On Valentine's Day, while many got flowers or chocolates, UW unfortunately got the inevitable news that Athletic Director Pat Richter would be leaving. Richter informed the University of Wisconsin administration, students and family Friday that he would retire from his current position in April 2004. The 61-year-old Richter, now in his 14th year as Athletic Director, will be replaced by UW Head Football Coach Barry Alvarez.
Richter and Alvarez have a history together. The first major move at UW by Richter was the hiring of Alvarez, in 1990. Alvarez, formerly an assistant coach at Notre Dame, was hired quickly by Richter following the Notre Dame national championship season of 1988. While at Wisconsin, Alvarez has transformed the Badger football program from Big Ten bottom-feeders to perennial Rose Bowl contenders. His credentials include eight bowl game appearances, three Rose Bowl victories, three Big Ten titles, and one Heisman Trophy winner. With such a resume, Alvarez is clearly a worthy candidate for the job.
\We went through a lot of thinking and planning and discussing and talking and it became very clear to me that [Alvarez] was the right choice. We have done our homework and simply put, [Alvarez] has the right stuff,"" UW Chancellor John Wiley said.
Assistant Athletic Director Steve Malchow speculated that Alvarez was also chosen to help with the Camp Randall renovation project, which, at $80 million, is tying down much of the Athletic Department's finances. Alvarez's appointment comes at no surprise to many, as the UW football program generates approximately 40 percent of the UW athletics' revenue. For this reason, a football-centered Athletic Department will probably be most beneficial, financially.
Much of the success of UW athletics during the Richter era can be attributed to the football program.
""When football got healthy, the rest of the programs were able to maintain that health,"" Richter said.
As he looks to the future, both Alvarez's responsibility and workload levels will increase tremendously. Alvarez has said that he obviously cannot be in two places at once, so he will have the right people in place in order to be able to run both aspects of the job. The emphasis of his job will be to work with the football team, but as Athletic Director, he plans to focus his attention equally on every sport.
Many of the department's major projects are currently being put on hold, due to the financial situations of the state and university. Malchow noted that several of the athletic facilities are in need of updating, including a resurfacing of the track. Most of Alvarez's duties will be to maintain the integrity of UW Athletics and handle the every day operations.
The transition from Richter to Alvarez should be very smooth. The friendship between the two should allow for an easy transfer of power, and Richter has said that he will still be very active in the UW community after retirement. Also, Richter has allowed more than a year before his retirement, a time period which will allow Alvarez to become more familiar with the administration and make the adjustments he needs to make.
""One reason I feel confident in doing both jobs is because I've inherited such an outstanding group of people in the administration and I'll run the department much like I coach a football team,"" Alvarez said. ""Number one, put a good plan in order, hire good people to execute it and be flexible enough to make adjustments.\
