Alvarez gets six-figure bump for coaching

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez will earn $118,500 for returning to coach the Badgers in the Rose Bowl against Stanford, according to a plan approved by the Executive Committee of the school's Board of Regents.

The committee agreed to the terms on Tuesday following the departure of former coach Bret Bielema, who accepted the head coaching position at Arkansas last week. The funds will come from Bielema's $1 million buyout, which Arkansas is paying to Wisconsin.

If Wisconsin wins the Rose Bowl under Alvarez, he would be eligible for a $50,000 bonus under the athletic board's existing postseason bonus policy. That bonus amount is identical to what Bielema would have received for winning the bowl game.

Alvarez coached Wisconsin from 1990 to 2005, guiding the Badgers to Rose Bowl victories in 1994, 1999 and 2000. He was lured out of retirement last week for one game at the behest of Wisconsin's team captains.

In the month of December, Alvarez will receive 90 percent of Bielema's monthly football coaching salary ($195,000) plus 10 percent of his current athletic director salary ($8,500) for a total of $203,500, which represents a one-time $118,500 increase in his monthly salary.

"We weighed the factors involved, including the unique circumstances that developed less than a month before the game, the challenges of the job, the marketplace and his strength as a coach and concluded that this is a reasonable arrangement," board president Bret Smith said in a news release.

Interim UW chancellor David Ward called the package fair and proportional.

"Coach Alvarez has a one-of-a-kind skill set that the university needs to be successful — both in the Rose Bowl and in attracting the best coaching candidates in the search for someone to lead the Badgers' football program going forward," Ward said.


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