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LOOK: Wisconsin honors Barry Alvarez with special game ball vs. Michigan

20200517_134556by: Justin Rudolph10/02/21
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The Wisconsin Badgers are honoring their legendary head coach Barry Alvarez this Saturday. And they have created this game ball to commemorate the occasion.

Honoring Alvarez

The former head coach and athletic director will be honored Saturday against the Michigan Wolverines. They are also dubbing the day as “Barry Alvarez day.”

The biggest part of this celebration is that Wisconsin will rename their football field at Camp Randall Stadium to Barry Alvarez Field, per Wisconsin reporter Jeff Potrykus. Alvarez coached the Badgers for 15 seasons is the all-time winningest football coach in school history.

All of this is to honor the three decades of service he has given to the Badgers.

He compiled a 118-73-4 record as the head man from 1990-2005. He then took over as athletic director and stepped down at the end of June, marking 32 years total with Wisconsin. As a coach, he led the Badgers to three Big Ten championships and three Rose Bowl victories. In 2009 Alvarez was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame and the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame. And in the following year, he was a part of the 2010 College Football Hall of Fame class as a unanimous decision.

A legend who built legends

As a recruiter and coach, Alvarez brought in and developed some pretty impressive players. In the 90s he recruited Ron Dayne, a massive running back from the state of New Jersey. Under Alvarez’s tutelage, Dayne would become the program’s all-time leading rusher and secure the 1999 Heisman Trophy award. Towards the end of his career, he found and developed one of the best left tackles to play the game in Joe Thomas.

Thomas would go on to be named first-team All-American in 2005 and 2006. He also coached 2 of the best corners in badger history in Jamar Fletcher and Troy Vincent. Fletcher was a three-time all-American with 21 career interceptions by the time he exited Alvarez’s program in 2000. Five of those interceptions were returned for five touchdowns, a Big 10 pick-six record.

The Wisconsin Badgers are cementing the legend of one of their greats in Barry Alvarez. The biggest gesture of all is the renaming of their home stadium. And although the game ball is not as big as the stadium, it is a keepsake that can be taken home and cherished by the former head coach and surrounding the program.