MADISON – Marcus Sedberry was front and center for the University of Wisconsin athletic department for almost three months.
Tuesday July 7, he was back in a supporting role, but his impact as the department’s interim athletic director was noted as UW introduced Shawn Eichorst as its incoming athletic director.
“Marcus stepped in with really thoughtful leadership, really, really kind leadership, stand-up leadership of the department to keep the department moving forward and successful,” interim chancellor Eric Wilcots said.
Sedberry, Chris McIntosh’s deputy director, was a natural choice to take on the interim AD role after McIntosh resigned to take a position in the Big Ten office April 13. As interim AD, Sedberry not only kept the daily affairs of the department running and oversaw the hiring of Chris Solinsky as the director of track and field and cross country, but he also helped Wilcots, just weeks into his own interim role, get up to speed on some of the ins and outs of college sports.
“I’ve learned a lot from Marcus over the past few weeks that I’ve been in this role about the nature of college athletics these days,” Wilcots said. “In addition to all those other qualities, he’s actually a pretty darn good teacher and so I want to give him a lot of a lot of a lot of credit for that, just a really stand-up guy.”
After Sedberry and another Black candidate with UW ties, Northern Illinois athletic director Sean Frazier, did not receiving greater consideration for the permanent position, the Urban League of Greater Madison requested a review of the hiring process. The group wants to ensure UW’s establshed hiring policies, equal-opportunity standards and required search-and-screen procedures were followed.
Serving as interim AD provided Sedberry with his first chance to lead an athletic department, but it came with a cost. He had to relinquish his position as general manager for the football program, a position that was filled by Morocco Brown at the end of May.
Eichorst said he plans to rely on Sedberry and the rest of the athletic department administration during this transition period.
“My deal is in order for me to really get a good idea of what we’re doing, just keep doing what you’re doing. Keep the structure,” Eichorst said. “Make sure we’re taking care of our kids. Make sure we’re taking care of our coaches.
“And then that’s where I’ll learn more and we can decide as a management team where we want to go. But right now, I’m pleased with our team and I’m looking forward to learning from them as to what it is that we’re doing right now.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Sedberry shifts to different role after praise-worthy run as interim AD
Reporting by Mark Stewart, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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By Mark Stewart, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
