Herbstreit: Alvarez ‘brought toughness that great teams have’
July 02, 2021 | Football, General News, Mike Lucas
Now ‘like a family member,’ analyst’s friendship with Alvarez has roots in Badgers’ upset win in ’92
BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Kirk Herbstreit, one of the most recognizable voices and faces in college football, conjured up a picture of Barry Alvarez, one of a kind in his own right.
"As a coach, to me, he was a pioneer for Badger football and the Big Ten," said Herbstreit, the 51-year-old ESPN/ABC analyst. "You close your eyes, and you think of Barry Alvarez …
"Hard-nosed. Tough team. Line of scrimmage. Big, physical offensive linemen. Talented running backs. Cerebral quarterback. Enough skills sprinkled in at defensive back and receiver to be dangerous.
"It was so consistent, and it was always an efficient, smart, well-coached football team. Even after he left that became what Wisconsin football has been known for to this day. That's who they are."
On the heels of Alvarez's retirement, Herbstreit shared some of his thoughts, which carry weight because of his national platform and achievements as a five-time Sports Emmy Award winner.
"I think the fact that he moved in as the athletic director," he said, "and still kept — I don't want to say his fingerprints — but you can still feel his presence in the program.
"It's kind of, 'We're not going to back down from you' mentality. We're going to take you on, Michigan. We're going to take you on, Ohio State. We're going to take you on, Penn State. Bring it on.
"It's that kind of mentality that I think is infectious and it's who he is. The people who coached under him and played for him, they took on that same personality or they were gone."
In describing and defining the Wisconsin football/Alvarez brand, Herbstreit said, "It's a certain toughness that I think great teams have, a mental and physical toughness.
"That brand started in the early '90s and sustained itself all the way into 2021 and beyond. It may be tweaked a little here and there, but if you think back over the last 25 to 30 years of Wisconsin football, that's what you think about. You think about a mentally and physically tough team.
"You think about a team that is going to bully you at the line of scrimmage and that's going to test you to see if you can match up to their will power."
View Photo Gallery: Barry Alvarez: Hall of Fame Football Coach
Herbstreit can speak from first-hand experience as a former Ohio State quarterback who got his comeuppance during a 1992 upset loss to Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium.
"He and I kind of kid each other about that '92 game," Herbstreit said, "because I think that game was a springboard into the career that he ended up having.
"You could really look to that game as a point when his team started to believe in what he was doing as a coach, he and his staff, and the philosophies he would eventually be known for."
Alvarez dipped into his bag of motivational tricks for the Big Ten opener against the No. 12-ranked Buckeyes, who were coming off a bye and an impressive road win at No. 8 Syracuse.
On a bulletin board in the UW locker room were these words: Everyone! Sees! Performance! Nationally! The message was in the acronym: ESPN. The Badgers had only 14 appearances on national television over the previous decade. This would be just their fifth since 1986 and first since 1990 when Alvarez made his debut against Cal.
"I think about the times when I was a little and I'd sit there and watch games on TV," said UW defensive tackle Carlos Fowler. "Now, it's going to be like a dream to play on national television."
It turned out to be a nightmare for the sleep-walking Buckeyes. The Badgers scored a couple of third-quarter touchdowns to pull off the upset, 20-16; the first win over a ranked team under Alvarez.
Herbstreit, who was operating on a tender ankle, was sacked five times, including a hat trick for sophomore linebacker Chad Yocum.
"It was a disappointing day for us because we were kind of reading our press clippings about how great we were," Herbstreit said. "We showed up for the 11 a.m. local kick a little bit flat.
"Maybe we didn't respect Wisconsin the way we should have because we didn't know what was being built there under Barry Alvarez. We learned a valuable lesson about respecting your opponent.
"But they got us. They outplayed us. If you go back and look at that game, it was a microcosm of what Wisconsin has done in a lot of big games against teams like Michigan and Ohio State."
That Sunday, the Badgers made the front page of the Wisconsin State Journal. Under the headline — "Hey, Big Ten! Watch out We're back" — was a photo of fans storming the field.
A less-than-capacity Camp Randall crowd of 72,203 had been witness to the improbable, the first triumph versus a ranked foe since 1985. A goalpost was torn down during the postgame celebration.
"You have to do that — beat somebody no one expects you to beat — to give you and your program credibility," Alvarez said. "That showed that we could compete at that level."
Another front-page photo played off the ESPN acronym and spelled out the hopes of a long-suffering fan base. Students were pictured holding up a sign: Everyone/See you in/Pasadena/New Years.
Not so fast, my friends. But the wait was much shorter than anyone could have imagined. The Badgers won a share of the 1993 Big Ten title and knocked off UCLA in the 1994 Rose Bowl.
"He just didn't get to the Rose Bowl, he'd win the Rose Bowl," Herbstreit said. "When you're able to do that on big stages, it affords you a certain reputation.
"Barry's reputation was not just within the Big Ten. It became more of a national brand … people really valued his opinion on a lot of matters not just related to Wisconsin football or athletics."
A friendship has steadily grown between Alvarez and Herbstreit. And much of it dates back to that '92 game in Madison. At least the good-natured banter has its roots in that raucous environment.
"He likes to tell the story," Alvarez said, "about walking out of the tunnel with his co-captain for the coin toss and a state trooper telling them, "Gentlemen, I suggest you put your helmets on.'"
Herbstreit remembered it this way, "They had a chain-link fence over the top of the tunnel. And it was like the barbarians were on top of that fence and we were coming into the gladiator pit."
Countered Alvarez, "He likes to claim that someone hit him with a tomato that day. I don't think that was true at all. Were they throwing marshmallows? Probably."
Over time, Alvarez and Herbstreit found their mesh point.
"Man, what an incredible career,'" Herbstreit gushed. "He's done so many different things and he's done so much for so many people. I played at Ohio State, but a lot of times I feel like a Badger because I feel like I've become a part of his circle. And when you're part of his circle, you feel like you're family.
"And, for me, that's how I feel about him. I almost look at him like a family member. I'm going to miss him. We're all going to miss him dearly."
With Alvarez moving on to another stage in his life, turning over the program to Chris McIntosh, it still leaves people wondering, "Can the Badgers win a national championship in football?"
Big Ten Network analyst Gerry DiNardo tackled the question first.
"Yes, especially if you keep divisional play," he said. "The two divisions in the Big Ten absolutely give Wisconsin a chance to win a national championship.
"Obviously, you have to win the West — and it's standard operating procedure that you're going to be competing for the West title — which means you go to Indy (for the Big Ten title game).
"And that puts you — especially with a 12-team playoff eventually — in the national championship hunt … Now, I don't think Wisconsin is a 'national championship or bust' team.
"But could they do it? Yes."
Herbstreit believes that it could happen, too, given the right circumstances.
"Absolutely, they're a top-10 program, they're on the cusp," he said. "They've just got to be able to get an opportunity to win those big games.
"I'm a huge Paul Chryst guy, myself, I love what he does. He coached under Barry and understands the brand from the way that they recruit and the facilities that they have."
The Alvarez brand has already proven to be resilient and sustainable. And his presence will still be felt long after he leaves the director of athletics office in Kellner Hall.
"I hope that he's still around as much as possible," said Herbstreit, "because he and Cindy are such a big part of the fall and not just in Madison, but in the Big Ten."
Close your eyes. And you can still see Alvarez addressing the media after that '92 win over Ohio State and telling everyone about chasing respect and credibility. He crossed the finish line with both.
