Minnesota Offers Up Coaching Position...To Barry?

Who will be the next head coach at Minnesota is no longer a question at Minnesota. The question of what the Minnesota athletic director was thinking offering the job to Barry Alvarez is one that may never be answered.

The day after Jerry Kill was officially announced as the next head coach of the Gophers word is spreading that Minnesota offered the job to former Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez. The man that resurrected Wisconsin football as we know it.

During his time at the helm of the Badger football program Alvarez won three Big Ten titles. As well as three Rose Bowls, and a 8-3 bowl record during his tenure. A legacy that Minnesota would obviously like to have in the twin cities.

That idea may have sounded great, but in many ways was unrealistic. Why would Alvarez leave his post as athletic director at Wisconsin to return to coaching? Would he even want to coach again? The answer to both of those questions was no, and perhaps a reason Jerry Kill is now the head coach.

The ironic part of all the talk today about Alvarez being offered the head coaching position at Minnesota is that he is being enshrined in the college football hall of fame, and not a long time from now. The ceremony is actually going on in New York City the same day as this announcement.

As of Tuesday night Alvarez joins the likes of Paterno, Bowden, and Bryant as one of the coaches inducted into the hall of fame. And if the announcement today that athletic directors still want Alvarez to be their coach didn't show why he's being inducted nothing will.