Barry Alvarez
Followed Don Morton. Barry Alvarez took Wisconsin from Regional Program II to Power Program I.
Career arc
His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.
Reached Power Program in his 9th career season — faster than 10% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #332 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).
Style position and drift
Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.
The big-game ledger
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
16–14 against his rivals. Just 1–6 against Lloyd Carr.
His own effect, isolated
A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.
Model fit as of 2026-09-04.
Coaching career
1st-best Wisconsin tenure of 14 by the numbers.
Followed Don Morton (1987–1989) · succeeded by Paul Chryst (2015–2022).
| Season | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Record | 1–10 | 5–6 | 5–6 | 10–1 | 7–4 | 4–5 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 11–1 | 10–2 | 9–4 | 5–7 | 8–6 | 7–6 | 9–3 | 10–3 | 12–1 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 10–3 | 11–2 | 11–3 | 8–5 | 9–4 | 10–3 | |
| Postseason | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | W bowl | |
| Recruiting rank | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | #32 | |
| Style — pass rate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pass rate | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 33.2 | |
| Coordinators | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| OC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Andy Ludwig | |
| DC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Dave Aranda | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Offense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 86 | |
| Defense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 63 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 32.9 | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 30.5 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 29.3 | |
87 NFL Draft picks: Don Davey (1991), Troy Vincent (1992), Chuck Belin (1993), Joe Panos (1994), Mark Montgomery (1994), Cory Raymer (1995), Terrell Fletcher (1995), Mike Verstegen (1995) + 79 more