Alvarez Addresses Media During Monday News Conference
November 19, 2001 | Football
Wisconsin head football coach Barry Alvarez spoke to the media on Monday during his weekly news conference. The news conference was in preparation for the season finale against Minnesota.
Alvarez talked about Brooks Bollinger, UW special teams and Minnesota. A partial transcription of the news conference follows.
Opening statement: 'Let me address an article that was in the [Daily Cardinal] this morning regarding an incident Saturday where Brooks Bollinger was hit in the face. As far as we know, what we understand, Brooks was a peacemaker in an argument at a pizza shop. Somebody hit him in the face, he was taken to the emergency room where he was treated and released. We anticipate that he'll be cleared to play in the game Saturday; we have some other players that were present. All of them are currently cooperating with police however they can as far as the rest of the investigation and that 's really all I have for you right now.'
What does missing a bowl game mean' 'We always talk about how important that is and with a young team how valuable that would be. To lose fifteen practices there is no way you can make that up.'
How do you adjust in the post season' 'Our players will start lifting right after the Thanksgiving break. They'll come back and we will start lifting. We can get in an extra session of lifting and conditioning before they break for semester break.'
On Brett Bell: 'He should be aware of where the ball is; that's one thing we try to teach. I'll take responsibility for that because as a coach you have to be thorough and can't expect things to be known. But we also expect our defensive players to know downs, distances, and formations. We could have been more thorough in explaining, but there were thirty seconds left and we just wanted to go into over time. So that was my fault, but we were communicating to stay away from the ball and that there was no reason to put yourself in any possible position where it could give them the ball.'
Thoughts on special teams: 'We've added more time this year then in the past and that has been one of the strengths of our football team. I tear everything apart every year, so obviously that will be one of the first things I tear apart and address to see how we can approach it differently or teach it differently. We can see what other people are doing, but I certainly don't want to abandon the formula that has been good for us over so many years. Obviously we've got to do a better job teaching it and coaching it.'
Thoughts and feelings on the loss and losing in general: 'They put a lot into it. When you lose a hard game and you put a lot into it, you 're down. It takes a lot out of you because you put so much in it. And especially when you lose like that. They're not just going to bounce back today and jump around like nothing happened. They certainly invested a lot because they played they 're fannies off. I think that's the sad thing that's overlooked in this. What hurts me the most is our guys really played well and overcame a lot and had a chance to win a football game. Then to end it like the way we did leaves you with an empty feeling. There's nothing magical to get that out of your system, you have to work through it. We as coaches have to get that out of our system first, and then move on to the next game.'
How will the Minnesota game go without the hopes of a bowl bid ' 'I think we know our players well enough to know that they're competitors and they've shown a lot of character, a lot of resiliency. We 're still playing for something and the game still means a lot. It's important to them. The seniors have been good leaders all along, regardless of what 's going on with them. The young players certainly have a lot to learn and are getting better. I just think this is a part of the learning process. I don't really worry about it because if you're a competitor, if you competed ever, you come back ready to play. You're excited about playing because you only get a chance to play in so many games. So I don't worry about that.'
Thoughts on Minnesota: 'When I take a look at them, the most impressive thing is their offense; probably one of the most balanced [offenses] and one that presents more problems than most. Especially when you take a look at last year 's game. The score really wasn't indicative of the game. That was a twenty-twenty game and we really didn't stop their offense. And so, with the two running backs and a running quarterback that can throw the ball well and Johnson is one of the better receivers in the league, and maybe beyond that, they really present a real lot of problems. Defensively, they're not as much of a blitz team as they were a year ago, yet they have a number of those guys back. They can give us problems because there will be a press man that will try to get extra guys in the back to stop the run, but stay mostly in man coverage. Every game we've had up here has been a real dogfight and the games have gone to the wire, so I expect it will go to the wire. It will be a heck of a football game. They're a nice team.'
How important is winning the axe' 'We've made that a big deal. It's the longest on-going rivalry in college football and if you respect the game it should be important. It means a lot to us and we [the coaches] try to make it important. The players recognize that and they want to keep it here. It 's what you make of it and we've made it important.'
