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.
Shawn Eichorst wasn’t far during the origin of University of Wisconsin men’s basketball coach Greg Gard’s coaching journey. The new Badgers athletic director graduated from UW-Whitewater in 1990 — three years before Gard joined Bo Ryan’s staff at UW-Platteville while still a student in 1993. In some respects, they just missed each other: Eichorst’s first major athletic administration role as the Director of Athletics at UW-Whitewater in 1999 was Gard’s first year with Ryan at Milwaukee.
Bricks that held an emotional connection with some University of Wisconsin fans are out of storage and going back into the ground around Camp Randall Stadium.
A new walkway at Gate 1 leading into Kellner Hall at the stadium’s southeast corner is the site the University of Wisconsin athletic department chose for the relocated brick walk.
University of Wisconsin athletic director Shawn Eichorst is starting with a slightly more lucrative contract than his predecessor, and it includes pay increases and potential incentives that could make it even more lucrative.
Eichorst’s five-year contract has an initial base salary of $1.6 million for 2026-27, and that is set to increase by $50,000 in each year, according to his contract obtained by the Journal Sentinel via an open records request.
As college athletics enters a new era, programs across the country have spent years learning through trial and error how to succeed in a rapidly changing landscape.
Some institutions have found success. Others are still searching for the right approach. At Wisconsin, that challenge now falls to Shawn Eichorst, a Wisconsin native with deep ties to the state and the University of Wisconsin.
Wisconsin athletic director Shawn Eichorst hasn’t set specific expectations for the Badgers football program this season yet but admitted coach Luke Fickell checks a couple of boxes.
The long-awaited finale of the University of Wisconsin football team’s series against Notre Dame will feature special uniforms.
Wisconsin will wear a red jersey and pants combination that is darker than its usual cardinal, with larger, silver, drop-shadowed numbers on the front and back, when it takes on the Irish at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 6 at Lambeau Field. The Badgers also will wear a red helmet with a silver motion W decal. Under Armour, the apparel sponsor for both Wisconsin and Notre Dame, also crafted a uniform for the Fighting Irish. The game will be televised on NBC.
When Chris McIntosh was athletic director, the University of Wisconsin started limiting the vacation payouts it owes coaches who elect to depart the school before the end of their contract.
Language to that end started appearing in contracts with newly hired coaches in 2025, a BadgerExtra analysis showed.
Wisconsin also asked coaches already on staff to amend their contracts to insert a sentence taking away pay for banked vacation time if the coach ended the agreement. Some signed the clause into their contracts in amendments with routine extensions given in 2025; some didn’t.
Chris Solinsky always wanted to get into coaching. But were there overt signs of that while he was becoming a five-time NCAA track champion at the University of Wisconsin?
“That’s an interesting question,” pondered Ed Nuttycombe, the UW track and field head coach during Solinsky’s sterling Hall of Fame running career with the Badgers.
Shawn Eichorst believes in the University of Wisconsin way. There should be no question about that after the event introducing him as the Badgers’ new athletic director or the news conference that followed it at Camp Randall Stadium.
In fact, Eichorst spent so much time talking about the importance of education that anyone who stumbled upon the Big Ten Network’s live coverage Tuesday afternoon may have thought they were watching UW-Madison’s new chancellor — not its new athletic director — holding court.
The University of Wisconsin’s search for its next athletic director had a $150,000 price tag.
That’s how much UW paid CSA Search and Consulting to assist with the athletic director search, which ended with the hire of Shawn Eichorst, according to the contract obtained by the Journal Sentinel via an open-records request.
The $150,000 that UW agreed to pay the North Carolina-based search firm is in addition to “pre-approved expenses for travel, lodging, meals, materials, printing and other reasonable out-of-pocket business expenses” for the search.
Football weekends are less about relaxing and more about studying for Nate Tice. The former University of Wisconsin quarterback analyzes the NFL and its draft in his writing for Yahoo Sports and his podcast, “Football 301.” College football typically takes a backseat — “They’re all just numbers to me until they’re draft eligible,” he said. Checking out a Badgers game is just about the only time he can put his fan hat on and consume a game that way, however that hasn’t been as fun lately.
Local leaders and UW-Madison alumni are demanding answers from UW-Madison’s athletic department after the university announced Shawn Eichorst as its new athletic director without interviewing at least two qualified Black candidates who applied for the position.
The University of Wisconsin announced Shawn Eichorst as its athletic director July 1 and among his first-day duties was to make a telephone call to Badgers football coach Luke Fickell.
Incoming Wisconsin athletic director Shawn Eichorst has gained experience seemingly everywhere since he last worked with the Badgers.
The University of Wisconsin’s athletic director hire is official.
Shawn Eichorst will start as Wisconsin’s athletic director with a higher annual salary than his predecessor.
On a hot and humid Wednesday afternoon, Barry Alvarez was at poolside reading one of his favorite authors, Lee Child, the creator of the Jack Reacher series of novels.
The shifting, expanding, competitive and sometimes confusing world of college sports finances is a place where people have to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
“Athletics has been like that over a number of decades,” Shawn Eichorst said. “There’s always been change.”
Shawn Eichorst is returning to his home state and getting another chance to run a Big Ten athletic department.
Wisconsin’s new athletic director says he’s learned quite a bit since the last time he was in a similar position.
The University of Wisconsin announced Shawn Eichorst as its athletic director July 1 and among his first-day duties was to make a telephone call to Badgers football coach Luke Fickell.
Shawn Eichorst’s Wisconsin ties run deep. The Lone Rock native played football at UW-Whitewater, got his law degree at Marquette, and served as UW-Whitewater’s Athletic Director before coming to UW-Madison from 2006-2011, where he served as Barry Alvarez’s right-hand man, climbing his way to being the Badgers deputy Athletic Director.
UW-Madison has a new director of athletics, and he’s a son of America’s Dairyland.
UW-Madison interim Chancellor Eric Wilcots announced Wednesday that Shawn Eichorst will lead the program moving forward. Eichorst, who was raised in Lone Rock and graduated from UW-Whitewater, was previously the Deputy Athletic Director and Chief Operating Officer at the University of Texas.
Shawn Eichorst was named University of Wisconsin-Madison’s director of athletics, interim Chancellor Eric M. Wilcots announced Wednesday.
Shawn Eichorst has officially been named the Badgers’ next athletic director. UW-Madison interim Chancellor Eric M. Wilcots announced the hiring of Eichorst on Wednesday.
The Urban League of Greater Madison is requesting a formal review of the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s hiring process for its athletic director position, citing concerns about whether the search followed established policies.
University of Wisconsin-Madison Interim Chancellor Eric Wilcots announced July 1 that he appointed Shawn Eichorst to serve as the next athletic director for the Badgers – the first decision in his time as chancellor.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison has named a new leader for Badgers athletics.
Wisconsin native Shawn Eichorst has been appointed to serve as the university’s new athletic director, interim Chancellor Eric Wilcots announced Wednesday.
It’s not easy for someone to make a great first impression in a virtual setting, so it’s only fair to cut Shawn Eichorst some slack for what technically served as his introductory news conference as the University of Wisconsin athletic director.
Shawn Eichorst presented a collaborative vision for the future of the University of Wisconsin athletic department in an effort to become its leader.
The leader of the Urban League of Greater Madison has called for a formal review of the University of Wisconsin’s athletic director hiring process to see if it was in line with policies and equal opportunity standards.
Shawn Eichorst will have a higher compensation level as University of Wisconsin athletic director than his predecessor did.
It’s about 45 miles from the Richland County village where Shawn Eichorst grew up to the office he’s about to take over at the University of Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin Badgers appear to be taking a familiar route with their athletic director hire.
Wisconsin is targeting former Nebraska and Miami athletic director Shawn Eichorst for its AD vacancy, according to a report by ESPN’s Pete Thamel. A university spokesman did not immediately comment on the report.
Wisconsin is targeting Shawn Eichorst as the school’s next athletic director, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Hall of Fame basketball coach Bo Ryan had an impressive run of athletic department administrators who oversaw his University of Wisconsin program.
One of them was Shawn Eichorst.
The University of Wisconsin is working on hiring Shawn Eichorst as its next athletic director, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Tuesday.
It’s really important for a columnist to have a strong opinion on a big news event, but you deserve honesty more than some contrived take.
So here it goes: Truth is, I have no idea how to feel about UW-Madison interim chancellor Eric Wilcots apparently choosing Shawn Eichorst to be the school’s next athletic director.
Culver’s has become the first jersey patch sponsor for Wisconsin football, men’s basketball and men’s hockey, Wisconsin Athletics announced Tuesday morning.
The Wisconsin Badgers appear to be taking a familiar route with their athletic director hire.
Wisconsin is targeting former Nebraska and Miami athletic director Shawn Eichorst for its AD vacancy, according to a report by ESPN’s Pete Thamel. A university spokesman did not immediately respond to the report.
Craig Culver said he can’t guarantee more wins for the University of Wisconsin football team now that it’ll be wearing the logo of the restaurant chain bearing his family’s name on its uniforms.
Chris Clark is retiring after 32 years with the University of Wisconsin rowing programs.
Matthew Mors, like countless others who have recently departed college, had to figure out what he was going to do.
The former University of Wisconsin men’s basketball forward from Yankton, South Dakota, wasn’t with the Badgers very long. He never officially played in a game during his lone season with Badgers in 2021-22, and his four-year playing career with only one school, South Dakota State, ended this past March. So, Mors smiled when asked if he had expected to don the motion W logo — the one stitched to the left side of his gray polo at Wisconsin’s advanced camp June 18 — ever again.
Nick Peruzzi is stepping into an important role in acquiring and developing talent for the University of Wisconsin men’s hockey team.
The 100th anniversary of Breese Stevens Field has given pause to Otto Puls for reflection on its history, and his own with the Madison venue fronting East Washington Avenue.
Puls was his bat boy for games at Breese Stevens. In a 1954 Capital Times column, Cornelius wrote about Puls, who was then playing for the University of Wisconsin.
Chris Solinsky isn’t afraid of the competition his University of Wisconsin cross country and track and field teams are going to face, and he doesn’t want his athletes to be, either.
Take this interaction between the new Badgers director of cross country and track and field and his former boss at the NCAA Championships last week in Eugene, Oregon, as an example.
At the end of a 20-minute conversation, focused until then on Chris Borland deservedly going into the UW Athletic Hall of Fame, the questioning took an abrupt turn.
On August 15, 2025, five former University of Wisconsin women’s basketball players filed a federal lawsuit claiming they experienced psychological abuse and discrimination by former head coach Marisa Moseley. The suit also alleges the university failed to respond appropriately and includes claims of retaliation, emotional harm, and disability discrimination.
So much of rowing is working together as one, often when nobody is watching. As such, it’s a sport where it’s possible for stars to get overlooked.
All of those things serve as the backdrop to an idea that has been brewing inside the Wisconsin Rowing Stewards of 1874 for about a year: The creation of the Wisconsin Rowing Hall of Fame.
The winningest NCAA women’s hockey coach no longer is the highest paid in the sport.
Temporarily, at least.
‘Had to pinch myself’: Badgers great discusses dream year at AmFam Championship
The University of Wisconsin’s Mark Johnson in March became the first to 700 women’s hockey wins and the first in college hockey to win nine NCAA championships.
A game-changing administrative catalyst in the University of Wisconsin athletic department and football turnaround of the ‘90s has some thoughts on today’s challenges.
The ongoing chaos in the present college model holds some personal intrigue and piqued the curiosity of Al Fish, one of 12 inductees to the 2026 UW Athletics Hall of Fame.
The University of Wisconsin football team was falling behind its Big Ten peers. It needed a better place to practice when weather wasn’t cooperating.
The mid-1980s plan to solve that problem initially was to install a translucent dome over the Camp Randall Stadium field for the offseason. The Athletic Board got on board — briefly, anyway.
Janet (Huff) Dyer followed her sister to the University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team. Now she’s following her into the Badgers’ hall of fame.
Badgers star back leads Wisconsin’s 2026 hall of fame class
“It was definitely surprising,” Dyer said. “I never expected it. But it was a very important moment for me.”
Brian Posick hasn’t forgotten his first Madison Sports Hall of Fame banquet. It was 30 years ago, and the memory is still fresh.
Former University of Wisconsin sports information director Jim Mott was among the four inductees in 1996, and Posick was drawn to the event because “I admired him.”
Posick was subsequently hooked. “I wanted to see what it was all about,” he said, “and I’ve been there ever since handing out individual awards, whatever they may be.”
This topic, admittedly, is well down the list of ways the transfer portal complicates college sports.
But it’s on there somewhere and entered my mind last week when the UW Athletic Hall of Fame class of 2026 was unveiled.
Former University of Wisconsin men’s basketball forward Sam Dekker decided to enter coaching after an 11-year professional basketball career, joining the South Carolina men’s basketball staff in May.
Last week, he discussed the excitement of joining his former assistant coach at Wisconsin, Lamont Paris, and the difficulty of leaving the playing chapter of his career behind him.
In their latest attempt to get the program back on track, the Wisconsin Badgersannounced the football program’s next general manager.
According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Wisconsin hired longtime NFL personnel executive Morocco Brown.
When Julian Walters was playing professional basketball in Europe, he thought he had the next decade of his life planned out. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and his career abruptly came to a halt.
“You have this idea in your head of how your life is going to go,” he said. “I wasn’t quite ready to not play basketball yet.”
University of Wisconsin Interim Director of Athletics Marcus Sedberry announced Thursday that 12 standout athletes and staff members will be inducted into the UW Athletic Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026.
Sedberry revealed the class inside Victory Hall at Camp Randall Stadium. The group will be inducted during Hall of Fame weekend on Sept. 18-19, and will be honored at Camp Randall during Wisconsin football’s game vs. Eastern Michigan on Sept. 19 (11:30 a.m. CT).
Speaking Thursday morning to a meeting of downtown business leaders, UW-Madison interim athletic director Marcus Sedberry said he anticipates the new director will be named before the Badgers football season begins in September.
“My estimation is before football season, there will be some type of announcement of who the next athletic director will be,” Sedberry said at a Downtown Madison Inc. breakfast event held at the Edgewater Hotel.
