The Wisconsin football season is on the horizon as we are now 76 days away from the team’s season opener Sept. 2 versus Buffalo at Camp Randall. As the Badgers usher in the Luke Fickell era in Madison, the team’s all-time best coach Barry Alvarez turned 76 in December.
Alvarez is greatly responsible for the success of the Badger football program to this day, changing the team’s fortunes when he took over at head coach in 1990. Operating as their head coach from 1990-2005 (16 seasons), Alvarez posted a 117-74 overall record.
Prior to taking over, Wisconsin had gone 9-37 over the previous four seasons and although they went 1-10 in year one with Alvarez, by his fourth campaign, the Badgers were a whole new team.
In January 1994, Wisconsin defeated UCLA 21-16 in the Rose Bowl, winning the program’s first of three bowl victories in Pasadena. Later in 1999 and 2000, the Badgers won consecutive Rose Bowls. In total, in bowl games he’s coached, Wisconsin has gone 9-4 (including fill-ins in 2012 and 2014).
Alvarez is by far the most accomplished head coach in program history and after he retired from coaching the team in 2006, he went on the have an incredibly successful tenure as UW-Madison’s athletic director.
Prior to retiring as AD in 2021, Wisconsin sports teams won 16 national titles during his tenure in charge. Additionally, Badger teams won 74 conference, regular-season or tournament championships over his 15 years.
As new athletic director Chris McIntosh has shaken things up across the many programs since Alvarez retired, there’s no denying he’s been left with some hefty shoes to fill.
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