In the five seasons that Dan McCarney was the defensive coordinator at Wisconsin, he didn’t realize he was in the presence of a future Super Bowl coach.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Oakland Raiders clash in Super Bowl XXXVII Sunday. Leading the Raiders on the field will be Bill Callahan, with whom McCarney staged many battles in Wisconsin football practices — Callahan in charge of the offensive line and McCarney lining up his best defensive squads.

“We were together all the time going against each other and competing against each other,” McCarney said. “He was an unbelievable competitor. He didn’t want to lose at anything. Both of us had that ingrained in us.”

The two disciples of Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez were both at Wisconsin from 1990-1994. Nine years later one has led his team to three consecutive bowl game appearances and the other is on the brink of a Super Bowl victory in his first season as an NFL head coach.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am for him,” McCarney said. “And it’s not one bit of a surprise. It’s only his first year there, but it doesn’t surprise me that he’s where he’s at right now.”

Those five years together started off rough, but they would eventually leave with many fond memories, McCarney said. The two were hired days apart in an attempt to rebuild the Wisconsin program from a 2-9 season in 1989. A year later, the two went through a 1-10 season. But just three years later in front of more than 70,000 Wisconsin fans, McCarney and Callahan were Rose Bowl Champions after the Badgers upset UCLA.

Callahan’s offensive line led the way for game MVP Brent Moss to run for 158 yards and two touchdowns while McCarney’s defense forced six turnovers.

From 1-10 to 10-1-1 in three years — worst to first. A tie that binds.

“When you go from 1-10 together to 10-1, it doesn’t get much better than that — and it was the first Rose Bowl championship in the history of that place.”

McCarney’s memories of Callahan are still etched in his mind. He said Callahan was a meticulous note-taker. He was always prepared. He was always on the ball.

Most of all, McCarney said, he was one hell of a coach. He said Callahan shined the most when he would walk into a prospective recruit’s home.

“He’d walk in there and he’d have it all written out — a manuscript — all written out ahead of time,” he said. “And he’d say these are the reasons you need to come to Wisconsin. He was just real, real thorough.”

In those five seasons, all-conference honors were given to Badger offensive linemen nine times and one all-American. McCarney saw eight of his defensive prot‚g‚s honored by the Big Ten.

“We had great times together,” McCarney said. “We went from first to best together.”

When asked if he had congratulated Callahan yet, McCarney said he’s only left a phone message because he knows how busy his former football mate must be as the big game approaches.

McCarney chuckled at the question.

“The last thing he needs is some dumb college coach, bothering him,” McCarney said.