Chris McIntosh has had deep ties to the Wisconsin Badgers

The abrupt departure of Chris McIntosh ended a relatively brief five-year tenure as University of Wisconsin athletics director and left another high-profile UW position in flux.

Here's a look back at McIntosh's lengthy history with the university, well before he became AD:

1994: Pewaukee standout heads to UW to play football

McIntosh's final year at Pewaukee High School was cut short in the third game of the season with ligament tears in his knee, but he had already secured a scholarship from Wisconsin. The 6-foot-7, 270-pounder in high school needed surgery, forcing him to also miss the wrestling season after he went 36-0 as a junior and won the WIAA Division 2 heavyweight title. He would redshirt in his first season in Madison.

1996-2000: Helping the Badgers make history on the field

McIntosh became a standout tackle for the Badgers, starting as a redshirt freshman in 1996. He was first-team All-Big Ten in his senior year and named the Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year. The Badgers won back-to-back Rose Bowls in 1999 and 2000, and McIntosh's four years of blocking helped running back Ron Dayne set the NCAA career rushing record. McIntosh played in 50 games.

2000: McIntosh becomes first-round NFL Draft pick

McIntosh was taken by the Seattle Seahawks with the 22nd overall pick in the first round of the NFL Draft. He'd go on to start 10 games as a rookie and play in 14 overall.

2001: McIntosh suffers a career-altering neck injury

He was limited in his second season, 2001, after sustaining a neck injury in training camp. The injury limited him to three starts and 10 games total. He retired from football in 2003.

2003-14: McIntosh explores business ventures

After not practicing for more than a year with the neck injury, McIntosh was cut by the Seahawks in July and retired from football. He moved into a series of business ventures, including real estate, though many focusing on wellness. McIntosh was a partner in a fitness and wellness center in Delafield from 2006 to 2011 and president of the Dirty Girl Mud Run from 2010 to 2014, which raised awareness of breast and ovarian cancer in young women.

2004: Barry Alvarez named UW athletics director

In April 2004, UW football coach Barry Alvarez became athletics director after Pat Richter retired. Alvarez would continue to serve in a dual role, coaching football through 2005 before becoming solely AD – not counting interim head-coaching appearances in 2012 and 2014.

2014: McIntosh begins working at University of Wisconsin

Not long after he was inducted into the UW Athletics Hall of Fame, McIntosh continued corresponding with Alvarez, who convinced him to move his family from Colorado to take a job at UW. In December, he became the director of business development at UW, where he worked to enhance the athletic department's relationship with business partners. In 2015, he was part of a team that met with Under Armour, leading to a 10-year agreement worth more than $100 million with the university.

In February 2016, he became the associate athletic director for business development, the first sign that he was shaping up to become Alvarez's successor. In July 2017, he was promoted to deputy athletics director, replacing Walter Dickey.

2021: Alvarez retires from athletic director job; McIntosh named successor

Alvarez first said in March that he was going to retire, then indicated July 1 would be his last day on the job. In June, McIntosh was announced as the successor, introduced in a ceremony at the Kohl Center that included several former McIntosh teammates like Dayne.

"Chris is a natural leader who loves the Badgers and cares about our student-athletes," chancellor Rebecca Blank said at the time. "He is uniquely positioned to continue our proud traditions of success on and off the field and doing things 'the right way.' Chris will build upon those traditions and has a strong vision for leading the program during a time of change in college athletics."

In December, the women's volleyball team won its first NCAA championship.

2022: McIntosh makes stunning coaching change in football program

Camp Randall Stadium underwent a renovation project that was ready in time for the start of the season, but the makeover apparently didn't stop there.

In October, following an ugly loss to Illinois, Wisconsin took the surprising step of firing football coach Paul Chryst in the middle of the season. Defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard took over in the interim and, though there was a good case for Leonhard to remain in that post full-time, McIntosh staged another surprise when he hired former Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell in December.

Wisconsin's new head football coach, Luke Fickell, right, is shown with athletic director Chris McIntosh at a news conference Monday, Nov. 28, 2022, at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. He was previously head coach for six seasons at Cincinnati.

2023: McIntosh makes change in hockey

After making the call to retain men's hockey coach Tony Granato after the 2022 season, McIntosh fired Granato the following year and replaced him with Mike Hastings, who had led Minnesota State to a national championship game.

The football team enjoyed a preseason of widespread buzz and intrigue under Fickell, but the results didn't match. The team finished 7-6 (5-4 in the Big Ten) and finished the year with a loss in the ReliaQuest Bowl. They haven't been back to a bowl game since.

The women's hockey team won its first national championship in the McIntosh era.

2024: Changes to buildings begin

With fundraising under way for a new practice facility, Wisconsin also began adding premium seating at the Kohl Center. The indoor facility gained official construction approval in February 2024. Camp Randall Stadium began serving alcohol in general seating for the first time, and McIntosh agreed to a five-year extension in July. The department received backlash when construction dug out and relocated donor-sponsored bricks, a detail that wasn't quickly communicated, leaving donors confused about their fate. Some feared they were going to be thrown away.

The football team failed to make a bowl game for the first time since 2001.

2025: A tumultuous year for UW athletics

McIntosh in March hired new women's basketball coach Robin Pingeton after Marisa Moseley resigned.

In August, five former UW women's basketball players filed a lawsuit against former Moseley, citing psychological abuse, believing the university didn't respond to their concerns.

The women's hockey team won its eighth national championship in program history and its fourth since 2019. The volleyball team went to its fifth Final Four in a seven-year span before losing to Kentucky in five sets in the semifinals.

The football team endured a brutal 4-8 season, its lowest win total since 1995, but McIntosh made it clear in November that Fickell would return in 2026 while pledging additional resources for football.

2026: McIntosh's abrupt departure

The indoor facility, the Kellner Family Athletic Facility, continued on track to partially open in summer 2026. Wisconsin lobbied for narrowly approved legislation providing $14.6 million in annual taxpayer support for athletic facility debt service and codifying NIL rules passed.

The women's hockey team, featuring four players who won gold medals in the 2026 Olympics with Team USA, won another national title. The men's hockey team appeared in the Frozen Four before losing to Denver in the national championship.

The men's basketball team's Sweet 16 drought continued for another year while women's basketball reached the WBIT semifinals in Pingeton's first season.

McIntosh announced April 13 that he was resigning immediately and taking a new role at the Big Ten office as deputy commissioner for strategy. It ended his five-year tenure as athletic director at his alma mater.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: A timeline of Chris McIntosh's ties at the University of Wisconsin