Athletic director Chris McIntosh’s days as Wisconsin’s athletic director are done.
The Wisconsin State Journal and Sports Business Journal published reports Sunday, April 12 that McIntosh is leaving UW for a senior role in the Big Ten Conference.
The State Journal report said deputy athletic director Marcus Sedberry, who also serves as the football general manager, will serve as interim athletic director. The State Journal also reported the search for a new AD will be led by Eric Wilcots, who will become the interim chancellor after Jennifer Mnookin departs at the end of the school year to become the president of Columbia University.
McIntosh confirmed his depature to the Sports Business Journal.
"On one hand it’s very difficult for me to transition away from a place that’s so important to me," McIntosh said. "On the other hand, it’s an incredible honor and an incredible opportunity to be able to transition to a position at the Big Ten and to work for an incredible leader like Commissioner Petitti and alongside some top-tier, very capable members of the Big Ten as we navigate a dynamic period for college athletics."
McIntosh and a UW spokesman did not return calls from the Journal Sentinel.
The move ends a five-year run for McIntosh as athletic director. During that time he hired football coach Luke Fickell, men's hockey coach Mike Hastings and women’s basketball coach Robin Pingeton.
Fickell has a 17-21 overall record and led the Badgers to their first back-to-back losing seasons since the early 1990s. Hastings, on the other hand, recently took the Badgers to the Frozen Four before losing to Denver in the national championship, and Pingeton helped UW reach the WBIT semifinals.
McIntosh's tenure has also been marked by the fund-raising campaign that led to the construction of the Kellner Family Athletic Center, home of the new indoor football facility. That facility partially opens this summer.
McIntosh also made the call to retain Fickell as he was in the midst of his second straight losing season and was a vocal supporter of the recently approved legislation that will provide $14.6 billion in taxpayer funding for the UW athletic department.
Challenges facing McIntosh’s successor include UW’s competitiveness in the NIL landscape and a rebuild of the football program as Fickell heads into his fourth season. McIntosh is leaving at a time of change for the university. Mnookin will leave at the end of the semester to be the next president at Columbia University, and Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman was recently fired.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: AD Chris McIntosh reportedly leaving Wisconsin for the Big Ten