Students new to the sports scene on campus in Madison will come to know Barry Alvarez as a guy who, in his role as Athletic Director, should fire this coach or that coach and push ahead plans to improve athletic facilities. He is more recognizable, though, as the football coach that helmed the Badgers during their return to respectability through the 1990s and into this decade.
Alvarez was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame last week at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner in New York City, enshrining his success among the college football greats. He was one of fourteen inductees in a class that included former Heisman Trophy winner and Michigan standout Desmond Howard and deceased linebacker Pat Tillman.
Alvarez earned National Coach of the Year honors in 1993 and 1998 and won three Rose Bowl titles in his tenure, including back-to-back years in 1999 and 2000. He compiled a career record of 118-73-4, is one of only ten coaches to win 100 games at a Big Ten school and his 8-3 record in bowl games gives him the best postseason record in NCAA history among coaches who have been to that many bowls. He coached 2000 Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne, and NFL standouts like former Eagles cornerback Troy Vincent and Bills wide receiver Lee Evans.
