Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.
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I BEHIND THE DESK BY BARRY ALVAREZ // UW DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS Wisconsin-Iowa series truly a great rivalry 14 t's always a physical game. That's the first thing that comes to my mind when I'm asked about the Wisconsin-Iowa rivalry. I've been on both sides of it, too. I had a conversation this week with Gary Andersen and I told him the same thing: it's a going to be a very physical football game. They are made up like we are and it will be a big boy game. I also talked to Gary about Kinnick Stadium and how close the stands are to the bench area. Glen Mason was the TV analyst on the Northwestern-Iowa game and he stepped it off. I think that I heard him say it was about seven yards from the sidelines to the stands. The fans are right on top of your players and you have to make sure they don't get into any banter with them. It may seem like they're in your huddle, but you have to turn them off. You can't let them be a factor. You can't get into any conversations with them and you can't let them bother you. Your full concentration and focus has to be on the game, and it's always a good Big Ten game. I'm glad for our fans the series will continue on an annual basis. We match up well, we always have. The one thing you know about Iowa is that Kirk Ferentz is going to do what he does. Their offensive line is going to be physical and that makes their defensive line physical. It's probably the result of going against each other in the spring and during two-a-days in the preseason training camp. In fact, what they do // VARSITY October 31, 2013 offensively is very similar to what we do. I've told this story a lot of times. When I was with Hayden Fry, he put a great staff together. Hayden had been around a long time and he knew exactly what pieces fit into the puzzle. I happened to be in the office the week he was bringing in people to interview for the offensive line job in 1981. We had the potential for a good team and a very good O-line. Everyone assumed Hayden would bring in a veteran coach. Instead, he brought in someone with two years of experience as a graduate assistant at Pittsburgh and Connecticut. His only other coaching stint had been at a prep school, Wooster Academy. Kirk turned out to be a great hire. I don't know what separated him from the other candidates in Hayden's mind, but he was very even-tempered and very smart; a real student of the game, the same way he is today. I remember coming up here during that '81 season and beating a very talented Wisconsin team that had its sights on the Rose Bowl. We scored all of our points in the first half and won 17-7. We had three interceptions and Bobby Stoops, who's now coaching at Oklahoma, recovered a fumble for us that set up a touchdown. Our quarterback was Gordie Bohannon, who was tough and efficient. A lot of Badger fans were mad at Gordie that day. But I'm sure they now have a much different viewpoint since two of his sons, Jason and Zach Bohannon, came here to play basketball. Cindy and I still have a lot of close friends in Iowa City. We were there for a long time. We enjoyed raising a family there. It was good ― and it's only made better now when we win there.