Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell says 'it's not easy to lose a friend' after McIntosh's exit
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell acknowledged Tuesday he was disappointed about the departure of athletic director Chris McIntosh, but doesn't believe his friend leaving will have a major impact on his future with the Badgers. Fickell was going to have to start producing more victories regardless.
“I think the easiest thing for us right now is to understand you’ve got to win,” Fickell said after a morning practice. “We’re not beating around the bush. ” Fickell spoke one day after the announcement that McIntosh was leaving Wisconsin to take a newly created job as the Big Ten’s deputy commissioner for strategy.
McIntosh, who had been Wisconsin’s athletic director since the summer of 2021, hired Fickell and continued to back him as the Badgers went 9-15 over the last two seasons. Fickell said McIntosh had let him know “last week at some point in time” about the possibility of this move. Fickell added that “it’s not easy to lose a friend.
” “Anytime there are changes with people you know were in your corner, it’s always a little difficult, disappointing, whatever you want to say,” Fickell said. “But so is life. You’ve got to be able to move and continue to go on.
” Marcus Sedberry, who had been Wisconsin’s deputy athletic director/chief operating officer, is working as interim athletic director until a permanent successor for McIntosh is announced. Sedberry previously worked at Baylor, Arkansas and Central Florida as well as with the Philadelphia Eagles. “When you’ve been to other places and seen how things are done, you get a lot of experiences — good and bad — you take a lot of things in, you recognize how things are done,” Fickell said.