BARRY ALVAREZ

Barry Alvarez, the highly successful Wisconsin Badger football coach, took a huge step forward in establishing a legacy at Wisconsin that will stand the test of time. The Badgers’ second Big Ten championship and Rose Bowl victory for Alvarez in 1998 coinfirmed his status as one of college football’s top coaches.

When the former Notre Dame coordinator was hired in 1990, he said that he wanted to build a program much like his college coach Bob Devaney developed at Nebraska. That dream certainly seems attainable for Alvarez with the solid foundation he has built in Madison. During his nine years at Wisconsin, Alvarez has built a program that continues to break records, build on tradition and create giddiness for Badger fans across the state.

Alvarez was a former linebacker as a player at Nebraska, coached linebackers at Iowa and was defensive coordinator at Notre Dame before taking over the Badger program.

As Alvarez enters the final season of his first decade in Madison, he sports a 60-42-4 (.585) record. That is also his career mark as a collegiate head coach.

He has also improved his 131-Ten winning mark to just one game below the .500 mark failing to win a conference contest his first year (0-8). In fact, his last six squads have registered a 63.5 winning rate (2916-3) in league action.

Besides guiding the Badgers to the two winningest seasons (10-1-1 in 1993 and 11-1 in 1998), Alvarez has produced three other eight-win clubs and joined Woody Hayes (Ohio State) as the only coach in Big Ten history to win two Rose Bowl games in a six-year period.