- Apr 24, 2005
- 43,678
- 8,689
Devin Bush Jr and Stanford Samuels III got their offers today
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Andersen told Alvarez over the phone early Wednesday afternoon as Alvarez was waiting for a flight back from a function in New York.
When Alvarez returned to Madison, he and Andersen met face-to-face before informing the team of the news at a 4 p.m. meeting.
“I was very surprised. Really had no idea this was in the works,” Alvarez said. “(The players) did not know. His son didn’t know. … (The players) were all shocked. I think a couple of the young players were a little more emotional.
“Gary felt like this was an opportunity for he and his family to get back to that part of the country, and he felt like he had to follow through with that opportunity.”
While Andersen told Alvarez of his desire to move his family back West after prior coaching stints at Utah and Utah State, the athletic director also told the Wisconsin State Journal that Andersen was unhappy with UW’s strict academic standards throughout his short tenure.
Alvarez did not know, however, if that played a factor in Andersen’s decision to leave.
“I can’t answer that, but he has brought it up to us,” Alvarez said. “He brought that up. That was an issue. … This is a very good academic institution. We use that to recruit.”
Multiple times over the past two weeks, Andersen had commented on the struggle of keeping assistants on staff during this time of the year.
He also iterated the importance of those assistants keeping him informed of other coaching opportunities they were pursuing — something Andersen didn’t appear to do in this case with Alvarez.
....
Alvarez, though, doesn’t worry about the turnover and said he isn’t concerned about the state of the program.
“We’ve got one of the most consistent programs in the country,” Alvarez said. “We have some of the best facilities in the country. Gary made the decision for family matters.
“It wasn’t a destination job for (Bielema or Andersen), but it was for me. Everybody’s a little bit different. I don’t worry about that. We’ve got a good job. We’ve got a good place. We’ve got a consistent program. We’ve got a lot to sell. I’m not trying to paint any other picture other than a very positive picture because it is positive.”
Bielema also left days after a Big Ten title game — one the Badgers won to set up a Rose Bowl berth that Alvarez coached.
"When I began to have more and more success at Wisconsin, I stayed but a lot of my coaches left," Bielema said. "I just wasn’t able to compensate them in the way other coaches were. I lost three coaches last year and all that went from making about $225,000 to making over $400,000. I know I’m hiring the right guys because everybody keeps taking them from me. The NFL, they kind of upset me a little because they got like silly money, they got like Monopoly money. And what are you going to do about that?
"So (in 2012), as soon as we won that game (against Nebraska), I had three coaches come to me the day after the game," Bielema said. "They had been contacted by other schools. We are talking money I can’t bring them at Wisconsin. Wisconsin isn’t wired to do that at this point. And I just felt for me and for my future and my wife and what I wanted to accomplish in the world of college football I needed to have that ability to do that. And thankfully I found that here at Arkansas."
Hey USC & their fans, let FSU have Biggie Marshall please.
It would be greatly appreciated.
You had your moment in the sun... let us rise and shine again...
Josh Sweat gonna be the next Luc/Eligwe/Thomas etc?