The Shawn Eichorst era is officially here.
As made official in his introductory press conference with the Wisconsin Badgers, Eichorst is officially back in his home state as UW’s next Athletic Director.
It took roughly two and a half months for Wisconsin to replace Chris McIntosh. Eichorst beat out interim AD Marcus Sedberry along with a few other notable candidates, but some thought this was a “safe” hire, even with Eichorst’s track record.
Eichorst has been building quite a name for himself at the University of Texas these past few years. Now, he’s ready to prove why he deserves a second chance, not only as an AD in the Big Ten, but also to prove just how loyal he is and how much passion he has for his home state.
Eichorst Praises Luke Fickell
While Wisconsin’s newest AD noted he hasn’t had extensive talks with the Badgers’ struggling football coach, he still had plenty of positive things to say about the man who made a name for himself at Cincinnati, “Obviously he’s won every place he’s been,”
“My expectation is more of me than him, meaning I need to pour into him, learn more about his program, how he has things set up, how his athletes are taken care of, how we’re supporting that endeavor. And then we can figure out, as we move along, what that might look like,” Eichorst said.
Badgers Fans, Buckle In
Eichorst continued, “Everybody looks at the end result of what we did at Texas. When we got there in 2018, we weren’t very good in a lot of areas. And that didn’t change overnight.”
This new hire could absolutely help get Wisconsin’s football program back on track, but rebuilding takes time. No matter how much money is available or what someone’s track record is, results don’t just change overnight, as Eichorst noted.
Eichorst’s Passion is Second to None
Nobody will work harder for Wisconsin athletics,” Eichorst said. “I love this state, and I love everything that it represents. The passion is there. You can see it. I don’t have to make it up. I’ve lived it. It’s in my heart.”
Swag?
One of the most notable quotes from Eichorst’s introductory press conference revolved around him using the word “swag.”
“There’s swag at Texas, right?” Eichorst mentioned. “There’s 30 million people in Texas. We’ve got swag, too, but we have a little humility with that deal. We need to get our shoulders up. We need to feel good about what it is that we’re doing.”
With just under six million people in Wisconsin, that’s a bit of a difference. Madison’s population is under 300,000, which is nothing compared to some of the cities in the state of Texas. Regardless, “swag” could be the name of the game, and it was one of the highlights of Eichorst’s presser.
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This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Biggest takeaways from Shawn Eichorst’s introductory press conference
Reporting by Jordon Lawrenz, Badgers Wire / Badgers Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jordon Lawrenz, Badgers Wire | USA TODAY Network
