Alvarez announcement slated

[arniesarmy]

Wisconsin's football coach/AD Barry Alvarez has a "significant announcment" set for 1 p.m. (CST) today. Speculation is he will be giving up one of his posts, most likely the coaching job. But will it be immediately, and why now?
Hate to think the worst, but it's difficult not to think he might have a health issue. His family is scheduled to be at the press conference.

 

[jaffers]

milwaukee journal sentinel alvarez's last season

'05 season to be Alvarez's last as coach

Sources say he will stay on as athletic director; Bielema likely successor

By JEFF POTRYKUS
jpotrykus@journalsentinel.com

Posted: July 28, 2005



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Photo/Joe Koshollek

In 15 seasons as the Badgers' coach, Barry Alvarez has compiled a 108-70-4 record.


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Photo/UW

Defensive coordinator Bret Bielema is the leading candidate to replace Barry Alvarez as head coach.


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Madison - Barry Alvarez, head football coach and athletic director at the University of Wisconsin, has finalized plans to turn over the coaching reins to his hand-picked successor after the upcoming 2005 season.



According to sources, Alvarez, 58, will coach through this season, his 16th at the school.

He then will step down to focus solely on his role as athletic director, a job he added before last season.

The leading candidate to replace Alvarez is 35-year-old Bret Bielema, who is entering his second season as the team's defensive coordinator. He came to UW from Kansas State, where he served as co-defensive coordinator.

Under Bielema last season, UW's defense led the team to a 9-0 start and No. 4 ranking in the nation. The Badgers faded down the stretch to finish 9-3.

UW officials declined to comment this morning but have scheduled a 1 p.m. news conference at the Kohl Center for a "significant" announcement.

In 15 seasons as the Badgers' coach, Alvarez has taken a once-downtrodden program and compiled a 108-70-4 career record.

His teams have won three Rose Bowls and gone to seven other bowl games, and won or shared three Big Ten championships. Alvarez succeeded Pat Richter as athletic director last year.

 

[Fishhead]

Barry is a class individual through and through.

Attended U of I when Barry was defensive coordinater under coach Fry.

 

[vegasisstilldead]

I guess it was the best time to announce it before the season starts so the rumor mongers wouldn't be a distraction during the season. I always liked alvarez. He looks to me like what a coach should look like. Do you guys remember when he was in the hospital and he used closed circuit tvs to coach from his hospital room?

 

[Fishhead]

Another former HAWKEYE to join the head coaching ranks!!!


The leading candidate to replace Alvarez is 35-year-old Bret Bielema.



As a senior player at Iowa, I remember Bielema going up to then ISU head coach Jim Walden after the game and shaking his hand and saying "Its been a pleasure to kick your ass for the last four years".

:lolBIG:

 

[Jarbo]

When will he ( Alvarez) announce that the Head Cheerleader is pregnant with his child?

Oh that's right, that's common knowledge.

 

[arniesarmy]

It's too bad his last season might include one of his worst season records. Bielema is an excellent choice as a replacement.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — For Barry Alvarez, it’s time.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
Fifteen seasons coaching Wisconsin, three Rose Bowl titles and a year serving as both coach and athletic director convinced Alvarez it was time to step down as head coach after the 2005 season and lead the athletic department full time.<o></o>

In the process, he picked defensive coordinator Bret Bielema as his successor.<o></o>

Alvarez assumed both roles in April 2004, saying he planned to eventually transition into a full-time athletic director. He said Thursday the two jobs have started to take their toll because of the constant demands on his time.<o></o>

“I certainly didn’t want it to slip, and I just saw some potential for things,” Alvarez said at a news conference.<o></o>

Alvarez, 58, was hired in 1990 to turn around a program that had only five winning seasons in the 27 years before he came on board. Three seasons later, Alvarez led Wisconsin to its first Rose Bowl since 1963, one of three Rose Bowl titles in his tenure. Alvarez put together a 108-70-4 record in 15 seasons and a 7-4 mark in bowl games, making him the winningest coach in Wisconsin history.<o></o>

The departure of Alvarez, who is Hispanic, also will thin the already sparse ranks of minority head coaches in Division I football.<o></o>

Alvarez’s teams have been defined by a punishing running attack and a stout defense, both keys to their three Rose Bowl wins. His squads set a Big Ten record with 10 straight seasons with a 1,000 yard rusher, including Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne.<o></o>

Alvarez brought in Bielema last year to take over Wisconsin’s defense, which ranked in the top 10 for points allowed (15.4) and yards (291.2).<o></o>

Alvarez said he first approached Bielema about taking over earlier this summer. The combination of family, the responsibilities of two jobs and his confidence in Bielema convinced him it was time for him to give up coaching.<o></o>

Quarterback John Stocco said he expected no problems as the players transition from Alvarez to Bielema over the next year and said his new coach has won over the Badgers in his one year in Madison.<o></o>

“We talk about how successful Coach Alvarez has been and what he’s done for the program,” said Stocco, a junior this fall. “Knowing this is his last year, it’s just going to make us work harder to make sure he goes out on the right note.”<o></o>

Despite Alvarez’s on-field success, the Badgers have had a series of problems off the field over the last five years. Wisconsin was slapped by the NCAA with a major rules violation under Alvarez’s watch in 2000, resulting in the suspensions of 26 football players for receiving unadvertised discounts at a shoe store. Another 21 were required to do community service for breaking NCAA rules. A series of Badger players have had run-ins with police over the last several years as well.<o></o>

Bielema and Alvarez both have connections to former Iowa coach Hayden Fry.<o></o>

Alvarez got his first college coaching job under Fry in 1979 before a stint at Notre Dame under Lou Holtz.<o></o>

Bielema, 35, played under Fry at Iowa before serving as a graduate assistant and eventually an assistant coach on his staff. He later coached under Kirk Ferentz at Iowa and Bill Snyder at Kansas State — both of whom coached for Fry as well — before Alvarez brought him in last year.<o></o>

Bielema — who said he grew up in a town of 1,800 people but had 2,500 hogs on his family farm — said each of the four coaches he worked for told him along the way he’d make a great head coach some day. He still carries a note from Fry telling him to be ready when his opportunity came.<o></o>

“I was just glad to finally work for a guy that gave me the job,” said Bielema, who has no head coaching experience.<o></o>

Alvarez said he expected no problems in the transition and decided to make the announcement now to avoid any problems later. This way, Bielema gets a full year to work on his first recruiting class.<o></o>

Alvarez also said he had no plans to be a meddlesome athletic director, preferring to follow in the example of his college coach, Bob Devaney of Nebraska. Devaney held both jobs before stepping down to become a full-time athletic director. He then hired an assistant to take over the program — Tom Osborne — and left the team in his hands.<o></o>

“Bret Bielema is the right man to replace me,” Alvarez said.<o></o>

 

[Fishhead]

Bret Bielema, a former co-defensive coordinator, linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator at Kansas State, enters his second season as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Wisconsin.

Bielema made his impact felt rightaway in his first season at UW. Through the first nine games in 2004, Wisconsin led the nation in scoring defense (9.1 ppg) and had allowed just nine touchdowns, fewest in the country. The Badgers ended up fifth in the nation in pass efficiency defense (100.1 pts), sixth in scoring defense (15.4 ppg), seventh in passing yards defense (167.2 avg) and ninth in total defense (291.2 ypg).

Bielema, who coached the Wildcats’ linebackers, helped guide a 2003 Kansas State unit that finished sixth nationally in total (283.1 ypg), seventh in pass (174.6 ypg), eighth in scoring (16.3 ppg), 12th in pass efficiency (104.4 rating) and 17th in run defense (108.5 ypg). The Wildcats led the Big 12 in run defense. In 2003, Kansas State limited six opponents to fewer than 10 points, registered one shutout and shut down top-ranked Oklahoma 35-7 in a Big 12 championship game victory that earned the Wildcats a berth in the Fiesta Bowl. Linebacker Josh Buhl, a Butkus Award semifinalist, earned first-team All-America honors and led the nation in tackles with a school-record 184 stops in 2003.

In Bielema’s first season (2002) at Kansas State, the Wildcats led the nation in scoring defense (11.8 ppg), were second nationally in total (249.0 ypg) and rushing (69.5 ypg) defense and third in the nation in pass efficiency defense (91.69 rating). Bielema’s top player in 2002 was middle linebacker Terry Pierce, a 2003 second-round NFL draft choice.

Kansas State was 22-6 overall during Bielema’s two seasons on Coach Bill Snyder’s staff.

Prior to his tenure at Kansas State, Bielema spent nine seasons as an assistant coach at Iowa. He moved through the ranks with the Hawkeyes, starting as an undergraduate student assistant coach, then graduate assistant and, finally, full-time assistant. He coached Iowa’s linebackers for six seasons. The 1997 Hawkeye defense posted three shutouts and ranked No. 4 nationally in scoring and pass efficiency defense, seventh in total defense and 11th in run defense. Among Bielema’s top linebackers at Iowa were honorable mention All-Big Ten picks Vernon Rollins and Matt Hughes (fifth in school career tackles with 354), and first-team all-conference selection Fred Barr.

Bielema earned four letters (1989-92) after joining the Hawkeye football program as a walk-on. A member of Iowa’s 1990 Big Ten champion, he was a starter as a junior in 1991 and helped the Hawkeyes to a 10-1-1 record, a No. 5 national ranking and a Holiday Bowl appearance. He was a team co-captain as a senior in 1992. He signed a free agent contract with the Seattle Seahawks in April of 1993 before completing his playing career with the Milwaukee Mustangs of the Arena Football League in 1994.

Bielema has participated in eight bowl games as a player (’91 Rose and ’91 Holiday) or coach (at Iowa: ’93 Alamo, ’95 Sun, ’96 Alamo, ’01 Alamo; at Kansas State: 02 Holiday, ’04 Fiesta).

A 1992 graduate of Iowa with a bachelor’s degree in marketing, the 34-year-old Bielema was born on Jan. 13, 1970 in Prophetstown, Ill.

 

[cy1981]

Yeah, that was almost as classy as Matt (I have no idea what a steroid is) Roth getting up and giving the LSU fans the double bird before the bowl game last year.