There's a major problem with the timing of Chris McIntosh's departure

Chris McIntosh has stepped down as the athletic director for the Wisconsin Badgers. He's off to become the deputy commissioner for strategy for the Big Ten. This came as a shock to many, and his timing couldn't have been worse for the school. In terms of the hiring process. Sure, some will point to the recent success of programs, the increased investment in football, and other factors as alarming regarding the timing. Yet, it's the hiring process that's alarming.

There is currently no chancellor for the school. Jenn Mnookin left for the top position at Columbia. There's also no president of the universities. That situation has its own drama. There becomes a legitimate question: Who is making this new athletic director hire?

The answer seems to be the interim chancellor and Marcus Seberry, who is the deputy athletic director. That's not ideal on both fronts.

Wisconsin has no one to hire the new athletic director and that's a serious problem

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It's a serious issue to have the interim "anything" in this hire. There is no skin in the game, there is no ownership in the process, and the hire could be doomed from the start thanks to the "interim" tag of the chancellor.

To make matters worse, the one person who has buy-in for this athletic department, Marcus Sedberry, is being asked to hire his boss. That's a weird situation to be in, and one that complicates the process. Also, add in the fact that he should be considered a candidate for the job, not the person making the hire.

Now, maybe he is just part of the advising process and will eventually submit his name in the process or bow out at a certain point, but either way, the hiring process is sticky at best. At the worst, it's going to be a complete mess and could set the athletic department up for major failure.

The one silver lining or hope that a Wisconsin fan can have is that maybe the interim goes out there and makes a homerun/safe hire to make the process smoother and less complicated. That would be big for Wisconsin.