Kolek planning to go pro
Nebraska ran the I-formation and option offense with athletically skilled QBs. Alvarez played at Nebraska before they ran that kind of offense.Also, Alvarez cut his teeth as an assistant under Hayden Fry at Iowa.The only thing Wisconsin had in common with Nebraska was the steroid use.
Yeah, funny enough, Osborne became OC and revamped the offense with Devaney LITERALLY a year after Barry graduated
No, he wasn't. He was a Notre Dame assistant. He played at Nebraska...23 years before he got to Wisconsin and before Tom Osborne took the helm in Lincoln. Alvarez never coached above the high school level in the state of Nebraska.
Correction Noted
He didn’t bring a Nebraska system to Wisconsin.
That said, I like Fickell and I think he will do very well. Maybe not CFP great but very good.
I’m interested to see what the new B10 does for expectations of the current B10 West. I would bet that 7 out of every conference championship games are going to be two of the west coast teams, Mich, OSU, and PSU. 3-4 loss conference seasons won’t be “one game out of the B10 championship game” anymore.
Maybe I am misunderstanding your post, and I certainly stand to be corrected if wrong, but I understood the B10 was canning the East/West Divisions and going with one 16 team League. First place and second place play for the championship. Right? Wrong?
The size and athleticism on display during the Washington vs Oregon will make Wisconsin miserable regardless of Fickell “improved” recruiting. Wisconsin plays Alabama the two next years, yikes.
Yup, that’s my understanding too. I just mean that proximity to the B10 championship in the current structure has helped make middling seasons at Iowa, WI, Purdue, etc look better than they are. Now those same seasons will just be afterthoughts in the standings of the mega conference, and I wonder if those fanbases will notice/care.
You make an excellent point and one I've kind of been wondering about, too. So the B10 mega-conference makes a bazillion dollars from media rights. But if your team has lost 2 conference games by early October under the new setup you're pretty much screwed as far as championship aspirations go. At least under the current 2 division setup, the B10 West is competitive most of the season. Starting next year what interest is there going to be in a Minnesota-Northwestern game in mid October when the only thing on the line is 13th place. 2/3rds of the B10 football fans will have nothing to root for this time next year ( notwithstanding, I'll sleep just fine).
ND assistant but spent most of his coaching career under Fry at Iowa. Recruited the hell out of Wisconsin back then. But that was a long time ago.
Sure, but I remember the media coverage when Barry arrived. It was a BIG deal that they got him from Notre Dame.
Well, he was the DC of a national title winner at Notre Dame but he was way more a Hayden Fry guy than Notre Dame guy.
Alvarez left Iowa because Hayden Fry's longtime defensive coordinator had no desire to become a head coach. I actually believe that Fry encouraged Holtz to hire him.brew is right that it was considered a huge get for Wisconsin. But Alrarez knew that Wisconsin had a ton of potential. As I said, he used to recruit the state heavily for Iowa and knew there was talent there.
Now’s the time to play Bama. They are on a steep decline
Bama had the third-best recruiting class in history last year, per 247.
Classes have all been good. Development hasn’t been good. They’ve missed the mark at QB
I sense sarcasm.
Jim Harbaugh to the NFL next?https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/38696639/ncaa-investigating-no-2-michigan-amid-sign-stealing-allegations
When he has his lawyer commenting - all I hear is ‘guilty, guilty, guilty’.