Barry Alvarez
Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez with the Outback Bowl Trophy after topping Auburn Thursday. (Wesley Sinor/wsinor@al.com)
TAMPA, Florida -- For the second time in his career,
Barry Alvarez
came out of retirement to coach a Wisconsin bowl game on Thursday.
He says it won't happen again.
"That's it," Alvarez said after the Badgers knocked off Auburn 34-31 in Thursday's Outback Bowl. "No mas. You've got people down here in Tampa who understand that. No mas."
After retiring in 2005, Alvarez stepped in to coach the Badgers in the 2013 Rose Bowl after head coach
Bret Bielema
left for Arkansas. The Badgers lost to Stanford, 20-14.
At the end of this season,
Gary Anderson
left his post as Wisconsin's head coach to take the same position at Oregon State. Alvarez was approached again to coach against Auburn, but was hesitant at first.
"First of all, let me make something clear -- I didn't want to coach these guys," he said. "I initially said I feel comfortable doing that again when they asked me. They asked me to sleep on it and they would came back.
"Why are we at the university? It's still about the kids, or we wouldn't have jobs. So the least I could do, if I could bring them some stability and that's what the felt like they needed, then I should do that."
Alvarez praised the Badgers for their resiliency after losing their head coach. He thanked the players for believing in him in the short time he had to prepare for the Tigers.
Wisconsin senior offensive lineman
Rob Havenstein
said he was "eternally grateful" for Alvarez and the leadership he provided after Anderson left.
"After the meting we had when Coach Anderson announced he was going to Oregon State, it took about three seconds for us seniors to get together and say we want Coach Alvarez to coach us," Havenstein said. "Obviously he's a heck of a coach, but he's an even better guy.
"I'm sure it's his last game, because his coach might kill him."
In addition to the shoulder ride, Alvarez also experienced his first Gatorade shower in quite a while.
"I've had a couple of those and I like them," he said. "It's a little uncomfortable afterwards, but I like them."