Harty: Barry Alvarez became a legend at Iowa’s expense
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Just admit it, Hawkeye fans.
You despise the Wisconsin Badgers because that’s what fans do, but also because the Badgers have done it better than your beloved football team has for almost two decades.
Or at least you should despise them because making matters worse is that a former Iowa assistant coach is largely responsible for Wisconsin’s rise to power.
Barry Alvarez has cashed in big time since Hayden Fry gave him a life-changing opportunity by hiring him as an assistant coach on his original staff at Iowa in 1979.
Alvarez had just led Mason City High School to a state title in football, capping a swift rebuilding job.
Alvarez then played a significant role in rebuilding the Iowa program as an assistant coach, mentor and recruiter. It became obvious that he had a bright future in coaching.
And to his credit, the 69-year old Alvarez has succeeded beyond maybe everybody but his own expectations.
The problem from the perspective of Iowa fans is how Alvarez has climbed the ladder of success.
He bolted from Iowa after the 1986 season for Notre Dame, where Lou Holtz was just starting to build the Fighting Irish into a national power.
Alvarez spent three seasons at Notre Dame, including the last two as defensive coordinator, helping the Fighting Irish win the 1988 national title.
Alvarez was a head coach just waiting to happen and the Badgers made it happen by hiring him to rebuild their moribund program after the 1989 season.
To say that his hiring raised a few eyebrows in Iowa City would be an understatement.
Fry reportedly wasn’t pleased in the least that Alvarez left Iowa for Notre Dame, and now three years later they were about to face each other as Big Ten head coaches.
Raised eyebrows then turned to angry scowls when Alvarez did what some Hawkeye fans still to this day call an act of betrayal by hiring two of Fry’s most valued assistants in Dan McCarney and Bernie Wyatt, both of whom played football at Iowa. McCarney also grew up in Iowa City, so it cut deep when he joined forces with Alvarez at a Big Ten border rival.
It was a step up for McCarney to be hired as Wisconsin’s defensive cooredinator, but a step that still bothers some Iowa fans more than two decades later.
What came next was a miraculous turnaround in which Wisconsin went from being a Big Ten bottom-feeder to Big Ten champion in 1993.
The Badgers have been a force ever since, winning three Rose Bowl games under Alvarez and playing in six Rose Bowls overall since 1994.
That level of success is hard enough for Iowa fans to deal with and to accept.
But the fact that Alvarez, who is now Wisconsin’s athletic director and interim head football coach in waiting, has thrived by using Fry’s blueprint for success and by using some of Fry’s former assistants only fuels the resentment.
Iowa has several heated rivalries with teams like Iowa State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern. But why would you despise them more than a program that is not only superior to Iowa in football, but whose past is so connected to the Hawkeyes?
Wyatt took advantage of his New York roots to do for the Badgers on the recruiting trail in the 1990s what he did for Iowa in the 1980s by landing key prospects from the East Coast, including 1999 Heisman Trophy-winning running back and New Jersey native Ron Dayne.
Wyatt has since retired and now lives in Iowa City again.
Alvarez also hired former Iowa defensive lineman Bret Bielema as his defensive coordinator and head coach in waiting in 2004. Bielema was promoted to head coach in 2006 and compiled a 68-24 record in seven seasons before taking the Arkansas job shortly after the 2012 season.
The Badgers also have relied on a power running game mixed in with play-action passing and supported by a solid and fundamentally sound defense to win games.
Sound familiar?
Wisconsin is Iowa, only better much of the time.
Whether the Badgers are better this season, or at least for one day in the fall, will be determined this coming Saturday when the two border rivals square off at Kinnick Stadium.
Both teams have two losses, but Wisconsin’s were on the road against fourth-ranked Michigan and at home against second-ranked Ohio State, each by seven points, while Iowa’s losses were against North Dakota State and Northwestern at home.
Iowa flexed its power-running game muscles by shredding Purdue for 365 rushing yards during Saturday’s 49-35 victory in West Lafayette, Ind.
If you didn’t watch the game and are concerned by the final score, Iowa led 35-7 at halftime and dominated for 2 ½ quarters when it was starters versus starters.
The Hawkeyes did what they should’ve done against a weak and injury-riddled Purdue squad.
Wisconsin, on the other hand, nearly brought down the mighty Buckeyes, losing 30-23 in overtime this past Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium. Combine that with a 14-7 loss at Michigan on Oct. 1 and Wisconsin might have the two best losses in college football.
One game certainly doesn’t make or break a season, but it’s close to being that way for Iowa and especially for Wisconsin heading into Saturday. The Badgers are 1-2 in conference play, but you don’t get style points for losing to elite competition.
Iowa is 3-1 in conference play, but you don’t get much respect for defeating Rutgers and Minnesota by the same score of 14-7 or for defeating Purdue by any margin.
Iowa still is tough to read at this point.
The rushing offense and rushing defense both look much better than earlier in the season. But how much of it can be attributed to the competition?
Purdue quarterback David Blough passed for 458 yards and five touchdowns in Saturday’s game. But most of it came against Iowa’s reserves and with the outcome all but decided.
On the ground, the Boilermakers were held to just 46 yards.
“You’re never happy about it, certainly,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said of the yardage allowed to Purdue. “But I’d be more unhappy if they were running the ball on us. That would make me really unhappy. I think we’re gaining ground there.
“And to me, it’s just personal preference, but to be a good defensive team, you have to be able to stop the run.”
A victory over the Badgers would make a statement and would move Iowa a step closer to being relevant again.
The game should be extremely physical in the trenches because that is how both teams play.
Iowa defeated the Badgers 10-6 last season in a defensive slug-fest in Madison, Wis. The Hawkeyes had some luck on their side when Badger quarterback Joel Stave lost a fumble near the Iowa end zone after stepping on somebody’s foot and losing his balance.
Iowa defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson spoke about facing the Badgers shortly after Saturday’s victory over Purdue.
“Not to downplay Purdue’s offensive line because they’re very good, but Wisconsin’s offensive line is very talented,” Johnson said. “We just have to buckle down and really study our guy.”
As for Alvarez, he is always nearby to provide support, guidance and advice to current Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst.
We can assume that facing Iowa is always special for Alvarez because Iowa City is where his career started to soar. He lived in Iowa City for eight years, helping to build the Iowa program and his own portfolio.
Alvarez and Ferentz spent six seasons working together as Hawkeye assistants under Fry from 1981-86. There is a mutual respect, but also a burning desire to beat each other.
Iowa used to own the Badgers in football, compiling a 17-0-1 record in the series from 1977 to 1996.
But then along came Alvarez to ruin the fun.
He lost his first five games against Iowa before winning five in a row.
Iowa then won four consecutive games in the series from 2002-05, but is 3-5 against the Badgers since then.
No disrespect to Minnesota or to Floyd of Rosedale, but the rivalry with Wisconsin packs more punch.
And you could either thank or blame Alvarez for that.