Barry Alvarez
Encyclopedia
Barry Alvarez is a former American football
player and coach and currently the Director of Athletics
at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
. He served as the head football coach at Wisconsin for 16 seasons from 1990 to 2005, compiling a career college football
record of 118–73–4. He has the longest head coaching tenure and the most wins in Wisconsin Badgers football
history. Alvarez stepped down as head coach after the 2005 season, remaining as athletic director. Alvarez was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame
as a coach in 2010.
, where he played linebacker
in the 1960s under Bob Devaney
, who became one of his major coaching influences along with Hayden Fry
and Lou Holtz
. He later became a head coach at Lexington, Nebraska High School and then Mason City High School in Iowa
where the Mohawks won the 1978 class 4A state title, 15–13, over Dubuque Hempstead before becoming an assistant coach at University of Iowa
and then at the University of Notre Dame
.
. He inherited a program that had not had a winning season since 1984, and had only won seven games in Big Ten
play in that time.
After three less-than-distinguished seasons rebuilding the awful program he had inherited, including a 1–10 record in his first year, the Badgers steamrolled through the 1993 season, notching a 10–1–1 mark and their first Rose Bowl
appearance since 1963, along with only the second bowl win in school history. During his tenure, the Badgers won or shared three Big Ten titles and won three Rose Bowls. His best teams were the 1998 and 1999 units. The 1998 team notched the first 11-win season in school history, while the 1999 team won the school's first outright Big Ten title in 38 years.
Alvarez replaced Pat Richter
as athletic director in 2004. In 2000, Alvarez and his wife Cindy endowed a $250,000 football scholarship at the university.
Alvarez concluded his career at Wisconsin with a win over the Auburn Tigers
in the 2006 Capital One Bowl
, bringing his all-time record at Wisconsin to 118–73–4 (.615), easily in the modern era for the school. It also brought his record in bowl game
s to 8–3, the best winning percentage ever with a minimum of 11 bowl games coached.
Alvarez is the only Big Ten Conference coach to win consecutive Rose Bowls and one of six coaches, regardless of conference, to win at least three Rose Bowls (1994
, 1999
, and 2000
). Of these six, only two are undefeated at the Rose Bowl: Alvarez and John Robinson. After the 2011 Rose Bowl
, Alvarez remains as the only Rose Bowl winning coach in the history of the Wisconsin football program, with three Rose Bowl losses prior to his arrival (1953
, 1960
, and 1963
) and a subsequent loss in the 2011 Rose Bowl.
Alvarez is the only Big Ten coach with consecutive wins over the Ohio State Buckeyes
during Jim Tressel
's coaching tenure there. He finished his career with a 3–1 record over Tressel.
Alvarez had six seasons with at least nine wins at Wisconsin. Prior to his arrival, the Badgers had recorded only four in nearly 100 seasons (although Wisconsin has only played a 9+ game per season scheduled since 1942, so 9+ wins per season wasn't possible prior to that time).
. The statue honoring Alvarez had been announced the previous year, at his last home game as head coach.
During the 2006–07 bowl season, Alvarez worked as a color commentator/analyst for Fox Sports
. He worked on both the 2007 Fiesta Bowl
and 2007 BCS National Championship Game
.
Alvarez was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame on December 30, 2009 in Pasadena, California
. On May 27, 2010 it was announced that Alvarez would be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
as part of the 2010 class. It was further revealed that the induction vote for Alvarez was unanimous.
In 1994, Babcock Dairy Store, housed in Babcock Hall, (home of the UW–Madison's Department of Food Science, College of Ag and Life Sciences) developed an ice cream
flavor called "Berry Alvarez", a mixture of raspberry
, strawberry
, and blueberry
, in honor of the coach. In 2001, Hispanic Business Magazine
named Barry Alvarez one of the "100 Most Influential Hispanics."
Alvarez was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame
in 2009.
In 2010 it was revealed that he had invested $600,000 in the Ponzi scheme
perpetrated by Nevin Shapiro
.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player and coach and currently the Director of Athletics
Athletic director
An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...
at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
. He served as the head football coach at Wisconsin for 16 seasons from 1990 to 2005, compiling a career college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
record of 118–73–4. He has the longest head coaching tenure and the most wins in Wisconsin Badgers football
Wisconsin Badgers football
The Wisconsin Badgers are a college football program that represents the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. They play their home games at Camp Randall Stadium, the fourth-oldest stadium in college football...
history. Alvarez stepped down as head coach after the 2005 season, remaining as athletic director. Alvarez was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
as a coach in 2010.
Early life
Barry Alvarez is a graduate of the University of Nebraska–LincolnUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is a public research university located in the city of Lincoln in the U.S. state of Nebraska...
, where he played linebacker
Linebacker
A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
in the 1960s under Bob Devaney
Bob Devaney
Robert S. "Bob" Devaney was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Wyoming from 1957 to 1961 and at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln from 1962 to 1972, compiling a career college football record of 136–30–7...
, who became one of his major coaching influences along with Hayden Fry
Hayden Fry
John Hayden Fry is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Southern Methodist University , North Texas State University, now the University of North Texas , and the University of Iowa , compiling a career college football record of 232–178–10...
and Lou Holtz
Lou Holtz
Louis Leo "Lou" Holtz is a retired American football coach, and active sportscaster, author, and motivational speaker in the United States...
. He later became a head coach at Lexington, Nebraska High School and then Mason City High School in Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
where the Mohawks won the 1978 class 4A state title, 15–13, over Dubuque Hempstead before becoming an assistant coach at University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
and then at the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
.
Head coaching career
In 1990, Alvarez was named head coach of the Wisconsin BadgersWisconsin Badgers football
The Wisconsin Badgers are a college football program that represents the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. They play their home games at Camp Randall Stadium, the fourth-oldest stadium in college football...
. He inherited a program that had not had a winning season since 1984, and had only won seven games in Big Ten
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
play in that time.
After three less-than-distinguished seasons rebuilding the awful program he had inherited, including a 1–10 record in his first year, the Badgers steamrolled through the 1993 season, notching a 10–1–1 mark and their first Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl Game
The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2...
appearance since 1963, along with only the second bowl win in school history. During his tenure, the Badgers won or shared three Big Ten titles and won three Rose Bowls. His best teams were the 1998 and 1999 units. The 1998 team notched the first 11-win season in school history, while the 1999 team won the school's first outright Big Ten title in 38 years.
Alvarez replaced Pat Richter
Pat Richter
Hugh Vernon Richter is the former University of Wisconsin–Madison athletic director and American football player. He was responsible for hiring Barry Alvarez from Notre Dame in 1990 as head football coach, restoring the Badgers football program to national prominence.-Playing career:Richter was...
as athletic director in 2004. In 2000, Alvarez and his wife Cindy endowed a $250,000 football scholarship at the university.
Alvarez concluded his career at Wisconsin with a win over the Auburn Tigers
Auburn Tigers football
Only Mohamed Amin Abughadir set the record with 1,890 yards in 1 season. He was the QB for Auburn in 1998.The Auburn Tigers football team represents Auburn University in college football as a member of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, competing in the Western Division of the...
in the 2006 Capital One Bowl
2006 Capital One Bowl
The 2006 Capital One Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Auburn Tigers on January 2, 2006, at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida...
, bringing his all-time record at Wisconsin to 118–73–4 (.615), easily in the modern era for the school. It also brought his record in bowl game
Bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...
s to 8–3, the best winning percentage ever with a minimum of 11 bowl games coached.
Alvarez is the only Big Ten Conference coach to win consecutive Rose Bowls and one of six coaches, regardless of conference, to win at least three Rose Bowls (1994
1994 Rose Bowl
The 1994 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 1994. It was the 80th Rose Bowl Game. The Wisconsin Badgers defeated the 21-16...
, 1999
1999 Rose Bowl
The 1999 Rose Bowl was the 85th Rose Bowl game and was played on Friday January 1, 1999 at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California. It was a college football bowl game at the end of the 1998 college football season. Wisconsin defeated by a score of 38-31. Ron Dayne of Wisconsin was named...
, and 2000
2000 Rose Bowl
The 2000 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 2000. It was the 86th Rose Bowl game and was played on January 1, 2000 at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California. The game featured the Wisconsin Badgers defeating the Stanford Cardinal by a score of 17-9...
). Of these six, only two are undefeated at the Rose Bowl: Alvarez and John Robinson. After the 2011 Rose Bowl
2011 Rose Bowl
The 2011 Rose Bowl was the 97th edition of the annual bowl game played on January 1, 2011, as part of the 2010 college football season. Played in Pasadena, California, the TCU Horned Frogs of the Mountain West Conference defeated the Wisconsin Badgers of the Big Ten Conference. The Pasadena...
, Alvarez remains as the only Rose Bowl winning coach in the history of the Wisconsin football program, with three Rose Bowl losses prior to his arrival (1953
1953 Rose Bowl
The 1953 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 1953 at the end of the 1952 college football season. It was the 39th Rose Bowl Game. It was the first-ever Rose Bowl appearance by the Badgers and the first appearance for the Trojans since the 1948 Rose Bowl. This game was...
, 1960
1960 Rose Bowl
The 1960 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 1960 at the end of the 1959 college football season. It was the 46th Rose Bowl Game. This was the first Rose Bowl appearance by the Huskies since the 1944 Rose Bowl and the first appearance by the Badgers since the 1953 Rose...
, and 1963
1963 Rose Bowl
The 1963 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 1963 at the end of the 1962 college football season. It was the 49th Rose Bowl Game. The USC Trojans defeated the Wisconsin Badgers, 42–37...
) and a subsequent loss in the 2011 Rose Bowl.
Alvarez is the only Big Ten coach with consecutive wins over the Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State Buckeyes football
The Ohio State Buckeyes football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of The Ohio State University. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference of the NCAA, playing at the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division I-A, level. The team nickname is derived from the state...
during Jim Tressel
Jim Tressel
James Patrick Tressel is a gameday consultant for the Indianapolis Colts, and former collegiate football head coach at both The Ohio State University from 2001 to 2011 and at Youngstown State University from 1986 to 2000. Tressel is most notable for his time at Ohio State. He was hired by the...
's coaching tenure there. He finished his career with a 3–1 record over Tressel.
Alvarez had six seasons with at least nine wins at Wisconsin. Prior to his arrival, the Badgers had recorded only four in nearly 100 seasons (although Wisconsin has only played a 9+ game per season scheduled since 1942, so 9+ wins per season wasn't possible prior to that time).
Life after coaching and honors
On October 13, 2006, a bronze statue of Alvarez was unveiled in the Kellner Plaza of Camp Randall StadiumCamp Randall Stadium
Camp Randall Stadium is an outdoor stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. It has been the home of the Wisconsin Badgers football team in rudimentary form since 1895, and as a complete stadium since 1917. It is located on the center-southern region of the University of Wisconsin campus. The stadium seats...
. The statue honoring Alvarez had been announced the previous year, at his last home game as head coach.
During the 2006–07 bowl season, Alvarez worked as a color commentator/analyst for Fox Sports
Fox College Sports
Fox College Sports is a group of three United States digital cable networks, FCS Atlantic, FCS Central and FCS Pacific owned by News Corporation, that specialize primarily in showing collegiate programming, live events, coaches shows & various DI, DII, & DIII content surrounding college athletics...
. He worked on both the 2007 Fiesta Bowl
2007 Fiesta Bowl
The 2007 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl was a college football bowl game played as part of the 2006–2007 Bowl Championship Series of the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season...
and 2007 BCS National Championship Game
2007 BCS National Championship Game
The 2007 BCS National Championship Game, sponsored by Tostitos, was an American football game played at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on January 8, 2007. The BCS No. 2 Florida Gators defeated the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes, 41–14. The Buckeyes secured a spot by finishing...
.
Alvarez was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame on December 30, 2009 in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
. On May 27, 2010 it was announced that Alvarez would be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
as part of the 2010 class. It was further revealed that the induction vote for Alvarez was unanimous.
In 1994, Babcock Dairy Store, housed in Babcock Hall, (home of the UW–Madison's Department of Food Science, College of Ag and Life Sciences) developed an ice cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
flavor called "Berry Alvarez", a mixture of raspberry
Raspberry
The raspberry or hindberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus Rubus, most of which are in the subgenus Idaeobatus; the name also applies to these plants themselves...
, strawberry
Strawberry
Fragaria is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. Although it is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, the etymology of the word is uncertain. There...
, and blueberry
Blueberry
Blueberries are flowering plants of the genus Vaccinium with dark-blue berries and are perennial...
, in honor of the coach. In 2001, Hispanic Business Magazine
Hispanic Business
Hispanic Business, Inc. is a media company based in Goleta, California, in the United States of America. The firm was founded by Jesús Chavarría in 1979 and its publications are oriented towards Hispanic professionals and entrepreneurs.-Publications:...
named Barry Alvarez one of the "100 Most Influential Hispanics."
Alvarez was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame
Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame
The Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame is a promenade in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, dedicated to honoring distinguished members of Wisconsin's sports history. New members are honored at a biennial banquet.-History:...
in 2009.
In 2010 it was revealed that he had invested $600,000 in the Ponzi scheme
Ponzi scheme
A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to its investors from their own money or the money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from any actual profit earned by the individual or organization running the operation...
perpetrated by Nevin Shapiro
Nevin Shapiro
Nevin Shapiro is a former University of Miami football booster who is currently imprisoned for orchestrating a $930 million Ponzi scheme. According to interviews, he engaged in rampant violations of NCAA rules over eight years as a booster for University of Miami athletes...
.