Chris McIntosh on Jim Leonhard: This program owes him gratitude

As Wisconsin headed into its regular-season finale against Minnesota, all signs pointed toward the Badgers removing the interim tag from interim head coach Jim Leonhard to give him the full-time job. Then, the Badgers stunned the college football world by hiring Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell, meaning UW athletic director Chris McIntosh opted to take a big swing rather than keep Leonhard at the helm.

That doesn’t mean Leonhard did a bad job leading the program after Paul Chryst’s firing. Wisconsin went 4-2 under his watch. McIntosh made sure to acknowledge his performance in the interim role during Monday’s press conference, introducing Fickell.

“Obviously, Jimmy, first and foremost, did an incredible job for the program,” McIntosh said. “Stepped into a circumstance that was incredibly difficult and over-delivered. There’s been a lot spoke about wins and losses. I just want to be clear, that’s not at all what it was about. Jim’s ability to step into the program after an incredibly difficult transition and inspire this team to play with passion and with heart the way they did throughout the season was incredible and we owe him for that. … He’s part of the DNA of this program. Gave him strong consideration, very strong consideration.

“But as the process went along and as we got more comfortable with what opportunities may exist in terms of leadership for the program and as Luke and I spent more time together and got to understand each other more, got to build the beginning of a relationship … it became evident that Luke and his experience and his belief system and his approach, his process, which was proven and does align with what we believe here was the way that I felt we should go and was the way that I felt best positioned our program for long-term success.”

Chris McIntosh on making difficult decisions this year: ‘I have teammates on this staff’

McIntosh played football at Wisconsin from 1996-99 and wound up becoming a first-round NFL Draft pick. In fact, he played with some of the coaches on the staff this year, which he said made tough decisions even harder.

He acknowledged that when he met with the players Sunday night regarding Fickell’s hiring.

“I have teammates on this staff,” McIntosh said. “It’s not lost upon me the impact that that has on those families. Perhaps the most difficult part of this process has been the hardship that it has created for the kids that I care about and love so much that I tried to support in my time here and as I think about what my experience was as a football player here, as a student-athlete here in this program, the experience that these kids on this team had this year isn’t one that I would wish on anyone. It’s extremely difficult, and that’s why I said early how proud I am of the approach they took.

“When we met with them last night, I recognized and I apologized for the decision that I have made that have contributed to the challenges of this season. That just can’t be overlooked. It’s been the hardest part for me and it’s clearly been hard on these players, on these student-athletes. Those factors clearly are applied to internal choice. I felt it was my responsibility to find the best leader for this program in the long-term. Usually, and in this case, an internal choice understands the culture, understands what the DNA of this place is. That’s usually a head start, that’s usually a big asset.”