring.

Last year's defense struggled to replace four starters, dealt with numerous injuries and had inconsistent play at middle linebacker and strong safety. It surrendered 30 or more points six times.

"We never played to our potential," Levy said.

It's Doeren's job to fix that.

This spring, he has targeted two areas: Pursuing to the ball and conditioning.

"I just told our guys," Doeren said after a recent practice, "there are a couple things that require no athletic ability, no recruiting talent. One of them is your assignments and one of them is your effort.

"It doesn't matter what your 40(-yard dash) time is, your height, your weight, you're going to flat run to the ball and you're going to know what you're supposed to do. If we do those two things, we're going to play well."

One of the most telling things UW coach Bret Bielema said about his decision to change coordinators was this: "For me, the voice that our players are hearing (is) just as (important) as what they are hearing, and I really like the way that Dave has the respect of our players and commands their interest."

Said Levy: "It's just a different vibe, a different atmosphere. You can tell, (Doeren is) really into it. I like that. He's really intense, really wants to win and really wants to make changes from last year. That's probably the biggest difference, just his hunger, I guess."

Despite the injuries, Doeren is able to point to some areas of progress.

"We wanted to see competition at (middle linebacker) and at strong safety," he said. "We felt like those two positions had to improve and they have. All four of those kids are playing better than they played last year."

Sophomore Culmer St. Jean and junior Elijah Hodge have split time at middle linebacker, while sophomore Jay Valai and junior Aubrey Pleasant have done the same at strong safety.

Doeren said some of the young players getting extra work due to injuries have made the most of it. Among the players to make progress are junior defensive tackle Jeff Stehle, redshirt freshman defensive tackle Patrick Butrym and junior defensive end O'Brien Schofield, prior to suffering a broken hand on Tuesday.

Like most new defensive coordinators, Doeren has expressed a desire to be more aggressive. He was asked to define that in his terms.

"We're a gap scheme," he said. "We're gap accountable. That can mean a lot of things. It can mean, 'I'm going to hold this (blocker) off the linebacker.' To us, it means, we're going to be in that gap, we're going to be violent in that gap and we're going to make tackles.

"If somebody is blocking me, I'm going to get rid of that guy and go make a play. We expect all 11 guys to play that way. That's the mentality and then the aggressive pursuit (of the ball) after that."

At that point, defensive backs coach Kerry Cooks happened to walk by.

"Does it mean we're going to blitz more? It depends on him," Doeren said, gesturing at Cooks. "If he's got corners that can cover, then, yeah, we're going to. Right now, that's still unknown."