Former Badgers AD shares candid thoughts on Chris McIntosh hire, tenure at Wisconsin

Barry Alvarez, the former Athletic Director at the University of Wisconsin, recently shared his candid thoughts on Chris McIntosh's tenure at Wisconsin. McIntosh's era concluded on a troubled note, as he decided to resign and move to a newly created role at the Big Ten office earlier this offseason. McIntosh, who played for the Badgers from 1996-99, joined the university in 2014 as the Director of Business Development before becoming Deputy Athletic Director in 2017. He succeeded Alvarez as Athletic Director in 2021 after Alvarez's retirement.

During his five-year tenure, McIntosh is best remembered for hiring head coach Luke Fickell. However, Wisconsin faced several challenges during his time, including being late to the National College Player Opportunity Act (NIL) era and finishing with its worst football year since 1990.

Alvarez, McIntosh's predecessor, expressed his uncertainty about the impact McIntosh had on the university, stating, "I don’t know. Take a look at it yourself and see what you think. What did he bring to the table? Did he add anything? Did he take anything away? Are we better or are we worse? You decide that. I’m not exactly sure, but you can take a look at the facts and see what happened when he was here, where we were before that, and where he leaves us."

Although Alvarez was not optimistic about McIntosh's tenure, he expressed confidence in his successor, Shawn Eichorst, saying, "I have my own opinion. I don’t care to share that publicly. I know this: I have confidence in Shawn [Eichorst], and I’m confident that Shawn will do a great job." The dynamic between Alvarez and McIntosh is intriguing, considering Alvarez previously vouched for McIntosh to secure the Athletic Director position, but it proved to be a challenging period for the Badgers, despite their historical dominance in the 2010s.