Barry Davis

[DocWrestling]

I take my kids to all kinds of Badger events.  We have seen basketball, football, hockey, volleyball, softball, tennis, and volleyball.

After going to wrestling my kids said it was so boring.  When I am trying to hook them on wrestling then it is not the best thing to take them to.

My oldest has seen a dual at Minnesota also and that was different and better.

You need a coach with a vision to make it an event and promote it to get fans in the seats.  I am a wrestling guy but I can't come when the rest of the family does not understand all of wrestling and thinks it is boring.  I wonder who could change that?

Who could go out and raise money for the program?  Who could go out and market the program in new ways?

The new coach is going to have to have the energy to do it on his own because UW is not going to help much!

[FoldEmUp]

I think he was referring more to in-state "fans".

I am in-state, but I am quite a distance from Madison.

You're not understanding fandom.  You will always have your diehards...in Wisconsin there are fewer of those than, say, Iowa.  Look at Badger Football prior to Alvarez or the "Faithful 5000" for basketball in the 70's and 80's.  We had trouble filling seats but had those core diehard fans.  This is the same for pretty much any sports team in any sport.  Did volleyball have people clamoring for seats when Sheffield came on board?  Nope.  Success generates interest.  You can complain about those outside the "faithful" group or you try to understand why people aren't coming and change it.  What can we do to change the casual fan to become a diehard.  Are there more diehards for our football or basketball programs than there used to be?  Absolutely!  Wrestling isn't going to become a better option than something else people could do on a given day until there is a reason to come.  Right now, people obviously don't feel coming to a wrestling dual is a better option than something else they could do.  And the coach that is in place has had 25 years to do something about it.  If we stay status quo and hire from within expect nothing to change.  Those who are on staff have come on board the last 6-7 years.  Nothing has changed since then.  We need to look outside the program.

[DocWrestling]

We need a coach to bring in athletes and teach them to market themselves and the program and are willing to do it.  Again the team and program is going to have to do it on their own.

A minute percentage of high school wrestlers and their families can name one badger wrestler.  So who are they going to travel to Madison to see?

The new coach as well as the team needs to connect with fans.  Tournaments/duals are the best way especially locally.  Send coaches and athletes out in full badger wrestling gear and bring bucky along and show up at duals and tournaments. 

I still think the UW program should ask every youth tournament in the state to raise their entry fee by $1 and then donate that $1/wrestler to the UW wrestling program.  Instead of or in addition to buying a USA card to join USA wrestling, there should be a badger wrestling card for maybe $20 where every kid gets a free ticket to dual, a t-shirt, a poster, and gets a photo/autograph with a badger wrestler.

Volleyball coach actually has players out delivering the season tickets to some homes.

I do believe Askren would have unlimited ideas and would be willing to try just about anything

[wrestler133]

I think we should try to hire Cael Sanderson away from Penn State.   Look what he has done for their program.

[leg turk]

whoever they give the job to, I hope he changes the Cheerleader P.A announcer at home matches.  It drives me crazy.

[Van]

whoever they give the job to, I hope he changes the Cheerleader P.A announcer at home matches.  It drives me crazy.

Whoever they give the job to, I hope he KEEPS the Cheerleader PA announcer at home matches. I love it.

[imnofish]

After reading all these posts and reflecting on comments about Barry and UW Wrestling over the years, it strikes me that we are a bit confused about this topic.  By that, I mean that too many of us have equated a desire for a more competitive program and systemic failure within the current program.  Given Wisconsin's national rankings and individual performances over the years, it is obvious that the team has not been a total failure during the Barry years.  It doesn't have to be, in order for us to aspire to a much higher success level.  Honestly, I think the biggest challenge facing UW Wrestling is administrative neglect, due to its low priority compared to football and basketball.  I hope that this latest development is indicative of Alvarez looking to invest more in the program, rather than just changing coaches and repeating the same neglectful pattern.  

[DocWrestling]

WWO Badger "Fans"
--To The Administration:

"We need you to triple the budget for wrestling."
"We need you to hire the best up-and-coming coach."

--To The Coach:

"We need you to get all the best in-state talent."
"To the extent that in-state isn't good enough, we need you to get out-of-state talent."
"We need to you to NEVER lose to Michigan State, Indiana, Maryland, Purdue, Rutgers, or Northwestern, even in their best years."
"We need you to be as good or better than Minnesota, Nebraska, Michigan, and Illinois, regularly."
"We need to beat Penn State, Ohio State, and Iowa, at least sometimes."
"We need to be better than 6th in the Big Tens."
"We need to be better than 10th in the NCAA Tournament."

The Wisconsin Administration and Coaching Staff
--To the "Fans":

"We need you to show up."

WWO Badger "Fans"
--To The Administration & Coaching Staff:

"In regard to that, we actually have more we need of you..."

If my child took that little responsibility for his actions, he'd be punished.

I am not sure I understand your point.  Are you really blaming the fans?  Are you blaming fans for not spending their money and time on something that has not excited them to make that commitment?  Maybe the next staff has to look outside the wrestling room also with energy and figure out how to interact with fans by marketing to them and keeping them informed.

[bigG]

A business can't blame customers for not liking their product. I know UW wrestling isn't a business; but they are our only D1 program in wrestling in WI , and fans want to boost wrestling in the whole state, and think a boost at UW would help drive some of that action

[bigoil]

After reading all these posts and reflecting on comments about Barry and UW Wrestling over the years, it strikes me that we are a bit confused about this topic.  By that, I mean that too many of us have equated a desire for a more competitive program and systemic failure within the current program.  Given Wisconsin's national rankings and individual performances over the years, it is obvious that the team has not been a total failure during the Barry years.  It doesn't have to be, in order for us to aspire to a much higher success level.  Honestly, I think the biggest challenge facing UW Wrestling is administrative neglect, due to its low priority compared to football and basketball.  I hope that this latest development is indicative of Alvarez looking to invest more in the program, rather than just changing coaches and repeating the same neglectful pattern.  

Agreed that it was and maybe still is the UW Admin holding the development back and if you listen to those inside, there were many specific items that were being held back. That said, most of those fences have been removed from my following of primarily what Hammen would expound on. Number of athletes in the room and number of Assistant Coaches (paid or not paid) in the room.

[1Iota]

The one thing that I don't think is getting enough attention is the Academic expectations placed on the non-revenue sports like wrestling.  I had a chance to speak with Ryan Morningstar at a camp in Waunakee during his brief time as an Asst for UW.  He said that was the biggest obstacle he faced in recruiting.  The wrestling program was expected to bring in Athletes that would excel in the classroom.  We must remember that the Non-Revenue sports are expected to prop up the overall athletic GPA.   I think often the perception is we missed on certain guys when the reality is they would not have been accepted. 

[DocWrestling]

The one thing that I don't think is getting enough attention is the Academic expectations placed on the non-revenue sports like wrestling.  I had a chance to speak with Ryan Morningstar at a camp in Waunakee during his brief time as an Asst for UW.  He said that was the biggest obstacle he faced in recruiting.  The wrestling program was expected to bring in Athletes that would excel in the classroom.  We must remember that the Non-Revenue sports are expected to prop up the overall athletic GPA.   I think often the perception is we missed on certain guys when the reality is they would not have been accepted. 

There are plenty of smart wrestlers and this is not just an issue at UW.  In all honesty I don't think our recruiting has ever been that bad.  Davis landed plenty of recruits.  I think he was decent in that area. 

[Houndhead]

Do we know if this decision was made by Davis? Was it his choice to resign? I just don't think Alvarez would force BD out after all these years of status quo. If it was Alvarez that made the decision, then I don't think the replacement would come from the current staff.

[1Iota]

Do we know if this decision was made by Davis? Was it his choice to resign? I just don't think Alvarez would force BD out after all these years of status quo. If it was Alvarez that made the decision, then I don't think the replacement would come from the current staff.

He was definitely forced out.  He said he had a meeting with Alvarez & it was decided he would resign.  That is not how it would have unfolded if this was something Barry D was thinking about for some time.  Also the reaction of the team & Parents tells you that this was not Barry D's decision. 

[Barou]

The one thing that I don't think is getting enough attention is the Academic expectations placed on the non-revenue sports like wrestling.  I had a chance to speak with Ryan Morningstar at a camp in Waunakee during his brief time as an Asst for UW.  He said that was the biggest obstacle he faced in recruiting.  The wrestling program was expected to bring in Athletes that would excel in the classroom.  We must remember that the Non-Revenue sports are expected to prop up the overall athletic GPA.   I think often the perception is we missed on certain guys when the reality is they would not have been accepted. 

The academic requirements can be used as a recruiting tool.  Rob Koll does a great job recruiting at an IVY league school with no scholarships.  A lot of his "sell" is the career path for student athletes graduating from Cornell.  Michigan is another great example of a university with higher academic requirements than UW and lands great recruits.