Barry Alvarez will reportedly coach Wisconsin in Outback Bowl

A day after Gary Andersen’s surprising departure from Wisconsin to Oregon State, Badgers athletic director Barry Alvarez was left to wonder who would coach the team in the Outback Bowl.

On Thursday he found the answer: himself.

Sound familiar?

Alvarez, the Badgers’ coach from 1990-2005, manned the sideline for the 2012 Rose Bowl (which UW lost 20-14 to Stanford) after Bret Bielema accepted Arkansas’ head coaching position. Under similar circumstances, the 67-year-old Alvarez will do it again when UW takes on Auburn on New Year’s Day in Tampa, Fla., according to ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit.

Barry Alvarez will coach the Badgers in their upcoming Outback Bowl vs Auburn.

— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) December 11, 2014

Alvarez, who also is a member of the College Football Playoff selection committee, took over as University athletic director while still assuming the head coaching position in 2004. He stepped aside after the 2005 season (culminating with a win over Auburn in the Capital One Bowl) and promoted Bielema, his defensive coordinator.

When Bielema left, Alvarez hired Andersen away from Utah State prior to the 2013 season. In two seasons at the helm, Andersen led the Badgers to a 19-7 record, but dropped the Big Ten title game 59-0 to Ohio State on Saturday.

Alvarez said Tuesday that he was “very surprised” by Andersen’s sudden departure. He also revealed that the team’s seniors asked him to coach the game against Auburn. Now, it appears that he will honor their wishes.

For more Wisconsin news, visit BadgerBlitz.com.

- - - - - - -

Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @SamDCooper

from Yahoo Sports http://ift.tt/16bezs5