Barry Alvarez Ready to Pass the Baton As Athletic Director

MADISON, Wis. – Barry Alvarez entered his post-playing career days with a plan, a blueprint for his career that paralleled the one his college football coach at Nebraska, Bob Devaney, used that gave him great success.

First starting as a high school head coach, Alvarez wanted to transition into college coaching and then college administration. And he admitted if someone told that young ambitious version of Barry Alvarez what the current version had accomplished, he would believe it with no questions asked.

Using that coaching outline, the career path took him to high schools in Nebraska and Iowa, college coaching stops in Iowa and Notre Dame before interviewing with then-athletic director Pat Richter at Wisconsin.

“I told Pat Richter when I interviewed for the job, he asked me to lay out my future,” Alvarez said. “I had no specific school that was a dream job. I wanted to go some place like my coach did at Nebraska (to) build it, sustain it, take over at athletic director and sustain it.”

The sustainability of Wisconsin athletics was on full display at the Kohl Center Tuesday at Alvarez’s retirement press conference, a collection of loot that included 16 national championship trophies and 73 conference championships won by teams since the time he took over the athletic department in 2004. And with just a few exceptions, those titles were won by coaches he hired to lead their respective departments.

“The thing you learn in coaching, you learn how to make decisions,” Alvarez said. “They may be different decisions, but you learn to be a decision-maker and not (be) afraid to make decisions. I always felt that being a former coach and being able to relate to the 23 coaches that I have, I might have an advantage over other athletic directors. I can get somebody that can handle finances and I can get people to do some other things, but I can manage the coaches and I can support the coaches.

“I guess I’m a good decision maker because If you don’t make enough (good decisions) you aren’t around long enough.

Alvarez, 74, originally targeted January 2021 to call it a career but felt the uncertainty of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic would be an unfair burden to put on a new athletic director. Feeling that things are now trending in the right direction with COVID, he remains in good health and the desire to travel with his wife of almost 53 years and watch his grandkids, Alvarez is content with moving on to the next chapter of his life.

“I’ve had a good run,” Alvarez said. “It’s time to pass the baton.”

Who that baton will get passed to next will be the main story around the athletic program in the offseason. Deputy Athletic Director Chris McIntosh is considered the top internal candidate for the job. A former UW offensive lineman under Alvarez, McIntosh joined the department in December 2014 and was named to his current position in July 2017, running a number of day-to-day operations that include staff management during COVID and business development.

However, Alvarez said he won’t publicly campaign for any one candidate to a search committee led by Athletic Board chair Pete Miller. He believes the opening will have plenty of qualified candidates, calling it, “one of the best athletic programs in the country, one of the most consistent athletic programs in the country.”

“I have a lot of confidence in Pete,” Alvarez said. “They’ll have a process they go through. I’m sure Mac will do a very good job throughout the process.”

The new athletic director will have plenty on his/her plate after June 30. Name, Likeness and Image laws are likely to alter the amateurism landscape, the Badgers are coming off a rare budget deficit following the loss of revenue from the coronavirus pandemic and have multiple capital projects at Camp Randall Stadium and the Kohl Center that are set to begin.

The key to making things work, according to Alvarez, is understanding the idiosyncrasies of the state of Wisconsin and the University itself.

“Realize there’s a way to get it done,” Alvarez said. “There are no shortcuts. We’ve done it here for a long time by doing it the right way. There’s a current culture here that there’s a proven culture. I know whoever comes in has to put their own fingerprints on the job. I wouldn’t tell them how to do the job. I’d be there to support and give advice anytime they wanted it, but a wise man once said if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.”