Chris McIntosh, the University of Wisconsin–Madison's director of athletics, is stepping down to take a senior strategy role with the Big Ten Conference, according to multiple reports. The move lands just after Wisconsin's men’s hockey team reached the national title game and roughly two years after McIntosh signed a contract extension, setting off an immediate leadership shuffle inside UW Athletics at a particularly sensitive moment for several high‑profile programs.
Reporting and initial details
Sports Business Journal reported that McIntosh will resign immediately to accept a newly created position as the Big Ten's deputy commissioner for strategy, where he would report to Commissioner Tony Petitti. The move was first flagged locally on Sunday by the Milwaukee Business Journal. Sports Business Journal also reported that Wisconsin deputy AD and COO Marcus Sedberry is the likely interim athletic director while longer‑term plans are sorted out.
McIntosh's tenure and contract
A former Badger All‑American, McIntosh took over as UW's athletic director in July 2021 and signed a five‑year extension in July 2024 that runs through June 30, 2029, according to a campus release from UW–Madison News. The university credited him with negotiating media and sponsorship deals, pushing forward major facility projects and overseeing national titles in women's sports during his time leading the department.
What it means for Badger programs
On the football side, McIntosh made several headline decisions, including firing Paul Chryst in 2023 and hiring Luke Fickell. Those choices leave the program's near‑term future closely tied to contract and buyout considerations, with buyout obligations that complicate any immediate coaching changes, as noted by ESPN. McIntosh spent the weekend in Las Vegas for the Frozen Four, where Wisconsin fell 2‑1 to Denver in the NCAA title game, a result that highlighted the department's recent on‑ice success even as a major administrative change arrived, according to Denver Athletics.
Succession and next steps
Sources told Sports Business Journal that Deputy AD and COO Marcus Sedberry is the leading internal candidate to serve as interim athletic director while UW's athletic board and campus leadership weigh permanent options. The university did not immediately respond to requests for comment, a point noted in Associated Press coverage carried by WTOP.
Big Ten gains a practiced operator
The Big Ten is adding an administrator with recent, hands‑on experience running a Power Five department through NIL, media‑rights talks and major facility negotiations, the kind of practical background conference offices have been seeking. McIntosh said it is “very difficult for me to transition away from a place that's so important to me,” and called the new role “an incredible honor,” according to ESPN. For Wisconsin, the immediate storyline is continuity: interim operations, outreach to donors and coaches and a search process that will quickly show how steady the department can stay with its top seat suddenly open.
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