Myth(?) of Alvarez's First Camp
There were about 50 players that just came in and said, "I don’t want to work that hard and make that commitment."-Steve Malchow
They were trying to weed out a lot of the players. I think if the number is correct, a total of 56 players quit that spring.-Mike Verstegen
He damn near ran off half the team because he was trying to get players to buy into his system. He was just testing guys. Winter conditioning was probably the worst winter conditioning I’ve ever been a part of in my entire career. And he did that solely to run people off.-Reggie Holt
Most Badger fans have heard the legendary stories (often from Alvarez himself) about new Badger coach Barry Alvarez running off half of the team during his initial spring practice in 1990 because they weren't tough enough to play for him. Sounds good doesn't it? And, it certainly fits with the rags to riches narrative in hindsight. However, as someone who was probably as much of a fan of the team as anyone during that woeful time (never missed a game), I have always wondered about this narrative. Who exactly were these players that were run off, scampering out the door in the dead of night, never to be seen again?
Let's take a look at the depth charts from Don Morton's final year in 1989 and compare it to Alvarez's first Badger team in 1990.
First, let's take a look at the offense:
QB: In 1989, Lionel Crawford and Sean Wilson split the starting job. Both remained on the team and played the following year. Wilson was the backup QB, while Crawford was a part time starter at WR.
RB: Jimmy Henderson and Leon Hunt were the primary starters in 1989. Hunt graduated while Henderson left the program.
WR: Tim Ware and Aaron Brown were the starters in 1989. Ware was a part time starter the following year, while Brown lost his starting job but still was in the WR rotation.
TE: Craig Hudson and Kerry Miller split the job. Hudson graduated while Miller remained the starter.
OL: Starters in 1989 were Brady Pierce, Chuck Belin, Rich Godfrey, and Nick Polcinski, with David Rapps and Jim Basten splitting starts at the other position. In Alvarez's first year, Pierce, Belin, Basten,and Polcinski remained starters. Rich Godfrey was the starter following spring camp (so was NOT one of the departures). However, he did lose his starting job the following year and did not return in 1991 for his RS senior year. If memory serves, he suffered an injury, but my memory may be hazy.
PK: Rich Thompson remained the kicker.
SUMMARY: So, on the offensive side of the ball, every starter with eligibility remaining returned other than TB Jimmy Henderson.
Let's shift to the defense.
DL: 1989 starters were Don Davey, John Banaszak, and a combination of Dan Batch and Leon Johnson. Banaszak graduated while Davey and Batch remained starters. Johnson did not return, though he was a 5th year player. I do not know if he made it to that infamous spring camp or not.
LB: Brendan Lynch, Malvin Hunter, Gary Casper, Dan Kissling, Duer Sharp, and Tim Knoeck were the 6 players who manned the 4 positions in 1989. Kissling and Knoeck graduated. Lynch, Hunter, and Casper were starters in 1990. Sharp played as a reserve.
CB: Lamar White and Eddie Fletcher started both years.
S: Greg Thomas and Rafael Robinson were the starters in 1989. Thomas remained in 1990, while Robinson was moved to RB and played a ton in 1990.
P: Brad Brekke both years.
SUMMARY: Again, where are all the defections? Maybe 5th year senior Leon Johnson, and that is it.
Comparing the rosters in the media guides from those years, I count 36 players that did not return, a far cry from the 56 that was quoted by Mike Verstegen. However, we also need to realize that there is a large roster turnover EVERY year, especially in terms of walk-ons. For every Joe Panos or Jim Leonhard or JJ Watt, there are 20 guys who give it a shot for a year, realize they are over their head, want to be a regular student without living their lives getting the crap beat out of them on the scout team, and move on. That happened before Alvarez, during Alvarez, and after Alvarez. I don't think that has much to do with not being tough enough, and more to do with not being good enough.
A kid from our local high school was a walk-on for a year and basically said it was just too time intensive once he realized he couldn't play at that level. Not wanting his grades to suffer, he became a regular student after a year, which is a typical walk-on story.
Anyway, I see a lot of these guys in that list of 36 that departed between '89 and '90. Of the 36 players who did not return, I counted only 9 that lettered/played (Tywin Claypool, Otis Flowers, Henderson, Johnson, Tim Otto, Robb Mehring, Derek Schaefer, Pete Underwood, Tyran Washington) and based on the list above, most of them played little even under Morton. I would guess that football being football, some were probably hurt. Other than that, we had 27 walk-on types who split.
I am quite sure that there were players that did quit, as it happens on all teams and especially on teams with new coaches. We certainly can't argue that the returning players were not as talented as the players to come. However, in hindsight, I think the story of Alvarez completing cleaning house, leaving them with a depleted roster is more hyperbole that works well with the Rose Bowl journey than actual truth. The reality is that Alvarez played with very much the same team that Morton played with the prior season (which explains the 1-10 record).
In the same regards, I have also seen the quotes about Wisconsin being a football wasteland for a generation of fans, which has always chapped me a bit. Were they in bad, bad shape when Alvarez took over? Of course. But, this was also a program that had been nationally ranked in attendance for nearly two decades before the Morton era and had very good teams for the first half of the 1980's, just 5-6 years before. As someone who grew up at Camp Randall during that era before going to college at the UW in the late 80's, I remember those teams (and the excitement they brought) all too well.
Ultimately, both are much about making a great story in hindsight, with bits of truth scattered here and there.
Let's take a look at the depth charts from Don Morton's final year in 1989 and compare it to Alvarez's first Badger team in 1990.
First, let's take a look at the offense:
QB: In 1989, Lionel Crawford and Sean Wilson split the starting job. Both remained on the team and played the following year. Wilson was the backup QB, while Crawford was a part time starter at WR.
RB: Jimmy Henderson and Leon Hunt were the primary starters in 1989. Hunt graduated while Henderson left the program.
WR: Tim Ware and Aaron Brown were the starters in 1989. Ware was a part time starter the following year, while Brown lost his starting job but still was in the WR rotation.
TE: Craig Hudson and Kerry Miller split the job. Hudson graduated while Miller remained the starter.
OL: Starters in 1989 were Brady Pierce, Chuck Belin, Rich Godfrey, and Nick Polcinski, with David Rapps and Jim Basten splitting starts at the other position. In Alvarez's first year, Pierce, Belin, Basten,and Polcinski remained starters. Rich Godfrey was the starter following spring camp (so was NOT one of the departures). However, he did lose his starting job the following year and did not return in 1991 for his RS senior year. If memory serves, he suffered an injury, but my memory may be hazy.
PK: Rich Thompson remained the kicker.
SUMMARY: So, on the offensive side of the ball, every starter with eligibility remaining returned other than TB Jimmy Henderson.
Let's shift to the defense.
DL: 1989 starters were Don Davey, John Banaszak, and a combination of Dan Batch and Leon Johnson. Banaszak graduated while Davey and Batch remained starters. Johnson did not return, though he was a 5th year player. I do not know if he made it to that infamous spring camp or not.
LB: Brendan Lynch, Malvin Hunter, Gary Casper, Dan Kissling, Duer Sharp, and Tim Knoeck were the 6 players who manned the 4 positions in 1989. Kissling and Knoeck graduated. Lynch, Hunter, and Casper were starters in 1990. Sharp played as a reserve.
CB: Lamar White and Eddie Fletcher started both years.
S: Greg Thomas and Rafael Robinson were the starters in 1989. Thomas remained in 1990, while Robinson was moved to RB and played a ton in 1990.
P: Brad Brekke both years.
SUMMARY: Again, where are all the defections? Maybe 5th year senior Leon Johnson, and that is it.
Comparing the rosters in the media guides from those years, I count 36 players that did not return, a far cry from the 56 that was quoted by Mike Verstegen. However, we also need to realize that there is a large roster turnover EVERY year, especially in terms of walk-ons. For every Joe Panos or Jim Leonhard or JJ Watt, there are 20 guys who give it a shot for a year, realize they are over their head, want to be a regular student without living their lives getting the crap beat out of them on the scout team, and move on. That happened before Alvarez, during Alvarez, and after Alvarez. I don't think that has much to do with not being tough enough, and more to do with not being good enough.
A kid from our local high school was a walk-on for a year and basically said it was just too time intensive once he realized he couldn't play at that level. Not wanting his grades to suffer, he became a regular student after a year, which is a typical walk-on story.
Anyway, I see a lot of these guys in that list of 36 that departed between '89 and '90. Of the 36 players who did not return, I counted only 9 that lettered/played (Tywin Claypool, Otis Flowers, Henderson, Johnson, Tim Otto, Robb Mehring, Derek Schaefer, Pete Underwood, Tyran Washington) and based on the list above, most of them played little even under Morton. I would guess that football being football, some were probably hurt. Other than that, we had 27 walk-on types who split.
I am quite sure that there were players that did quit, as it happens on all teams and especially on teams with new coaches. We certainly can't argue that the returning players were not as talented as the players to come. However, in hindsight, I think the story of Alvarez completing cleaning house, leaving them with a depleted roster is more hyperbole that works well with the Rose Bowl journey than actual truth. The reality is that Alvarez played with very much the same team that Morton played with the prior season (which explains the 1-10 record).
In the same regards, I have also seen the quotes about Wisconsin being a football wasteland for a generation of fans, which has always chapped me a bit. Were they in bad, bad shape when Alvarez took over? Of course. But, this was also a program that had been nationally ranked in attendance for nearly two decades before the Morton era and had very good teams for the first half of the 1980's, just 5-6 years before. As someone who grew up at Camp Randall during that era before going to college at the UW in the late 80's, I remember those teams (and the excitement they brought) all too well.
Ultimately, both are much about making a great story in hindsight, with bits of truth scattered here and there.
I think it gets embellished with time. But having said that, they were demanding. We needed to show the players what it’s going to take if we want to be at the top."-Coach Scott Seeliger
Credit to Jesse Temple's article Oral History: How Barry Alvarez transformed Wisconsin Badgers football program for the quotes.