Barry Alvarez appeared on the interview program "Sunday Night with Mike Gousha" last night on TMJ in Milwaukee. In case you missed it, here is the jist of the interview.

On the team's problems following the Rose Bowl season of '93: Alvarez said the problem was not in conditioning or in practicing, but mainly off the field problems. He stated that the grades of the team dropped to an all-time low immediately following the Rose Bowl and many of the players were making poor decisions in terms of how they were living their lives. He stated he had to deal with a lot of off the field incidents. He also went on to say that they have learned from these mistakes and are taking a more active role in checking up on the status of their current players in terms of visiting them in their dorms/apartments/etc.

In relation to the '99 team, he said, "This team hasn't scrated the surface"....of their potential.

On the replacements for some of the graduated seniors: Alvarez says that he is presuming Kavanagh will be ready to play. Gousha then asked about Bollinger at which time Alvarez said he is the most talented of the QBs he has had at Wisconsin.

They will be giving 4 or 5 tackles a shot at replacing Gibson, though they don't expect anyone to actually fill his shoes. Rather, he expects the rest of the line to be better to pick up the slack.

Chad Kuhns will be replacing Martin. "Kuhns is more phyical than Martin was and is a good receiver," said Alvarez.

On throwing the ball more in '99: Alvarez expects "a more balanced offense similar to '93." Ideally he would like a 60/40 split. However, they will only throw more if they are more effective. If this happens, YES the ball will be airborne more often.

On Mike Samuel: "Samuel wasn't a good thrower. I would have never said this publicly while Samuel was here. He threw knuckleballs."

On the emerging defense: Jake Sprague was "very effective" last year to go along with Wendell Bryant. Corners are playmakers and Alvarez "could never have imagined that they would play so well.". He, "wouldn't trade Doering for anybody."

On Michael Bennett: He is presently in school and did well first semester grade wise. He cannot participate in spring practice but is working with Dettman on condidtioning. If he continues on course academically, he will be ready to go in the fall. He will be tried at RB first and safety second.

On the incoming recuits: He doesn't know how many will play right away, but they are happy with the athletic ability and their versatility.

On leaving for the NFL: He thought about it some in '94 and '95 (no wonder with all the problems with the players) but "the timing wasn't right". Alvarez is "comfortable in college football." He "likes building a program and wants to take the program to another level." He also said he had a problem with "a right guard making more money than him and being more important."

On competing nationally: Alvarez said he thought they could have "played with both teams in the Fiesta Bowl this year". However, he also said that they "can't compete year in and year out for the national title" simply because of the difference in talent/speed between states like Florida and Wisconsin. He mentioned that they ARE able to get an abundance of big linemen so that is what they build upon. However, they can compete for the national title periodically.

On what he doesn't enjoy about the job: "Dealing with the media and trying to keep kids focused". He said that dealing with the media can be very tedious.

He also went on to mention that while he enjoys recruiting, he doesn't like kids that commit and then decommit during the recruiting process. He said there were 4 kids that did this this past recruiting season.

On the goal for the '99 season: "Get better and see what happens."

On whether he will retire at Wisconsin: " I would like to. My goal was to build it (the program) and make it competitive year in and year out. That's what my college coach did"(Devaney at Nebraska).