Barry Alvarez, a former head coach of the football program of the University of Wisconsin will be honored by the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame with a long-overdue Lifetime Achievement Award.
Alvarez is responsible for a remarkable turnaround of the Wisconsin Badgers football program during his 16-year tenure at the helm of the team. For close to two decades, Barry Alvarez was able to restore and then cement the Badgers status as one of the best college football programs in the Big Ten Conference.
As a member of the Big Ten since the inception of the conference, it was sad to see the Wisconsin Badgers football program fall behind at a very serious rate. In fact, the college football team averaged nine losses per year in four seasons before Barry Alvarez took over. This led to the 80,000-capacity historic Camp Randall Stadium barely being filled to half in those years.
That period was one of the worst eras in the history of Wisconsin Badgers – which further highlights the great achievements that Alvarez spearheaded. He went on to become the most successful head coach in the history of Wisconsin Badgers football program; he won three Big Ten Conference titles, three Rose Bowl championships and finished with an impressive record of 119-72-4.
When he stepped down as head coach, he remained the Athletics director of the University and has served in that role for the past 17 years. He won the Under Armour award for Athletic Director of the Year in the 2017-18 school year. His influence has transcended beyond the field; he is credited for his role in ensuring that student-athlete maintains a good CGPA. In fact, players in the Badgers team have recorded a 3.0 CGPA since the 2009-10 school year – an impressive standard maintained over a decade.
“I am thrilled to be receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame,” Alvarez said. “The years I have spent in the state of Wisconsin have been very special to me and my family. I have met so many wonderful people along the way and I am very proud of what we have collectively achieved at UW Athletics over the past 30 years.” Alvarez is also an inductee in the Badgers Hall of Fame, College Football Hall of Fame, the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame and the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame.