The last full season in which Barry Alvarez was Wisconsin’s football coach came 18 years ago. But the impact Alvarez has on the program endures. So much so that Badgers coach Luke Fickell recently discussed the importance of picking Alvarez’s brain as Fickell continues to learn the ropes in his first full year on the job in Madison.
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Alvarez, the College Football Hall of Fame coach who served as Wisconsin’s athletics director from 2004 until 2021, has paid close attention to what Fickell is attempting to build. He offered his thoughts on Fickell and the direction of Wisconsin football in an interview with The Athletic. Here is the Q&A, which has been edited slightly for length and clarity:
What are your impressions of Luke Fickell?
I think he’s done all the right things. I’ve been impressed with his staff. I’ve been impressed with how aggressive they’ve been in recruiting and they’ve touched in the transfer portal. You had some holes at quarterback, so you got a number of new quarterbacks. They’ve gone out and filled the roster with the needs that they had.
I’m really anxious to see our team. There are a lot of new players there and I think Luke’s done all the right things. I’ve followed him from afar, even watching him since he was a player. I’ve always admired the teams that he’s had and how well he’s coached them and the job he did at Cincinnati is really unbelievable. To take them to a Final Four, to put them in the CFB Playoff, is really amazing.
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How do Wisconsin fans feel about the Badgers under Luke Fickell?
He mentioned recently that the two of you had communicated. Have you spoken to him much?
We’ve talked. I spent time with him when we were at the Badger Desert Classic. We haven’t spent a lot of time together but we’ve talked and shared ideas. I told him my thoughts and some of the things that you should look for, some of the things I believed in.
Building a wall around the state in recruiting was a staple when you were in charge. Do you feel pretty confident his staff can do that, even if none of the full-time coaches are from the state?
Yeah. You know what? None of my coaches were either when we came here. But I think Luke has reached out, and his staff has reached out to the high school coaches. Some of the high school coaches reached out to me to make sure that I knew that he had been there right away, had been to some of the schools, or made contact with some of the top coaches in the state.
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And they really appreciated that. I think he was involved in the spring clinic where you get a chance to meet a lot of those guys. I’ve talked to him about the importance of it, and he knows it. He’s been impressed with how open-minded the high school coaches in the state are and how much they want to help. And I think he realizes you’ve got to start with the kids in Wisconsin.
We had a stretch there, I think in the whole 16 years here, we probably lost a handful of kids to out-of-state schools. That was the first thing we had to do. When I took the job, Iowa had just won the league and they had I think 11 in the two-deep from Wisconsin. We had a number of really good players at Notre Dame. I had the top two kids in the state committed to Notre Dame already. Michigan had some really good kids. The kids in Wisconsin can play any place. So it’s vital to keep them here.
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What are your thoughts on Wisconsin moving to an Air Raid offense after all the years of a more pro-style system? It seems to be much different from what people have grown accustomed to.
Not really. I’ve talked with Phil (Longo). They averaged 200 yards a game rushing last year (at North Carolina). You spread people out, they’ve got to cover you down. That means less people in the box. We’ve got a good returning nucleus of linemen and backs. So I think they’ve got a good plan.
You don’t have to just line up in there in two tight ends and just blast people and play against nine in the box all the time. They’ve got a good plan. And depending how many you put in the box determines whether they’re going to throw it or run it. They’ve got a good mix. I’m excited about their offense. I like the philosophy. I like the idea and their plan coming in.
Luke and his staff added several quarterbacks and wide receivers this offseason. In your experience, was that ever a challenge to convince players at those positions to come to Wisconsin?
Not at running back. Quarterbacks, maybe. So many guys want to just chuck it around. They don’t realize if you can establish a running game, it helps your throwing game also. If we’re known as a running team, maybe you don’t get the top thrower and the top quarterbacks. Maybe you don’t get the best wide receivers. They want to go where they’re going to get a lot of throws a game. So, yeah, that certainly has been a factor.
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What was going through your mind the last few months of last year when Chris McIntosh had to make a decision about Wisconsin’s football coach?
I don’t think anyone was happy with how we were playing. Mac made the decision, and it was a very difficult decision. Our coach had won 75 percent of his games or whatever Paul (Chryst) won. Paul’s a good person. So that’s hard to do. But Mac felt strongly about the decision and felt like he had to move forward and I support his decision. I just think he showed strength in the leadership role in making that move.
Have you had a chance to talk to Jim Leonhard since he was passed over for the full-time job?
I haven’t talked to Jimmy. I talked to Jimmy before that all transpired, but I never talked to him during the process.
What is your impression of the excitement surrounding Wisconsin football?
I think it’s good. I think it’s a legitimate excitement. I think the people have a legitimate right to be excited. We have a chance to be a very good football team, and you’re going to see a lot of new people. It’s going to be a new brand of football and that’s good, that’s healthy.
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Do you feel Wisconsin is pretty well-positioned for the future?
Yeah, I do. I think the style of play that Luke and his people are bringing in is conducive to the things we’re going to see from coast to coast. Football evolves. You can’t just stay with what you did back in the 90s or 2000s or whatever. You have to evolve with the game, and that’s what they’re doing.
Lastly, what traits do you admire about Luke?
You know I always liked the combination of a wrestler and football coach. I like the grit that wrestling brings. I like the leverage they play with, how they use their hands and how tough they normally are. And Luke was a great high school wrestler. I remember playing against him. He played on some really good Ohio State teams.
From afar and watching him as a coach and watching him grow from taking over as the interim and then when he took that job at Cincinnati, he did a great job there. You’re not going to beat Ohio State on kids. Yet you can go out and get good football players and develop them. And that’s obviously what he did.
(Top photo of Barry Alvarez: Jeff Hanisch / USA Today)
