\Let me say this: they better get season tickets right now because before long, they won't be able to.""
These were the words of head coach Barry Alvarez the day he took over the Badgers, a squad that had averaged a measly two wins per season in the three years before he took the reins. Now, 15 years and 108 wins later, Alvarez will be entering his final season as head coach, with defensive coordinator Bret Bielema set to take over next fall.
When Alvarez began coaching the Badgers, he saw the program as ""a sleeping giant.""
""I was familiar with the campus, the community, the stadium, and we felt that we could put these pieces together and build a program,"" Alvarez said. ""My on-the-field memories could fill a book.""
Putting together the pieces is exactly what Alvarez and his staff did. During his time at Madison, Alvarez has seen 54 of his players drafted into the professional ranks including nine in the first round, 59 first-team All-Big Ten selections, 108 Academic All-Big Ten selections, two Big Ten Most Valuable Players, four Big Ten Defensive and two Offensive Players of the Year-not to mention three Rose Bowl victories.
After stops as an assistant coach at Iowa from 1979-86 and at Notre Dame from 1987-89, Alvarez found a home in Madison.
Even with his remarkable career as the general of the Badgers coming to a close (Alvarez will still be the athletic director at Wisconsin), he remains focused on the upcoming campaign and the transition that will see the wheel handed over to Bielema.
""I think it's very important to emphasize that my immediate focus is to coach the 2005 football team and coach them to its fullest potential,"" Alvarez said. ""The thing that I share with the players ... that I would guarantee them that they will have a great effort and great preparation and tremendous focus from myself and our entire staff. They deserve that because they've worked so hard in preparation for this season, and we will not let them down.""
Announcing his resignation prior to the season kept the story from erupting into a Wisconsin media frenzy. Alvarez's early declaration is also meant to smooth over the transition from his reign to Bielema's, so that the players feel comfortable with the man who will be leading their team the following season.
""I wanted to get it settled in their system and out of the media and everything else,"" Alvarez said.
Bielema also refuses to think of the following season, only focusing on what is directly in front of him.
""The thing that I'm excited about right now is another year to work under coach Alvarez,"" Bielema said.
The announcement by Alvarez, the winningest coach in Wisconsin history, elicited reactions from high profile figures around the college football world.
Donna Shalala, former Chancellor of UW-Madison and current President of the University of Miami, Fl. called Alvarez a ""miracle worker.""
""No one believed that Wisconsin's program could be restored to great eminence,"" Shalala said. ""Barry did it with class and energy and skill.""
Even opposing teams' head coaches, such as Iowa State's Dan McCarney could not help but voice their praise for the great work Alvarez has produced over the last 15 years.
""Barry Alvarez is Wisconsin football. His coaching legacy is one of the greatest in college football history,"" McCarney said. ""Barry Alvarez is a once-in-a-lifetime guy.""
A once-in-a-lifetime guy and a once-in-a-lifetime coach. Whether he has another miracle under his belt or not for the 2005 season is yet to be seen, but either way his impact on the university will be felt throughout the Wisconsin community for years to come.
