Alvarez Finishing What He Started - jmik58's Blog

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Alvarez Finishing What He Started Stuck

Posted on December 5, 2012 at 11:40 PM.

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"If you want something done right around here you've got to do it yourself."

While that may not be the exact thoughts of Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez, his decision to coach the Badgers against Stanford in the upcoming Rose Bowl is something I can relate to -- at least on a much simpler platform: Fatherhood.

It's that moment when your son drops the glove and heads for the house, sets down the hammer after helping with a project for five minutes, or unbuckles his chin-strap and says, "This game just ain't for me, dad." The disappointment and shock on our faces at that moment probably isn't as graphic as the ice cold chill we feel locking up our souls, but it hurts.

How do we handle such situations? It's one thing if we're just another guy living in Anytown, USA; hyping a moment that our children likely won't ever remember. But as father's we invest so much time and energy into teaching our sons the skills they need to build a shanty dog house or to throw a sixty-yard post route.

But what if we nurtured an entire football program into a Big Ten powerhouse? What if we groomed our "son" for such a position and then he just walked away for a more lucrative job, forsaking the family name?

Barry Alvarez is and will always be a hall of fame coach, the man who built the Wisconsin Badgers into the respectable college football program they are today. When he stepped aside after the 2005 season, he plugged his protege, Bret Bielema into the machine and sat back with the grin that only a proud father could appreciate. But as news broke yesterday of Bielema's interesting move to take over as head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks, Alvarez was left staring at a program that was missing it's leader -- the ship was in fine shape, but who would be the admiral?

While most programs would grab up a current assistant to serve as interim head coach or seek out a future replacement to be named as soon as possible, the move by Alvarez to step in for the Rose Bowl is neither expected or shocking. It's a unique move because no one else would think of it, but it's the right move because Alvarez knows the structure of the team considering little has changed since he built it and handed over the keys.

Perhaps the departure of Bret Bielema stings a little for Barry Alvarez, but the hall of fame coach hasn't forgotten how to swing a hammer or throw a curve. The dog house will get finished without his son's help. The helmet will get picked up from the ground and put back on the shelf for another day.

Sound Off: What do you think of the decision by Barry Alvarez to coach the Wisconsin Badgers for one game in the Rose Bowl?

Justin Mikels is a staff writer for Operation Sports. Follow him on Twitter: @long_snapper

Comments

# 1 Theute19 @ Dec 6

Barry's the right man for this job. The Senior class asked him to coach them in the Rose Bowl...with relatively inexperienced assistants all around, how could he say no?