The Wisconsin Badgers are on their way to finding a new athletic director after Chris McIntosh stepped down to take a position inside the Big Ten offices. He leaves a gaping hole in the department at a terrible time for the university. Sure, many fans are happy to see him go, considering what's happened in the department with funding and the football program. But that doesn't make the hole any smaller.
There's one name out there that the Wisconsin Badgers have to chase and target immediately. There's really only one slam dunk hire that can be made and would please the vast majority of Badger fans as well as help Wisconsin into the future. Go get Jamie Pollard from Iowa State. He's not only a fantastic athletic director, but he's also from Wisconsin and even worked in the University of Wisconsin athletic department at one point.
First, he's a proven program-builder who took over the Cyclones job in 2005 and, from an athletics department that was rocky in many spots and unstable in others, made Iowa State one of the best Big 12 programs across the board in Cyclones sports.
Jamie Pollard should come home to Wisconsin and be the next Badger AD
Iowa State's website says it this way, "Since his arrival in Ames, he has invigorated the Cyclone fan base, registered all-time program bests academically and athletically, and shattered attendance marks in the department’s five major sports."
Pollard showed up at Iowa State as the new athletic director after seven years working under Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin. He took what he learned and ran with it, becoming one of the top athletic directors in the country.
Why would he leave a job of 20 years? The opportunity to not only return home as a Wisconsin native but to be part of the Big Ten and in an athletic department he helped shape early in his career. As he's now in his 60s, it may not be a long-term solution, but that's not what Wisconsin needs anyway. The Badgers need someone to right the ship in funding and football, and help the programs that are excelling to keep excelling.
With the turmoil at the top of the food chain at Wisconsin, without a chancellor or president, a homerun hire is the move. Not someone looking to prove something, an AD who already has.