Alvarez talks to former UW player Tucker about head coaching job

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A defensive coordinator in the NFL says he is not interested in returning to his alma mater to coach the Wisconsin football team. Mel Tucker said yesterday that he spoke with Badgers’ athletic director Barry Alvarez on Friday but quote, “There’s really no news there.”

Tucker played for Alvarez as a defensive back with the Badgers in the early 1990’s – and he said he was not offered the Wisconsin job. Alvarez is looking for a replacement for Bielema, who left a week ago to become the new coach at Arkansas. Tucker has been at Jacksonville for four seasons – and he runs a Jaguars’ defense that’s second-to-last in the NFL. But he’s been without starting linebackers Daryl Smith and Clint Session all season, and the Jaguars’ secondary has been riddled with injuries.

Tucker says he has his hands full, and he’s taking it one day at a time. The 40-year-old Tucker has been an assistant coach at Michigan State, Miami-of-Ohio, LSU, and Ohio State. He moved to the NFL seven years ago at Cleveland, moving up to defensive coordinator before moving to Jacksonville in 2009 to run the Jaguars’ defense. He's also been an interim coach for the Jaguars, going 2-3 last season.

Tags: wisconsin sports, proam, football, badgers