USC reaches out to Barry Alvarez ahead of transition to Big Ten

Ahead of their upcoming transition into the ranks of the Big Ten Conference, USC has reached out to Wisconsin great Barry Alvarez for advice. Alvarez is arguably the greatest football coach in Wisconsin history, having turned the program around in a short time after being named head coach in 1990.

As USC begins their transition from the Pac-12 into the competitive Big Ten Conference, athletic director Mike Bohn reached out to his friend for help preparing the Trojans for the move.

Barry Alvarez to help USC transition

“I have been contacted by Southern Cal to go out and visit with them, with their staffs,” said Alvarez at Big Ten media days. “Mike Bohn is a friend of mine, asked me if I’d come out and talk to them about the Big Ten and competing in the Big Ten.

“And he wanted me to do it like this week. And I said, I was too busy. But I’m going to be out there watching my grandson play in LA, in October, and I told him, I’d stay a couple days and, and he could use me however we wanted.”

Any advice a legendary Big Ten coach like Alvarez can give would be worth plenty, as he remains the winningest coach in school history by a wide margin. When Alvarez inherited the Badgers program in 1990, they had not had a winning season since 1984 with only seven wins against Big Ten opponents over that stretch of time.

Alvarez took over and made his focus recruiting from Wisconsin and building a strong core as he rebuilt the program, and saw dividends for his work in just four seasons. In 1993, Alvarez took Wisconsin to their first Big Ten championship since 1962 and their first-ever Rose Bowl victory.

Before he retired in 2005, Alvarez had built a career record of 118-73-4 before returning as an interim coach twice for single games that ended in losses. The closest coach to his win total is Bret Bielema with 68 career wins. Alvarez won three Big Ten titles, three Rose Bowls and an overall 9-4 record in bowl games for his career.