In his 15th season as head coach of the Badger football team, Barry Alvarez is quickly entering legendary status in the annals of college football. The only Big Ten coach to win back-to-back Rose Bowls, Alvarez passed the 100-career win mark this season and is currently in pursuit of his sixth Big Ten title.

And in the midst of this hunt, Alvarez is also changing his persona. Maybe it’s a reflection of his dual role as head football coach and athletic director, but he’s carrying himself in a much more personable manner — a striking contradiction to the aloofness Coach Alvarez has portrayed in recent years.

When Alvarez first arrived in Madison in 1990, the Badgers had compiled a record of 9-36 in the previous four seasons. Camp Randall attendance had slipped close to 41,000 a game — about half of the stadium’s current capacity. The football program was in dire need of a turnaround, and Alvarez exceeded everyone’s expectations.

Within three years of taking over the program, the Badgers had won a Rose Bowl and the team was consistently playing in front of capacity crowds. What many might not remember are the commitments Alvarez made to the student body and Greek community in those early years. He made his way through the student residence halls during the week, talking to students and personally inviting them to Saturday games. On Friday nights, Alvarez could be seen walking up and down Langdon Street, visiting fraternities and sororities, asking members to hold pre-game events, and requesting them to pack the stands. By all accounts, he was very personable, approachable and open to students. Yes, it was a different time and a different Alvarez, but that man almost personally built a system of student support for Badger football that has not waned.

That’s an Alvarez I wish still existed.

Maybe it was the three Rose Bowls and the rise to national prominence that distanced Alvarez from the student body. Maybe it was a change in lifestyle that his perpetually rising salary provided. Maybe the tribulations of Larry Eustachy and Mike Price have made him all that more guarded and reluctant when approached by students. Whatever the reason, Alvarez certainly distanced himself from his early 90s persona. Since I started covering the Badger football team four years ago, he has seemed detached and uninterested for the most part in terms of the student body. He never took them for granted, but I don’t think he paid much attention either.

This season, however, he seems to be changing that. Before the Badgers’ Big Ten opener, Alvarez opened a Thursday practice to students. It was a small gesture, nothing too grand. About 1,500 students showed up and Alvarez and a few players addressed the crowd, interacted with them, and got them excited for that weekend’s game. What Alvarez did wasn’t unprecedented, but it was something that hadn’t been done in a long time.

“My motivation on Thursday was not just to get the student body cranked up,” Alvarez said after the Badgers’ 16-3 win over Penn State of his decision to open the practice. “My motivation was just to connect with the students. I talked to some different groups last spring and they sensed that we didn’t have a [connection] with the student body. Early on, when I first took this job, we worked very hard to do that because we thought that’d be the first group of people we could get in the stands. And I felt guilty about that. I just felt that was one thing we could do to extend ourselves and show our appreciation and go from there. I think that happened — I think they appreciated it and I think our players enjoyed it.”

Therein lies the greatest testament to Alvarez. In his 15th year at Wisconsin, arguably one of the most powerful men in college athletics feels guilty about not connecting with the student body.

To be honest, I had put it past him. I thought Alvarez had built enough support where he didn’t feel the need to connect with students. I’ve got to commend the man for making efforts to amend his guilt. I certainly am happy to see he feels a need to relate to the students. At this point in his career, I don’t know if he has to feel the need, but he does. And for that we should all be grateful.

Walking off the field after the Badgers win over the Nittany Lions, Alvarez was met with the largest ovation I’ve heard in quite some time. The students are letting him know how much he means to them. Thankfully, it seems Alvarez is listening.

Drew Hansen ([email protected]) has only missed one Badger game in five years.