MADISON – Shawn Eichorst and Luke Fickell are still getting to know each other, but a couple of things stand out to Wisconsin’s football coach about the new athletic director.
“Since the time he’s walked in, since the time I talked to him on the phone, since the time I met with him, there’s a sincerity, there’s a authenticity that I would say is really easy to figure out,” Fickell said July 16.
Eichorst officially began his tenure as athletic director July 13, but he has been working the phones or meeting with UW coaches in person since the university announced his hire July 1.
Eichorst spoke with Fickell that day. He has also had a more extensive conversation with the coach in person though the discussion wasn’t focused on the football program.
The two had never met, but they have common colleagues. They two also share common ground on the role education must continue to have in college athletics.
“I met with him for an hour and a half,” Fickell said, “and I don’t think we talked once about the landscape of college football or where our program is or some of the things that we’ve gone through over the last couple of years,”
Those conversations will come. Right now Eichorst is gaining a grasp of how each of the department’s programs operate.
“My goal and responsibility is to be supportive,” Eichorst said July 8. “And in order to be supportive, I’ve really got to understand more about how it is going and what it is that we’re doing to help and all those other sorts of things.”
Wisconsin is 17-21 during Fickell’s three seasons with a 4-8 mark in 2025 that was the program’s second straight losing season.
Last fall former athletic director Chris McIntosh pledged more resources to the program. The support helped the Badgers upgrade their high school and transfer portal recruiting as well as make additions to their staff.
But McIntosh’s depature in April created a domino effect that directly affected the football program. Marcus Sedberry gave up his role as football general manager to serve as interim athletic director and pursue the permanent AD position. That led to the hire of a new GM, Morocco Brown.
“It was a hard period here with a lot of people, not just me, not just us,” Fickell said. “We had to go about our business and were busy as hell. … Athletics doesn’t slow down regardless of what’s going on.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UW’s Luke Fickell impressed with sincerity, authenticity of AD Shawn Eichorst
Reporting by Mark Stewart, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Mark Stewart, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
