Wisconsin athletics director Chris McIntosh is leaving the school to become the Big Ten’s deputy commissioner for strategy.
Deputy AD Marcus Sedberry will serve as Wisconsin’s interim athletic director.
McIntosh will work closely with Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and the league’s senior staff.
“As intercollegiate athletics continues to change at an unprecedented pace, it is essential for the Big Ten Conference to maintain its role as a national leader in academic and athletic excellence,” Petitti said in a statement. “To ensure we support our 18 institutions at the highest level possible, it is important to reinforce our leadership team with additional strategic experience. We are excited to add Chris at such a transformational time and know his experience as an athletics director, administrator and student-athlete in the Big Ten will serve him well in this role.”
McIntosh, 49, took over as athletic director in the summer of 2021 after the retirement of Barry Alvarez. He played football for the Badgers and was part of two Rose Bowl-winning teams coached by Alvarez.
McIntosh was named associate athletic director in 2014. He became deputy athletic director under Alvarez in 2017.
He fired football coach Paul Chryst midway through the 2023 season and hired Luke Fickell to replace him. Fickell has gone 17-21, including a 4-8 finish last year and a 5-7 mark in 2024 that snapped what had been a Power Four-leading streak of 22 consecutive winning seasons.
Also in 2023, McIntosh fired men’s hockey coach Tony Granato and brought in Mike Hastings from Minnesota State. Wisconsin reached the Frozen Four this season and lost 2-1 to Denver in the national title game Saturday.
During McIntosh’s tenure, Wisconsin has won three national championships in women’s hockey (2023, 2025 and 2026) and one in women’s volleyball (2021).
In July 2024, he signed five-year contract extension that ran through June 30, 2029.
“There is never a good time to leave an organization, especially one where I feel so connected and where there is more great work to be done. I was not searching for something new, as not only do I love the University of Wisconsin, I also believe the position of its Athletic Director is one of the best jobs in the country,” McIntosh wrote in a letter to Wisconsin fans. “This newly created position with the Big Ten Conference, however, represents a unique and incredible opportunity for me to draw on the experience and insight I have gained over the past many years to help shape what comes next for the Conference, including the University of Wisconsin. I see it as a natural extension of my work.
“Although I will no longer be in my position, I will do all that I can to assist Interim Director of Athletics Marcus Sedberry in the transition. I am confident that Marcus, who has been a part of the UW community since 2022 and has played an integral role in every aspect of our athletics enterprise since his arrival, will do an outstanding job.”
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
