Following an underwhelming 2-3 start to the season, University of Wisconsin Athletic Director Chris McIntosh made the difficult choice to move on from head coach Paul Chryst – naming defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
Wisconsin AD Chris McIntosh has largely sidestepped why he fired Paul Chryst. He did, however, give a little insight when asked why he felt the need to make a move now; he had this to say:
“The expectations of our program at Wisconsin are to win championships,” said McIntosh. “I felt that it was the right time to make a change to pursue those.”
"The expectations of our program at Wisconsin are to win championships."
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 3, 2022
Chris McIntosh discusses decision to replace Paul Chryst.
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Although Wisconsin has won three Big Ten West titles during Chryst’s tenure (2016, 2017, 2019), the Badgers failed to win a B1G Championship and haven’t won the conference title since 2012.
This move, while risky, signals the department’s desire to reinvigorate the program and help it reach new heights.
While we may never know the actual reason, this statement at least offered a potential explanation. UW desires to become an upper echelon program, and McIntosh didn’t feel like the Badgers would be able to accomplish that with Chryst at the helm.
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