T1B

ESPN is reporting the Barry Alvarez is calling it quits after 16 years of coaching. According to reports he will become the AD at Wisconsin.

Let the coaching search begin

the thing i saw is that he's gonna hang em up after this year.

From what I read the Defensive Coordinator Brent Bilemia (Spelling?) has already been named successor...good move on the badgers part...he is a good young coach and the kids play hard for him...

good luck barry...and brett

Barry, can you swing by the Paterno Household after you've got a good Retirement Tan? Thanks...

Nowadays it is taken for granted that Wisconisn is one of the top programs in the Big 10. But before Alvarez it was horrible, possibly the worst in the country. I know, I was there when they sucked so hard. This reitrement is a blow, but it has beenhandled in the best possible way and I think Bielsma is a great choice and the transition should be very smooth.

Thanks for everything Barry.

Barry certainly changed the direction of the program.

Point 1: Alvarez has been a GREAT coach at Wisconsin and helped put that school on the national map.

Point 2: He will be sorely missed.

Point 3: I can’t stand the “I’m retiring at the end of the year” shit just so everyone from players, fans, alumni, broadcasters, opposing fans, etc. will kiss his fat ass for his swan song. Can’t stand it by athletes and can’t stand it by coaches. Since when did men need the attention of a 13 year old drama queen? Pussies…all of ‘em.

Bielema will make a hell of a head coach, another successful graduate of the Snyder school. Now Cosgrove as well as Nebraska are wishing he'd have stayed at Wiscy, that may have been his HC-job.

IndyFrisco wrote:Point 1: Alvarez has been a GREAT coach at Wisconsin and helped put that school on the national map.

Point 2: He will be sorely missed.

Point 3: I can’t stand the “I’m retiring at the end of the year” shit just so everyone from players, fans, alumni, broadcasters, opposing fans, etc. will kiss his fat ass for his swan song. Can’t stand it by athletes and can’t stand it by coaches. Since when did men need the attention of a 13 year old drama queen? Pussies…all of ‘em.

The real reason Alvarez did it now was to make it much easier during the recruiting period. If e announced his reitrement at the end of the year it would make for a real scramble during the signing period. But if you want to play the bitterman, go right ahead.

Danimal wrote:Bielema will make a hell of a head coach, another successful graduate of the Snyder school. Now Cosgrove as well as Nebraska are wishing he'd have stayed at Wiscy, that may have been his HC-job.

I'm bettin' it was "all part of the plan."
With Barry stayin' on as A.D. he knew Cosgrove wasn't the guy.
So he gets him a gig all the while knowin' it clears the way for the guy he wants.
So ex-'sker player hires native Nebraskan as successor.

I was checking out the KSU fan site on Scout and some of them are really pissed, mainly because Beliema left in the first place. There are lots of comments like: "Let's schedule them so we can kick their asses."

Nice class.

KSU should get mad about the school not putting money into the football program and Snyder being a pain in the ass to work with. Though Barry might have hinted about the HC-job coming open it was probably those factors that caused Biliema to make what was basically a horizontal move to Wiscy.

Danimal you're killing me with these pictures. I'm now thinking it's a good thing that I decided to block images for this site while at work, but now I'm worried I'm missing the good photos.

At Large wrote:Danimal you're killing me with these pictures. I'm now thinking it's a good thing that I decided to block images for this site while at work, but now I'm worried I'm missing the good photos.

...and you should be. Danimal has got to be the most money poster ever who has never had a single post of his read.

the_ouskull

Point 3: I can’t stand the “I’m retiring at the end of the year” shit just so everyone from players, fans, alumni, broadcasters, opposing fans, etc. will kiss his fat ass for his swan song. Can’t stand it by athletes and can’t stand it by coaches. Since when did men need the attention of a 13 year old drama queen? Pussies…all of ‘em.

Great point, but let me add Broadcasters to this list. About 5 years ago Keith Jackson announced he was retiring at the end of the season. Each week the host school did this big presentation for him and gave him all kinds of gifts. Turns out retirement for Keith actually meant not working east of the Rockies.

Give the gifts back Keith or get off my damn TV. There has been one happy thing about his hanging around though. Watching and listening to him call the past few Rose Bowls which were won by Big XII teams was great. Here's hoping another Big XII team beats a Pac 10 or Big11 team in the Rose this season so Keith can melt again.

IndyFrisco wrote:Point 1: Alvarez has been a GREAT coach at Wisconsin and helped put that school on the national map.

Point 2: He will be sorely missed.

Point 3: I can’t stand the “I’m retiring at the end of the year” shit just so everyone from players, fans, alumni, broadcasters, opposing fans, etc. will kiss his fat ass for his swan song. Can’t stand it by athletes and can’t stand it by coaches. Since when did men need the attention of a 13 year old drama queen? Pussies…all of ‘em.

Point 4: RACK.

I just read that Barry has 60 Big 10 wins in his career...Carr has 63 and Paterno has 59. I guess Wisconsin has had a few rough seasons...but those numbers surprised me.

I can still remember how shocked I was in the '93 season when Wiscy ended up going to the Rose Bowl. Amazing that the last bowl game before then was in '84.

Rack Barry...dude shows up in '90 and has them in the Rose Bowl in three seasons.