Eric Studesville BSE '89

Eric Studesville named 2025 UW-Whitewater Distinguished Alumnus for Professional Achievement

Written by Dave Fidlin | Photos by submitted

As the associate head coach and running backs coach with the Miami Dolphins, Eric Studesville wants to win games for the NFL team he has been a part of since 2018. But the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater alumnus also wants to win in forging meaningful, long-lasting relationships with the players in his midst.

“My coaching style is based on relationships that are maintained through accountability,” said Studesville, who earned his Bachelor of Science in Physical Education from UW-Whitewater in 1989. 

“You have to establish a relationship, in any workspace, really. In my case, my goal is for the players to trust and entrust me with buying into what I’m asking them to do and what I’m coaching them to do.”

Studesville is one of the recipients of the 2025 UW-Whitewater Distinguished Alumni Award for Professional Achievement. The recognition is given to graduates who have exhibited distinguished professional, personal and career achievement, and have been recognized for accomplishments in their field.

UW-Whitewater alum Eric Studesville serves as associate head coach and running backs coach with the Miami Dolphins, where he has worked since 2018. 

Over the years, Studesville has netted a number of personal and professional achievements and accolades. He stands out as one of the few NFL coaches with ties to a Division III college football team, which makes his journey into the professional level all the more notable and inspiring.

As Studesville sees it, the relationships-first mantra he abides by — on and off the football field — is a way of paying it forward and living out the positive experiences he had at UW-Whitewater while playing as a Warhawks defensive back.

Studesville describes Bob Berezowitz, who was head coach of the Warhawks during his time on campus, and Bruce Bukowski, the Warhawks defensive coordinator at the time, as mentors he still keeps in contact with today.

Studesville credits Berezowitz with helping pave the way for him to enroll at UW-Whitewater back in the mid-1980s. Studesville first met his future head coach when he recruited him at his high school in Verona.

“I didn’t have anything set in terms of where I was going to school,” Studesville said. “The minute I walked on campus, I just felt that it was the right place for me. It seemed like a place that would be good for me.”

“He’s been so incredibly supportive of me from literally the day that I decided to come to Whitewater. We talk about football. I call to check on him; he calls to check on me.”

Image of Eric Studesville (26) from a September 1988 issue of the Royal Purple. (Photo courtesy University Archives) 

As for Bukowski, Studesville said, “He was instrumental in my development, not only in pushing me to higher levels, but in maximizing the things I can do.”

From the get-go, Studesville said UW-Whitewater felt like his second home because of its close-knit environment that gave him bountiful opportunities to consider his future.

“It’s the size of school where you can get to know a ton of people and get active in a lot of different activities,” Studesville said. “There’s a lot of social life, there’s great athletics and it offers a great education. In my case, I’ve been able to use it a lot over the years.”

In addition to his former coaches, Studesville said he has stayed in close contact over the past nearly four decades with a number of his former Warhawks teammates.

“There’s a group of us that played football together that are still extremely close to this day,” Studesville said. “Our families are close; we check up on each other. I’m grateful for all of those relationships.”

Out of college, Studesville held a number of coaching positions with collegiate teams with North Dakota, Wingate and Kent State, among others. His NFL coaching career kicked off in 1997 when he was named quality control coach with the Chicago Bears.

Studesville’s resume in professional athletics includes stints as running back coach with the New York Giants from 2001-2003, the Buffalo Bills from 2004-2009 and the Denver Broncos from 2010-2017.

Additionally, Studesville became the interim head coach of the Broncos in December 2010 after the firing of Josh McDaniels. He led the team for the duration of that season, netting a 1-3 record.

Associate head coach Eric Studesville, a UW-Whitewater alumnus, on the sidelines of a Miami Dolphins game.

As he ponders his own legacy, Studesville said his goal is to have the same impact on his players that he had as a Warhawk while under the direction of Berezowitz and Bukowski’s leadership.

“I hope that my relationship with my players doesn’t just stop when they stop playing for me,” Studesville said. “I hope that something I might have said along the way, or something that I had encouraged them to do — I hope somewhere down the line, they stop and say, ‘Coach E told me this.’”

Speaking directly to Berezowitz and Bukowski’s mentorship, Studesville adds, “For 40 years, these people have exerted their influence, in terms of how I am and how I do things. That’s a testament of the power of a coach-player relationship, if it’s done correctly.”

Through all of his trials and triumphs, on and off the field, over the decades, Studesville said UW-Whitewater has been, and remains, an important part of his life.

“I’ve been very fortunate over the years,” he said. “If I had to do it all over again, I’d do the same thing — I’d go to Whitewater. It was the right place, at the right time, for me.”

Eric Studesville is the 2025 UW-Whitewater Distinguished Alumnus for Professional Achievement.