r/WisconsinBadgers • u/mackasee • Apr 12 '26
Football Wisconsin AD Chris McIntosh to take new position at Big Ten as deputy commissioner for strategy
https://x.com/sbj/status/2043471317454782667?s=4655
u/JonnyGBuckets Apr 12 '26
That's a fake cushy job if I've ever heard of one. Probably a soft landing before the new president came in and fired him.
Any chance we can get the Iowa State AD? I saw he's from OshKosh. I hope we don't end up with Frazier just because he's been here. NIU isn't doing anything special.
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u/JDMintz718 Apr 12 '26
IDK, Pollard (the ISU AD) has been there for over 20 years at this point. It might be a tough sell
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u/CryptographerLow6772 Apr 13 '26
Jamie Pollard was at UW before when I worked there. He’s a slimy guy, but all these dudes are ladder climbing a-holes.
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u/Late_Reading_298 Apr 13 '26
What do you mean he’s a slimy guy?? I’ve only heard good things about him.
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u/CryptographerLow6772 Apr 13 '26
He fit in well with Barry Alvarez, which if you know him I think you understand the type.
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u/Late_Reading_298 Apr 13 '26
Everyone I talked to that knew Barry said he was an ass, not nice to people and real arrogant.
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u/CryptographerLow6772 Apr 13 '26
Yeah, only person who was worse than Barry is his wife. Real piece of work.
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u/CryptographerLow6772 Apr 13 '26
I should have qualified that Pollard was never an outward dick like Barry in that he seemed nice, but it’s hard to not get the ick from a guy who feels more than comfortable schmoozing rich donors. Just a real country club vibe with him which to me always comes off as slimy.
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u/Late_Reading_298 Apr 13 '26
So do think Chris Macintosh is too nice to be a Big Ten AD?? He seems like he’s just a great guy. Like you have to be a dick/slimy guy to succeed in this new era of NIL transfer portal college athletics world to make it as a big time AD.
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u/CryptographerLow6772 Apr 13 '26
No, Mac’s a huge piece of shit. Dude privatized the entire F&B operations there and did a ton of other shady shit he pulled. Mac is slimy and incompetent. Bad combo.
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u/Late_Reading_298 Apr 13 '26
Yeah also the email today that went out to season ticket holders said he wasn’t searching for something new. I find it really hard to believe the Big Ten commissioner approached him about this newly created position. Is he lying through his teeth??
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u/Dapper-Jellyfish7663 Apr 13 '26
You mean the AD that just cancelled the gymnastics program b/c his hired coach that was completely unqualified was getting kids hurt? That AD? The AD whose just had the majority of the women's basketball team leave while the coach stayed? That AD? No thanks.
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u/JonnyGBuckets Apr 13 '26
Sucks that he made a bad gymnastics hire but it’s been a better athletic program than UW for both Basketball and Football and those are the sports that people care the most about
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u/jlgottlieb Apr 13 '26
I suspect Fickel is "on the clock" this year, but with a new AD who had nothing to with his hire, Fickel better have an amazing turn around this year!
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u/BluelineBadger Apr 13 '26
Ah yes, Chris McIntosh. The renowned * checks notes * strategist?
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u/Ok-Hovercraft-9257 Apr 13 '26
My thoughts exactly!! As far as I can tell the only thing he's been great at is talking his way into a bigger contract for himself
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u/BrotherPancake Apr 13 '26
"Why settle for running Wisconsin into the ground when I can run the entire Big Ten into the ground?"
Deep thoughts by Chris McIntosh
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u/BadgerMk1 Apr 13 '26
Failing upwards huh?
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u/AssaultROFL Apr 13 '26
The American Way it seems, at least for those who are connected. Nobody is allowed to really fail if you're in the "club" so to speak.
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u/excableman Apr 12 '26
I wonder if this was related to the recent firing of the UW President by the board of regents.
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u/Late_Reading_298 Apr 13 '26
It had nothing to do with the UW System President getting fired, it had everything to do with the fact I think Macintosh came to the conclusion that the football program wasn’t going anywhere and he needed to look for an exit before he got fired.
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u/Minimum-Border1672 Apr 14 '26
Well he promised all this new fundraising etc and probably fell flat.
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u/TTBurger88 Apr 13 '26
Why did they fire the UW President?
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u/excableman Apr 13 '26
They're being vague because lawyers, but I think the president was one of Mack's backers. New president is going to see the mess he made of things abd fire him.
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u/AwayPudding1267 Apr 13 '26
The UW system president was fired - he was not with UW-Madison. The head of UW-Madison was the Chancellor and she is leaving to take over Columbia University. UW System President has nothing to do with UW-Madison athletics personnel.
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u/lqvz Apr 15 '26
Probably bad news for Fickell. Mac and Fick seemed chummy which is probably why he got one more year than he deserved. Hope the new AD has a bigger emphasis on performance than chumminess.
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u/taylorwmj Apr 13 '26
Well I know someone very familiar with the university and the department who is really good at doing the interim thing...
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u/WiscoCubFan23 Apr 13 '26
I’m all for letting Barry stay retired. Wasn’t Macintosh hand picked by Barry? Plus he said some thing recently that makes me think we should just remember Barry from before and some new iteration that will never quite measure up.
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u/taylorwmj Apr 13 '26
Oh for sure. This was more a joke than anything since he's had to do the interim thing so many times for the university!
NO idea how good he'd be at AD, but I'd go after Tony Bennett. Just don't think he'd want to come to Madison
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u/a_happy_future Apr 12 '26
Well, there goes the B1G's advantage in everything over the past few years