Barry Alvarez Quotes (72 Quotes)

I feel pretty good about (the retirement) because frankly there are not too many guys in my business who can do it. I feel grateful the university has been so good to me and my family. I have a chancellor that has been very supportive of me, and his cooperation on what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it. I think that is very unique to have a situation like that.

He would not watch one kick, ... And he watched me to see if Vitaly made it.

We were beaten by a good football team today. They're solid on both sides of the ball. My hat's off to Penn State, they're a really great football team.

We certainly haven't used that as a motivation, ... The games themselves and the time that they've put in in preparation for these games is motivation enough. I don't think that has anything to do with it at all.

I tried to avoid making a big deal about this being my final game. I had some emotional moments -- the last game at Camp Randall (Stadium), the ceremony after, the banquet.

I don't mean to be short, but we have dealt with this all year. I guess it was when the water hit me on the back when the game was over. That's it. There is nothing like seeing a quarterback take a knee. I love that play. That's my favorite play in football when John takes a knee. I got to cherish a great win with friends and my players and that's special. I couldn't find a better way to go out.

There's no doubt the profession has changed. At the top of Division I they are going to pay you well and expect you to produce. But none of us should complain. We know the rules going in.

You have two ranked teams and I think this is the second-biggest stadium in the country. They talk about this maybe being the largest crowd ever at the stadium, national TV again, play for a lot if that doesn't get your motor running, there's something wrong.

We were scoring so fast a lot of the times, there wasn't a lot of time on the sidelines for the coaches to get enough conversation to know what the problem was, before they were back on the field.

You look at cross country. We're not the ideal place to be running cross country. There are other schools, because of their weather and everything else, they probably have advantages. Yet, our guys found a way to get it done.

He can move. He's very athletic. I don't even know what he weighs. I don't care. ... If he moves well enough, he can weigh 400. He is a giant, though. He makes Kemp look like a little guy.

We asked them to jump up in there and play press man and I thought they did a pretty good job. I think it will help them. Every week they should get a little better.

I think his president wanted to keep it confidential and go through the process without it being a public issue. But he was offered the job officially yesterday and accepted and contacted me right away.

Hayden came back and said, 'Listen, I just listened to all of those guys and if we're just sound in everything we do, if we're sound on offense, we're sound on defense and we're sound in the kicking game, we'll win at least four (Big Ten) games,'

When they change formations . . . two or three times, every time there's a change, there's a different communication that comes out,

What I see is a system that's being implemented and every week it appears that players understand it a little more and they play a little faster,

That's what can happen in this game if you don't take care of the football. Anybody can beat you.

I'd have a hard time coming home to an empty house. That would be very hard for me.

I think I'll take a little time and go down to our place in Naples, Fla., before going back for the second semester.

I thought just the management of the game, making adjustments on the run and executing on both sides of the ball as well as playing all the young guys, I think all those things are good. I think just the way they prepared for a game like this and went out and executed it. Just a lot of things were built on. Plus we got some momentum going into next week.

I think his speed really showed up today. A couple of those runs their defense had things cornered, it looked like they had the right leverage. He just outran everybody to the end zone.

When he was here, this was small time. We had to go through some very, very difficult times early on. When I first started, the department was over 2 million in debt, there was no one in the (football) stadium, we had issues with Title IX. We had to start from scratch, and there were some very difficult decisions made. Joel was in the middle of that.

Many times it's the teams that stay the most focused that win the games. There's a lot of potential to be distracted.

It's going to be a very physical game, a game where you're going to have to take on linemen and stop very outstanding backs and then still respect the throw. Where last week was you're spread all over the field, this is a little more conventional.

So, I thought we had a chance to be a nice football team. Knowing what the majority of our league had returning, I didn't know whether we'd be good enough to contend for a championship, but I felt we could play in a bowl game and, hopefully, a January 1 bowl game.

I let him slide on that one I was very generous today, ... In a tight ballgame, we would have had a very strong conversation.

Tyler can beat you with his feet. We didn't give him a lot of throwing opportunities, but I thought the one just before half (to Randle El) was well-anticipated. I thought (Donovan) did some real good things.

You don't wake up after a loss and say 'At least I've got my health,' ... she's nuts.

I guess when the water hit me at the end, it kind of sunk in, that's it. Get a chance to cherish a great win with a lot of friends and great players, that's special. I couldn't think of a better way to go out.

When we win big games, our running backs play well.

You talk about low-key and unassuming and just a very talented young man who's a gentleman at all times. He's just been a joy.

A number of people who saw that game probably thought they had seen it all, too. They hadn't. I'm just really proud of my guys, ... It just shows that if you stick with it, if you don't quit and keep battling, good things will happen eventually.

Man did he play. I was really proud of him. . . . I really thought he played exceptional for a young kid.

I feel fortunate to win. You are very lucky if you don't play well and win. I didn't think we played very well today.

I haven't seen any frustration, I really haven't. I pulled him over late in the (Indiana) game and told him to just keep going because I think it's just a matter of time. There have been probably three (runs) this year where he sees nothing but goal line in front of him, and somebody dives and just nips his toes. But he'll get some of those before the year is over.

Well, we were beaten by a very good football team today. They are very solid on both sides of the ball.

I think young players, in particular, see that, recognize, 'This is what the coaches want,' because we recognize that. This is what the game's all about, this is how you go about the game. This is how you're supposed to play.

Obviously, we couldn't block them very well, you could see that. We couldn't establish the run and had a hard time with pressure off the edge.

(Hampton) isn't the most gifted athlete that we have, yet he takes so much pride in how he plays, he's on every special team and I just thought it would send a strong message to our special-team guys that we appreciate them and that's the type of effort and that's the type of play that we're looking for.

Just me and Cindy in the room - yelling, ... They banged on our door and asked, 'Could you please quiet down'

I think more than anything else, it's a message of what type of attitude is needed to be successful,

All of our sports are fully funded. We're trying to give all of our coaches the opportunity to compete at a high level. These coaches have shown that you can.

I'm going to take a little time I have a house in Naples, Fla. and I'm going to go down there and spend a week.

In part, Alvarez has taken a liking to freshman tailback Jerry Butler for this reason. He's a tough little guy, ... He's only 175 pounds, but he's a tough guy.

I'd like for him to be matched up that way all day. I don't think we'll have that luxury.

He's had some great games for us. The stage, the magnitude of the game, the quality of the opposition, his performance today should squelch any criticism. I thought he was fantastic.

They all recruit hard, they play solid football, they all have a good plan. It's not just someone trying to out-formation you, they know what it's all about. I think the coaching in this league is very strong.

We'll absorb Jamie's loss and move forward and, to be honest with you, I'm not going to get real wrapped up in it this week. I have one other priority that sits a little higher than replacing Jamie, as valuable as he was, and I have a lot of confidence in

Many times they were trying to run with a linebacker on him, which is very difficult, if you're asking a linebacker to play run support and also play the tight end.

I think Joe has mentioned it and I've seen it written before, that our game may have cost them two or three games. They couldn't get that game out of their system, it was such a tough loss.