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Walks with Bielema a learning experience BEHIND THE DESK BARRY ALVAREZ • UW DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS I heard that Bret Bielema men- tioned our weekly Thursday walks during a Big Ten tele- conference promoting Saturday's conference title game between us and Michigan State. Those walks started six years ago. We began walking over the noon hour on Thursdays of game week. I felt like it would be good train- ing for Bret because of the things that we talked about. At the time, he was my defensive coordinator and "coach-in-waiting.'' Believe me, there are so many things that come across a head coach's desk during the week, and there are so many decisions that you have to make. During the course of the 2005 season, my last as a head coach, I wanted to use the walks to explain some of those things to Bret. I wanted him to start thinking like a head coach instead of think- ing like an assistant where all he had to think about was his posi- tion group and getting the defense ready for a game as a coordinator. I wanted him to start thinking about some of the decisions that I made, and why I made them. Trust me, there's no head coach- ing manual to read from. There's nothing that anybody has ever written that can prepare you for the things that are going to come across your desk — things that you just wouldn't think about as an assistant. I've had first-year head coaches 12 » VARSITY DECEMBER 1, 2011 less formal setting. As a head coach, I'd always meet with the players after Thursday's practice. I really liked Thursdays be- cause I always felt that one of my strengths as a coach was getting a feel for the team and knowing what buttons to push leading up to a Saturday game. After Bret took over as head coach, he asked if we could con- tinue our walks. Why not? I really enjoyed them. We walk about three miles, and it takes a little over an hour. Our route is the same route I used to take when I jogged. We'll cross University Avenue and go down to the lake and Picnic Point and back. tell me, "I'm dealing with this and that and I'm dealing with so many other things that I'm doing every- thing but coaching.'' I tell them all the same thing, "Welcome to the business.'' I used those Thursday walks to help prepare Bret for that. We could have met in my office. But I wanted to share things in a Trust me, there's no head coaching manual to read from. I used those Thursday walks to help prepare Bret for that. We'll talk about everything, too, not just football. It's always some- thing different. We never have a script or a set thing to talk about. I may have something on my mind. Or he may have some ques- tions. We may talk about his new house or the preparation for his wedding. Or, we may just talk about the game coming up and how we see some other matchups. We always get a chance to say hello to a lot of different people on the walks, whether it's students or professors or just people spending some time on campus. I know Bret mentioned a recent walk where neither one of us had anything to say for a few minutes before he asked me, "When do you stop thinking about it?" I knew that he was talking about the Hail Mary at the end of the Michigan State game. I said, "Never.'' You never forget those losses. But you're also going to win some games you probably shouldn't win. I imagine that we will have plenty to talk about Thursday. Michigan State is a good football team. But so are we. I like the momentum we're rid- ing into the Big Ten championship game after what we did to a very good Penn State defense. Now consider what we're playing for in the 13th game of the season. We're playing for the opportuni- ty to go to the Rose Bowl. It doesn't get any better than that.