September 30, 2011 | General News
Sept. 30, 2011
MADISON, Wis. -- Current Wisconsin athletic director and Nebraska alum Barry Alvarez held a conference call with media this week to discuss Saturday's Big Ten showdown between No. 7 Wisconsin and No. 8 Nebraska. The transcript is below:
QUESTION #1: With your Nebraska ties and, obviously, being the Wisconsin coach and AD, just how special is this occasion . . .
ALVAREZ: “Well, you know what, from the time Nebraska was announced as coming into the Big Ten, it was an exciting time for me knowing that we would have connection. We're back with Nebraska. I'd be able to reconnect with many friends and get a chance to see some people that I normally don't see.
And then to announce that their first game would be played here at Camp Randall, it's really special. And I've always been proud to say that I played at Nebraska. I graduated from Nebraska. I have very fond memories of my time in Lincoln and in the state of Nebraska, always very proud of, you know, the atmosphere at Memorial Stadium. The fans, I always said they were probably the most knowledgeable fans, most appreciative fan of any place in the country.
And with that said, I’m anxious to show off what we have here in Madison. I'm excited for my friends from Nebraska to come to Madison, to see our city, to see the atmosphere that we've created here, and see what game day is like at Camp Randall, and so I'm thrilled, and, you know, get a chance to visit with some old friends and teammates and show off what we have here.”
QUESTION #2: How close are you and John Melton to this day? I understand that he's going to be coming up to see you.
ALVAREZ: “You know, John and I went to the same high school, not at the same time, but John recruited me and was my freshman coach, and then, later, was the linebacker coach when I played. I stay in contact with John. Yeah. He and his wife are coming up and I’m looking forward to spending some time. Tom (Osborne) and I have a luncheon on Friday. Tom and I and Bret (Bielema) will speak. I've invited John to the luncheon, and I'm going to be able to spend some time with him.”
QUESTION #3: What are some of the main ways that Bielema and Paul Chryst have tweaked and impacted the offense from what you started at Wisconsin?
ALVAREZ: “Well, you know, Paul was very innovative. Paul, does a great job of taking advantage of his personnel and maximizing their abilities. The one thing that is similar is we start everything with our offensive line, and going back to when I first came here, the one thing as you devise a plan to build a program, you have to take a look at what you can consistently recruit. And if you take a look at our state and the type of athletes and type of Division 1 players that we consistently get, you're going to get linemen.
We have big people in our state, and so we always felt that we could recruit big linemen, and so we wanted to build from there. So it starts from there, and I think Paul has really taken advantage. It starts with the run game here, and then play action and throwing the ball, and he's got a great mind as far as moving the ball around.
And with a quarterback like Russell Wilson, he gives you more, he just adds so much more and allows you to do more with his throwing ability. Paul creates a lot of problems with changing of formations, strength changes, and moving the ball around, but it all goes back to an offensive line being able to block, establish the run first, and then play off of that.”
QUESTION #4: Can you trace back the history of the Jump Around tradition as you've seen it evolve?
ALVAREZ: “It's pretty special. It started in '98. We were playing Purdue with Drew Brees here. It was a big game. Jamar Fletcher had a big game, intercepted one for a touchdown, but Drew Brees, that night, it was a night game, set a record for attempted passes in a game. I think he threw 83. He might've set a record for completions too.
But somewhere as that game went around, and we played House of Pain, actually, I have somebody from New York who claims that they started it. I was back at a function, at an alumni function, and one of our graduates, an alum, said, he came up to me and said, you know, I started Jump Around. I said, explain it to me. And he said, I was there, we were there with, and I was sitting there with a bunch of fraternity brothers, and they played it, and I started jumping. Then my four friends started jumping. The next thing you know, the whole student section was jumping.
So he took credit for it. And I can't give you his name, I wish I could. You write it. He'll step up and take credit for it. But, you know, the funny thing about it now, now it's the whole stadium, and it's fun to watch opposing teams, and how they respond to it. You know, coaches, you know, you try to prepare your team for everything, and so you have to bring that into play during that week. Some of them ignore it. Some of them, the entire bench jumps around, but every, all of them are looking and wait in anticipation for that first beat of Jump Around, and, you know, it's turned into something really special and something that's unique in college football.”
QUESTION #5: Is there a chance that this game ever gets to the point of being a Nebraska/Oklahoma rivalry?
ALVAREZ: “You know, I think that it would be difficult, because we won't play every year. I think when Nebraska went to the Big 12, and they didn't play Oklahoma every year, it took away from that rivalry. I'd like for it to be just as important as some of those Nebraska/Oklahoma games when they were playing there was a lot… a lot to play for nationally, because they were two great teams. And I hope that we get to the point where it's like it is this year, when they do, when we do play, that you have two teams ranked in the top ten.”
QUESTION #6: What's your best guess on how many Nebraska fans there will be in and around the stadium?
ALVAREZ: “You know what, Tom told me that when they played Notre Dame in South Bend a few years ago, if I’m not mistaken, he thought that they had maybe 20,000 in the stands. I understand that a number of them are going to come to this game just to be a part of history. I know that the Nebraska Alumni Association has our Union South rented. They're going to have a viewing party.
We're also having a viewing party in our North Practice Field. We have an area we call Badgerville. We'll have two large screen showing area, large screens showing the game, so I, you know, I think people want to come from Nebraska to experience this and be a part of history. If they had 20,000 in South Bend, I would anticipate maybe 30,000 here.”
QUESTION #7: Are there other things that you kind of emulated your program after from what you knew in Nebraska?
ALVAREZ: “I stole the walk-on program from Nebraska. Having one, being one Division 1 school in the state as Nebraska is, I really felt that there were a lot of players that were borderline, you know, guys that you're not quite ready to pull the trigger on that we would actively recruit.
And, quite frankly, they've been our savior. I call them our erasers. They make up for any mistakes you make in recruiting. We probably, I know we have three on offense starting right now. I'm not sure on defense, probably another, at least a couple on defense. And over the years, every Rose Bowl team we've had, we've had a walk-on as a captain, so that definitely is something I took from Nebraska.
But, you know, my background, and what I, you know, what I believe in in football was established in, at the University of Nebraska. And I felt fortunate to play for a great coach in Bob Devaney. And he had a tremendous staff, and as far as fundamentals, physical play, sound play, all those things are things that I took with me and brought to this program.”
QUESTION #8: Do you consider yourself Wisconsin's Bob Devaney?
ALVAREZ: “I would be flattered if anybody would consider that. But we did some very similar things here that Bob did. They really weren't that successful in Lincoln until Bob got there, and I think the record speaks for itself. You know, we had some success here in the ’60s, but there was a long drought in Madison until we came here in 1990, and we were able to build a program and sustain it.”
QUESTION #9: The way you're talking about this game, and you must have the perspective with your Nebraska background, is this as much a cultural event as it is a sporting event?
ALVAREZ: “Yeah. Probably, probably. And I think maybe an educational event for the Nebraska people. I think they're very curious what they're getting into in the Big Ten, what the difference will be from what they're accustomed to in the Big 12, and this being their first game, I think all that ties together.”
QUESTION #10: I know football evolves, but does Nebraska kind of fit into the history and the tradition and the stereotypical reputation of the Big Ten?
ALVAREZ: “It does. I think that what they've built their program on, their philosophy, how they operate their program is really a perfect fit for the Big Ten. I think, geographically, they fit. Academically, they fit. They brought their philosophy as far as being a broad-based athletic program, that all fits to the philosophy of the Big Ten. I think they're a tremendous addition.”
QUESTION #11: Could you talk about what role you played in Nebraska joining the Big Ten?
ALVAREZ: “That might be over exaggerated. I certainly don't want to take any credit. But the facilitation that I did, it just so happened that after the Rose Bowl two years ago, Commissioner Delany and I were having a little dinner, sitting around visiting, and that's when we were right in the midst of expansion talk, and Nebraska really hadn’t come up.
I'd never even heard Nebraska being mentioned as possibility, and he started quizzing me on different schools, but really was spending a lot of time asking about Nebraska, their philosophy, how they do things, one thing after another. And the more I talked about it, the more I answered, the more I realized they could be a good fit.
And, ironically, I got home the next day, and I wasn't home 15 minutes, and I got a call from Coach Osborne talking about not really being very happy and knew we were thinking of expansion and didn't know whether we would be interested, and I, the Big Ten would be interested in Nebraska, but they might be interested. I stopped him right there, and I says, as a matter of fact, Tom, I think the Commissioner is interested, because we had a long discussion about it last night. So I gave him Jim's number, called Jim, and told him to expect the call and gave him a little background on, you know, some of the things that Jim and I had discussed. But that's about all I did as far as facilitating them joining the league.”
QUESTION #12: Were you the matchmaker?
ALVAREZ: “You know what? I think it would've probably happened whether I was there or not.”
QUESTION #13: Has Coach Bielema asked you about addressing the team this week, of what that might be like?
ALVAREZ: “I'm going to be the honorary captain. I'll speak to the team tomorrow. I won't talk to them specific about Nebraska, but I will talk to them about preparation for a big game, because I think that's unique. And I think there are certain things that you do, and certain things that you don't do, and certain things that you have to do in preparation and how you go about playing and winning a game like this.”
QUESTION #14: What do you remember most about your playing days at Nebraska?
ALVAREZ: “You know, I remember the atmosphere, the great atmosphere and the fans and all the red. The interest in how the state was immersed in Nebraska football, and how important it was to the state. And you feel that as a player, and so you always took great pride in taking the field and representing the state of Nebraska as well as the University.
But, as far as playing, you always think of your teammates and the guys that you work with and played with, and the great coaches that I had. For someone that wanted to coach as I did, I couldn’t have gone anyplace to prepare myself any better than to be with, under Bob Devaney and that staff that he had.”
QUESTION #15: What do you remember about playing against Wisconsin in 1965 and ’66?
ALVAREZ: “Well, there was one play that stands out that guys still razz me about. I had an interception up here and ran 25 yards with the ball, and rigor mortis set in my legs. But when I got back, one of our teammates was, I think it was Ron Kirkland was, didn't make the trip. He had knee surgery, and we stopped by Student Health to see him, and he started laughing. And there were a bunch of us there, and Ron talked about listening to the game on the radio with, you know, with the interception.
Normally, when somebody breaks away, it's they're at the 50, the 45, the 40. Ron said the announcer said, he's at the 50, the 49, the 48, the 47, they're going one yard at a time. So I've had to live with that ever since. But I also remember in that game that Wayne Meylan blocked two punts for touchdowns. And I happen to know the punter, happens to be a friend of mine now.”
QUESTION #16: Nebraska won those two games pretty easily, as I recall.
ALVAREZ: “That is correct.”
QUESTION #17: Where does the anticipation of this game rank among some of the other games you've been a part of over your coaching career?
ALVAREZ: “It has to be right up at the top. Last year we played number one ranked Ohio State, but they weren't number one. You anticipate a big game. You didn't know they'd be number one in the country when they came in here.
It was very similar feeling that week. But this game, from the time it was announced that we would be the first, we would be the first game that Nebraska played in the Big Ten, I think, you know, it's been very exciting, you know, particularly with, in my situation, with, my wife has family still in Omaha, with all my friends in Nebraska, former teammates, etc.
There's been a lot of talk and a lot of anticipation for this week, so I can't say that there's probably been any with more anticipation over a long period of time that I've been involved in. You look forward to a Rose Bowl, you have about three weeks of anticipation, but this has been like a year.”
QUESTION #18: Were you surprised by Coach Bielema coming to you and asking you to be the honorary captain, and how hard of a choice was it for you to take on that role?
ALVAREZ: “I can't say that I was surprised, and it was very easy to take on that role. You know, coaches ask me to come in. I address the team before the season each year about different things, and last year, he asked me to come and talk before the Ohio State game. I've spoken during the season several times, so it didn't surprise me.
QUESTION #19: What has it been like for you as far as ticket demand is concerned for you getting tickets for people? I understand you even had to get some extra tickets for Tom Osborne.
ALVAREZ: “Well, at one of our Big Ten meetings, Tom mentioned he was short two tickets for Harvey Perlman, so I thought maybe we should try to help him out and make sure that the Chancellor has tickets. But, so I provided him another, we happened to have another box very similar to the one that the athletic director has, so we provided that with him.
You know what, I've tried to stay out of the ticket business once I took the athletic director's job. But for this game, way back, I requested some more tickets, and as I had requests, I kept track of them. About two and a half months ago, I had my secretary come in, and we tallied them, and I was, we were about a dozen over already. So it's been, actually, the past month's been pretty easy, because I don’t have any more.”
