Now that Wisconsin has a brand-new athletic director, it's time to start demanding things of him. Isn't that the right of fans? Sure is, and there's a good, hefty list of things fans would love to see him prioritize for the Badgers. Of course, fixing football is at the top of the list. Doing whatever he can to make sure that the product doesn't suck any more, whether it's more money or a better coaching staff, that simply has to be fixed.
That's on the top of most fans' wish lists. Yet, if we throw football out the window and leave that in the "of course" category. Here are three MUST priorities for Shawn Eichorst as he takes the reins of the athletic department.
1. Fundraise like crazy
Chris McIntosh seemed to shy away from fundraising, or at least take the easy way out. He had big donors, but only ones that seemed to fall in his lap. McIntosh was criticized for not widening the donor pool, and loud voices like Big Cat from Barstool even said that they were never contacted about helping with Wisconsin donations.
Eichorst has to get that right and has to prioritize increasing the revenue so all the sports can succeed. Wisconsin should be at the top of the Big Ten in all athletics, and fundraising is going to be a huge part of that.
Funding should increase for all the sports, but it seems significantly weaker than the Big Ten pack in things like football and basketball. Imagine if Eichorst could get Greg Gard some more money to add a bit more talent.
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2. Bring baseball back
If there's a consistent message that we hear from other Wisconsin fans, especially during the spring, it's "WISCONSIN SHOULD HAVE BASEBALL." Eichorst would immediately endear himself to a lot of Badger fans if he could bring baseball back to the University of Wisconsin. It's been gone since the early 1990s, and it's time to bring it back.
Wisconsin is the only Big Ten team without a baseball program. A big reason is Title IX, but every other program has figured that out; it's time for Wisconsin to follow suit. Eichorst HAS TO bring back Badger baseball.
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3. Modernize the front office
This seemed to be a major reason that Eichorst was hired. In fact, it was a running theme throughout the press release of his hiring. He also spent a ton of time since 2018 doing this exact thing at the University of Texas, even helping them transition from the Big 12 to the SEC, helping increase NIL, and putting together a top-tier SEC front office.
Eichorst has a ton of experience in this exact arena with a program that basically led the way in play-for-pay in athletics. Texas has been one of the top NIL spenders in football, and from the contracts to the structure of the office, Eichorst was part of it all. He now needs to implement all that success at Wisconsin, and then some.
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