Alvarez: A ‘truly diverse, outstanding’ Hall of Fame class
September 27, 2017 | Football, General News, Varsity Magazine
Thoughts on this weekend’s induction ceremony and the start of Big Ten play
UW Director of Athletics
MADISON, Wis. — Hall of Fame weekend has always been special for me, beginning with Friday night's induction ceremonies and continuing through Saturday's on-field introductions at Camp Randall.
This is one of our bigger and most talented classes — a truly diverse, outstanding class — and it includes two of my former players, Darrell Bevell and Brooks Bollinger, making it even more fun.
Both were coaches' kids. Both were gym rats. Both had a high football IQ and a fundamental understanding of the game. Were both game managers? Yes. That's what I wanted in a quarterback.
I didn't care how other people labeled them. It didn't bother me as long as we were winning. And we won a lot of games — and Big Ten titles — and we went to the Rose Bowl with Darrell and Brooks.
We really didn't inherit a quarterback when I took over the program. We had to find one somewhere when Chilly (Brad Childress) said, "I've got somebody; he's coming off a Mormon mission.''
With Darrell's age, and maturity, we were anxious to see what he would do with our offense. We had a lot of weapons in '93 and he shared the ball. He managed the game extremely well. If you tried to take something away, he would go to the next option. We had a good tight end in Mike Roan, good receivers and two quality tailbacks in Terrell Fletcher and Brent Moss.
In '99, Ronnie (Dayne) was our centerpiece, the focus of the offense. Brooks gave us an added dimension because he could pull it down and run and move the chains and that frustrated defenses.
He was really my ideal quarterback because he posed a dual threat — someone who could throw and someone who could run. Plus, he was a natural team leader.
From the start, I thought both Darrell and Brooks would get into coaching someday. They grew up around the game — in the locker room … in the huddle. They're naturals in this profession.
I'm looking forward to this weekend, not only because I'll be able to catch up with Darrell and Brooks and visit with the other inductees, but because it's the start of the Big Ten season.
When I was coaching, I always made a big deal out of getting into conference play.
On the week leading up to the opener, I wanted my assistants to have an extra hop in their step. I wanted the players to understand this is different, this is more meaningful than a non-conference game.
For one thing, it's going to be more physical in the Big Ten and the speed of the game and the urgency is going to pick up. We used to send that message by changing our tempo in practice.
We're coming off a bye this week. But so is Northwestern. And that's pretty unique. I thought we made a huge jump in our last game at BYU. Alex Hornibrook was impressive. You could see his command of the game. He knew where to go with the ball. He was deliberate and threw into some tight windows in a lot of third-down situations.
We've added two weapons with this freshman class in Jonathan Taylor and Danny Davis. I don't know if anyone ever expects a freshman to come in and be as impactful as these two have. But they're different cats, now. They're gamers. They're playmakers.
Looking at the Big Ten, I believe our side — the West Division — is stronger than what people made it out to be going into the season. I know that no one should ever underestimate Northwestern.
They have got smart kids and they play hard. Pat Fitzgerald will have them ready.
I don't think it's any secret that I didn't like to play the Wildcats. I especially hated playing there in Evanston. Northwestern has given us as many headaches as anyone over the years.
Once we start going head to head in the conference, I'm anxious to see how everybody matches up. If you don't play well, if you're sloppy with the ball, you're vulnerable to get beat.
We're going to find out quickly who's real and who are the pretenders in our league.
