Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.
Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/44590
Making a change is never an easy thing BEHIND THE DESK BARRY ALVAREZ • UW DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS would always stop in and see Ron Stoops, Sr., who was the defensive coordinator at Cardinal Mooney High School in Youngstown. I'd have dinner at his house — shoot the breeze with him — and he would always put me on the right guys in the area. So would his brother, Bobby, who was the head coach at Youngstown South. Ronnie once tipped me off on a quarterback prospect at Board- man. He kept saying that even though the kid was skinny and threw the ball kind of funny, he could play and I needed to look at him. W So I took a look but I just didn't think he was that good. The quarterback was Bernie Kosar. He turned out to be pretty good. That's why recruiting is such an inexact science. Ron Stoops died from a heart attack in 1988 while coaching on the sidelines during a game. He was only 54. He had three sons — Bob, Mike and Mark — who played at Iowa. Bobby Stoops was a redshirt freshman when I was hired in 1979. I recruited and signed both Mike Stoops and Mark Stoops. Bobby and Mike used to babysit for my kids in Iowa City. Bobby Stoops is the head coach at Oklahoma, Mark Stoops is the hen I was recruiting the state of Ohio as an Iowa assistant coach I defensive coordinator at Florida State, and Mike Stoops was the head coach at Arizona until he was fired last weekend. I understand the business. But, naturally, it upset me because I've got feelings towards Mike and his family. He never quite got the program where he wanted it, though he went to three straight bowls. You get close to the coach, and you get to know his family. Sometimes it's just not a good fit, and you just hope they can land on their feet and get another job. That was one part of the job that I never liked. You'd think they would give him a chance to finish the year and see where it ends up. I guess they're trying to get ahead of the pack in hiring somebody, but that's pretty insensitive to those kids. I don't know. I'm not close enough to the situation. But that's the business. Everyone who gets in the business understands that it's very volatile. You've got to win, and once you win, you have to sustain it. I remember after my first year at Wisconsin, I had to let some- body go from my staff, and that was very hard for me. I called my former Notre Dame coach, Lou Holtz, for some advice. Lou gave me the company line. He said, "Barry, you work for the university. They hired you and you have a responsibility to them. Don't lose another second of sleep. Fire him and fire him now. But do it in a Christian way.'' That's hard as hell. You get close to the coach, and you get to know his family. Sometimes it's just not a good fit, and you just hope they can land on their feet and get another job. That was one part of the job that I never liked. As an athletic director, it's still very hard. You're not only firing a head coach but an entire staff. One of the most important things is that you don't want to surprise somebody or ambush them. What we've done here through our evaluations is that we've tried to give people an opportunity; we've talked to them and let them know where they are and what they can do to improve. Still, it's not easy when you have to let somebody go. It's something that I've never en- joyed.