MIKE LUCAS Senior Writer

BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer

MADISON, Wis. — Standing at the podium, Barry Alvarez peered into the darkened Kohl Center seating area and seemed to motion in the direction of one of his former players during Tuesday's retirement event celebrating the Alvarez legacy and his "Three Decades of Excellence."

Attendance was limited. But among those present — masked and socially distanced — were a College Football Hall of Famer (Joe Thomas), a Heisman Trophy winner (Ron Dayne), a Green Bay Packers Hall of Famer (Mark Tauscher) and the recently-appointed Dane County Sheriff (Kalvin Barrett).

"To my former players, I'm so proud of you and proud of what you did — how you bought into the program," Alvarez said. "Nothing makes me more proud than to get a call or get a letter from a former player that tells me he still uses some of the things and some of the lessons and values that he learned in football to this day whether it be in his job or raising his family.

"Joe Panos (motioning with his right hand) just called me the other day and mentioned that."

Panos, 50, a prominent sports agent, was seated in front of the stage, midway up the stands.

"When I heard the news," Panos said of Alvarez's retirement plans, "I called to just let him know what he meant to me personally and what he meant to my teammates and what he meant to the university and what he meant to the state. I just wanted to show my gratitude. I told him that I loved him. And I told him that he's been the biggest role model I've probably ever had.

"I just wanted to make sure he knew EXACTLY what he meant to me and everyone else."

Panos was one of the heartbeats and captains on Alvarez's first Rose Bowl team.

"Coach had an awesome acronym, WIN — What's Important Now," Panos said. "I tell that to my clients. What's Important Now? It's not doing X, Y and Z. It's concentrating on doing this and not worrying about the other bleep. Another thing: he taught me how to be a leader. I use something, not knowingly, but something he has taught me every day whether with my family, my kids, my company.

"What made him so special? Coach had a gift to get everything he could out of you.

"More importantly, to instill confidence in you.

"He made us believe in ourselves."

After the Panos reference, Alvarez singled out another player during his remarks.

"Chris Ghidorzi, awhile back, introduced me at a banker's convention in Wausau," Alvarez recalled of his former linebacker, a starter on the back-to-back Rose Bowl teams and one of five captains his senior year (1999). "He talked about me and it was so touching, I started crying. I had to gather myself before I gave my speech because it meant that much to me."

Ghidorzi was not in the Kohl Center audience Tuesday. But he watched the retirement program, which aired live on Big Ten Network, from his home in Wausau where he's the president of a family-owned business, Ghidorzi Property Management. Listening to Alvarez reminisce about his UW career as a coach and director of athletics, Ghidorzi couldn't help but think about his lasting impact.

"It's kind of overwhelming to think about how many lives he has changed. He made all of us better fathers, better employees, better workers. How do you measure that? … I can't say enough about my four years at Madison and what I learned every day from Coach. You don't know how much you're learning at the time. But you get a year or two removed, you realize how special that time was.

"I learned what true leadership looks like, and how you go about your business. And how you learn to win. You heard Coach today talk about how much he enjoys winning. You've got to learn to win, you've got to know what it takes. You talk about success. Coach always told us how we were going to handle success and what handling success looks like.

"Those are life lessons when you're 18, 19, 20 years old that you're fortunate to have."

Ghidorzi was pressed on what he said that brought Alvarez to tears. Jogging his memory, he couldn't pinpoint the exact date, only that it was a few years ago. Ghidorzi was on the board of directors of Nicolet National Bank in Green Bay and Alvarez was the featured speaker at an all-employee meeting.

"I got the call the day before, 'Hey, you've got to introduce Coach,'" recounted Ghidorzi, who was initially reluctant to do so because of his emotional bond with Alvarez. "I'm like, 'I don't know if you guys understand what you're asking me to do. This is like one of the best mentors in my life.'"

Ghidorzi wasn't sure that he could hold it together.

Nonetheless, he was assured that it would be easy. Just talk about his success, his accolades.

"We'll write something up," he was told, "and send it over to you."

Fair enough. He began to introduce Alvarez off a prepared script of his accomplishments.

"As I was kind of reading through those highlights — the typical Coach of the Year and Rose Bowl accolades — I just kind of stopped," Ghidorzi remembered. "And I said, 'That's what you can read about Coach … but I'm going to tell you about the Coach that I know.'"

Or words to that effect.

"I introduced him by telling everybody, 'This is the person who taught us to pack our hardest hats and lunch pails and go to work. He taught us how to show up every day.' And then, I used some of his favorite lines, like 'Don't flinch.'"

Ghidorzi spoke directly from the heart.

"He doesn't coach us for Saturdays. He coaches us for the other six days of the week because if he can trust you as a human being, as a person, he can trust you on a Saturday."

Ghidorzi reflected on the moment, and what prompted Alvarez's emotion.

"All those life lessons that he taught us was how I introduced Coach. When he came up (to the podium), he had to collect himself a little bit. Heck, I was so nervous, I had to collect myself.

"I turned around and Coach gave me a big hug. He said that was one of the most special introductions he's ever had.

"It was real … let's put it that way."

So were the sentiments that Alvarez expressed from the podium Tuesday.

"Probably the best compliment that I've had regarding our student-athletes is from the late Joe Paterno … I can remember him grabbing me at the (Big Ten) Kickoff Luncheon in Chicago and saying, 'Barry, I just want to tell you something. I watch your teams. I watch how they compete. They compete HARD. They really represent you well. They're very proud of that 'W' that they wear on their uniforms.'"

Alvarez paused.

"For another coach, a coach of that magnitude, to make that kind of statement …

"… spoke volumes to our athletes, but really made me feel proud."

Alvarez didn't have to fall back on WIN. He knew what was important. Then and now.

"I just want to thank those guys (players) because that's what it's all about.

"That's what it has always been about for me."