Barry Alvarez Barry Alvarez ( born December 30 , 1946 ) is an American football coach who is currently the Director of Athletics and interim head football coach at the University of Wisconsin – Madison . He served as the head football coach at Wisconsin for 16 seasons from 1990 to 2005 , compiling a career college football record of 118 – 73 – 4 . He has the longest head coaching tenure and the most wins in Wisconsin Badgers football history . Alvarez stepped down as head coach after the 2005 season , remaining as athletics director . His hand - picked successor , Bret Bielema , left the program in December 2012 to take the head coaching position at the University of Arkansas , prompting Alvarez to announce that he would return as interim head coach of the Badgers , managing the team through the 2013 Rose Bowl . Alvarez was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2010 . Early life . Barry Alvarez was born and raised in Langeloth , Pennsylvania and graduated of Burgettstown Union High School in Burgettstown , Pennsylvania . Barry Alvarez is a graduate of the University of Nebraska – Lincoln , where he played linebacker from 1966 to 1968 under Bob Devaney , who became one of his major coaching influences along with Hayden Fry and Lou Holtz . Alvarez intercepted a pass in a game played between the Nebraska and the Badgers in Madison . Alvarez later became a head coach at Lexington High School in Lexington , Nebraska and then Mason City High School in Mason City , Iowa where the Mohawks won the 1978 class 4A state title , 15 – 13 , over Dubuque Hempstead before becoming an assistant coach at University of Iowa and then at the University of Notre Dame . Head coaching career . In 1990 , Alvarez was named head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers . He inherited a program that had not had a winning season since 1984 , and had only won seven games in Big Ten Conference play in that time . After three less - than - distinguished seasons rebuilding the awful program he had inherited , including a 1 – 10 record in his first year , the Badgers steamrolled through the 1993 season , notching a 10 – 1 – 1 mark and their first Rose Bowl appearance since 1963 , along with only the second bowl win in school history . During his tenure , the Badgers won or shared three Big Ten titles and won three Rose Bowls . He also led the Badgers to 11 bowl games ; before his arrival they had been to only six bowls in their entire history . The 1998 team notched the first 11 - win season in school history , while the 1999 team won the school ' s first outright Big Ten title in 37 years . Alvarez concluded his coaching career at Wisconsin with a win over the Auburn Tigers in the 2006 Capital One Bowl , bringing his all - time record at Wisconsin to 118 – 73 – 4 ( ) , making him far and away the winningest coach in school history ; his 118 wins are almost double those of runner - up Phillip King . It also brought his record in bowl game s to 8 – 3 ( ) . Alvarez is the only Big Ten Conference coach to win consecutive Rose Bowls . Wisconsin won all three of its Rose Bowls under Alvarez ( 1994 , 1999 , and 2000 ) , placing his 3 - 0 Rose Bowl record third on the list of undefeated Rose Bowl records , behind Howard Jones ( 5 - 0 ) and John Robinson ( 4 - 0 ) . On December 5 , 2012 , the day after he announced he would be leaving to take the Arkansas head coaching position , Bret Bielema revealed to the media that Barry Alvarez would be the interim coach for the Badgers in the 2013 Rose Bowl . The Badgers would lose that game to the Stanford Cardinal 20 - 14 . Alvarez is the only Big Ten coach with consecutive wins over the Ohio State Buckeyes during Jim Tressel ' s coaching tenure there ; those came in 2003 and 2004 . He finished his career with a 3 – 1 edge over Tressel . Alvarez had six seasons with at least nine wins at Wisconsin . Prior to his arrival , the Badgers had recorded only four in nearly 100 seasons ( 1897 - 1899 , 1901 ) . ( Wisconsin has only played a 9 + game per season schedule consistently since 1942 , so 9 + wins per season wasn ' t always possible prior to that time . ) Life after coaching . Alvarez replaced Pat Richter as athletic director in 2004 while retaining the head coaching position . After the 2005 season , Alvarez stepped down as head coach . Due to his continuing role as athletic director , Alvarez had the rare opportunity to choose his successor . Alvarez selected former defensive coordinator Bret Bielema . During the 2006 – 07 bowl season , Alvarez worked as a color commentator / analyst for Fox Sports . He worked both the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and 2007 BCS National Championship Game as well as select NFL games . In 2010 , it was revealed that he had invested $ 600 , 000 in the Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Nevin Shapiro . Honors and awards . Prior to his arrival at Wisconsin , Alvarez was part of Lou Holtz ' s staff at Notre Dame from 1987 - 1989 . He was the defensive coordinator for the 1988 and 1989 teams which lost a single game in these two seasons and were named national champions in 1988 . During his head coaching tenure , Alvarez received national recognition as the recipient of the AFCA Coach of the Year and Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award in 1993 . He was twice honored as the Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year , in 1993 and 1998 . In 1994 , Babcock Dairy Store , run by the UW – Madison ' s Department of Food Science , College of Agricultural and Life Sciences , developed an ice cream flavor called " Berry Alvarez " , a mixture of raspberry , strawberry , and blueberry , in his honor . In 2001 , " Hispanic Business Magazine " named Barry Alvarez one of the " 100 Most Influential Hispanics . " On October 13 , 2006 , a bronze statue of Alvarez was unveiled in the Kellner Plaza of Camp Randall Stadium . The statue honoring Alvarez had been announced the previous year , at his last home game as head coach . In 2009 , Alvarez was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame and the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame . On May 27 , 2010 it was announced that Alvarez would be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as part of the 2010 class . It was further revealed that the induction vote for Alvarez was unanimous .