The ending of the Alvarez era
Anyone who has been a longtime reader of my column knows of my ardent love affair with the Wisconsin Badgers. The University of Wisconsin - Madison is my alma mater, and I am proud to have attended school there and earned my college education there.
I’m also proud of their sports heritage. Winning programs at the NCAA D-I level are never, ever a guaranteed thing. A team’s fortunes can change swiftly, especially if the wrong coach gets the job. If that happens, it can take years, even decades to rebuild the program to its former glory.
I can remember hearing stories about the Badgers from the 1970s and 1980s, and how tough it was to cheer for Wisconsin football and basketball teams.
Wisconsin’s fortunes changed dramatically after the 1980s. Pat Richter became the athletic director, and under Ricther, the Wisconsin men’s basketball team made the Big Dance in 1994 - its first appearance since 1947.
Ricther hired Dick Bennett and Bo Ryan as Wisconsin men’s basketball coaches, and both men guided the Badgers to Final Four appearances during their tenures as head coach.
But Richter’s biggest hire was Barry Alvarez to spearhead the Wisconsin Badgers football team in 1990. Prior to that Wisconsin had enjoyed limited success. They had made it to three bowl games in the 1980s, but when head coach Dave McClain had a sudden heart attack in 1986, his death put the program in a tailspin for years.
Enter Barry Alvarez.
Alvarez came to Wisconsin from Notre Dame, where he helped guide the Fighting Irish to a national championship in 1988 as defensive coordinator. When he took the job at Wisconsin everyone thought he was committing career suicide. When he promised people that Wisconsin would win the Rose Bowl in four years, something they had never done, everyone laughed.
But in 1994, he and his players did it. At that time, I knew nothing of the Badgers, and my chief concern was trying to avoid falling off the merry-go-wheel during recess. By 2000, I started paying attention. Wisconsin won another Rose Bowl in 1999, added the one in 2000, and had a Heisman Trophy winner in Ron Dayne.
When I got onto campus a few years later, Alvarez’s time as head coach was drawing a close. He retired from that position in 2005 with a 119-72-4 record, three Big Ten titles, and successfully put Wisconsin football back on the national map.
In the last 15 years, he’s served as Wisconsin’s athletic director. There were early fears he would funnel funds solely into football and basketball, but under his watch, Wisconsin has built new facilities for the swim and dive team and crew team.
Under his watch, Wisconsin has won 16 national titles and 74 conference regular season titles or tournament champions. He announced his retirement on Tuesday, and I’ll be sad to see him go. He’s an icon in this state.
Without Alvarez I don’t know where Wisconsin athletics would be right now. His 30 years in Madison is proof that one man can do incredible things, and that it’s never wrong to dream big.
M USINGS AND G RUMBLINGS
ROSS PATTERMANN REPORTER
