MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh took a chair behind a podium in a room below Camp Randall Stadium and stared grimly out as he sat next to acting football coach Jim Leonhard. As McIntosh began his opening remarks at a quickly organized press conference on Sunday evening, he made it clear that his decision to fire Paul Chryst earlier in the day was one that came from thought and understanding. depths of where Wisconsin was and where he wanted it. go.
“I’m tasked with making tough decisions about the future and direction of this program,” McIntosh said. “And I felt at that moment that a change was necessary.”
When Wisconsin played its first game of the season 29 days ago, this whole scene seemed unthinkable. Even two days ago, there were many doubts that McIntosh would make a mid-season change to a program that had been among the most stable in the country for so long and hadn’t fired a coach since. the departure of Don Morton in 1989.
But a 34-10 home loss to Illinois on Saturday was the final straw for the Chryst era. McIntosh acted quickly after Wisconsin opened the season 2-3 with losses to all three Power 5 programs he played in. He kept his answers tight and provided little explanation of the specific factors that led to the change, citing only that it was not a game-by-game decision but rather one “based on where we are as a program. .