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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? DARRELL BEVELL After NFL tryouts with the Miami Dol- phins and Oakland Raiders, Bevell came to the realization that his playing days were over. It was time to get a job; especially since his wife Tammy was five months pregnant with the couple’s first child. “There were only so many doors that were open,’’ said Bevell, who was hired to coach the quarterbacks, the running backs, the tight ends and the wide receiv- ers for the Westmar University Eagles in Le Mars, Iowa, the “Ice Cream Capital of the World.’’ He was also the passing game coordina- tor for the NAIA school which was located in the northwest corner of Iowa about seven hours from Madison. The operative word being “was.’’ Westmar University doesn’t exist today. It closed in 1997. “I still remember my time there,’’ Bevell said, “by Blue Bunny Ice Cream.’’ Following one season at Westmar, he was a grad assistant at Iowa State and wide receiver coach at Connecticut before join- ing the Packers in 2000 as an offensive assistant/quality control coach. During his six seasons in Green Bay, he came under the wing of Mike Sherman and Tom Ross- ley. “I never worried about the next job,’’ said Bevell whose friendship with Brett Fa- vre began to take shape in 2003 when he was promoted to the Packers quarterback coach. “The most important thing was to work hard and do the best job that I could while I had that job.’’ Bevell’s greatest ally in the business has always been Brad Childress, the former Badger offensive coordinator. Their rela- tionship dates back to Northern Arizona. ing at Wisconsin. The trust he showed in me was huge.’’ Bevell worked as offensive coordi- nator under Vikings head coach Brad Chil- dress, who called the plays when Bevell was the Badgers’ QB. That friendship and/or trust factor was best illustrated when Brad Childress be- came the head coach of the Minnesota Vi- kings and picked Bevell to be his offensive coordinator in 2006. The eventual Brett Favre signing was linked in large part to Favre’s familiarity with Bevell. “There were a lot of ups and downs along the way, but I spent six years with Brett in Green Bay and Minnesota,’’ Bevell said. “And I learned a lot about our offense and what it can do. When you have someone of Brett’s caliber, you know what you can and can’t ask of your quarterback. “It was awesome when “I love the game of football so much that I don’t think I could ever get too far away from it,’’ Bevell said. It was Childress who sold Barry Alvarez on taking a gamble on Bevell. And it was Chil- dress who called plays for Bevell in ’93. Outside of his dad – Jim Bevell, a long- time high school coach in Arizona – Chil- dress has had the biggest influence on his football career. “Coach Childress has been a great ambassador for me,’’ he said. “He really took a lot of chances on me, includ- I finally got to call the plays for him. And it was great to have that year like we did in 2009 which was the best year of his ca- reer. That kind of showed that we clicked and we thought the same way and I could get him to do some things that would help make him successful. “The thing that will separate him from all others is the youthful enthusiasm when