Among the more surprising coaching hires over the past couple of weeks has been Bret Bielema‘s move from Wisconsin to Arkansas just days after the Badgers won their second consecutive Big Ten conference championship. Although athletic director and former UW coach Barry Alvarez decided he would serve as interim coach for the program’s third straight Rose Bowl, the search for a more permanent coach is ongoing.
So far, that search has reportedly included Oregon State’s Mike Riley, Miami’s Al Golden and NFL assistant Mel Tucker -- all of whom have downplayed interest in the job. Interestingly enough, Alvarez himself followed a similar path. Speaking with reporters after a Sunday practice, Alvarez admitted he was also interested in returning to the sidelines as the Badgers’ coach. Before he wasn’t, that is.Alvarez after practice confirms he considered coming back full time “for about a day” this week #Badgers
— Badger Football (@BadgerFootball) December 16, 2012You can point to the likes of Chris Ault at Nevada and Bill Snyder at Kansas State as coaches to come back to a school for another successful tenure, but Alvarez has the title of AD as well so it’s not likely he would come back as a coach as well. Either way, Wisconsin still has options to land a good replacement for Bielema.