The Wisconsin Badgers are actively searching for their next Athletic Director following the departure of Chris McIntosh earlier this offseason.
McIntosh had been Wisconsin’s Athletic Director since 2022 and had been in the Badgers front office since 2014, but elected to resign from his post and accept a newly-created role at the Big Ten, where he’ll work directly under Commissioner Tony Petitti.
Earlier this week, 247Sports’s Jason Scheer had reported that Arizona Wildcats Athletic Director Desiree Reed-Francois was among the finalists for the vacancy.
“Sources indicate to WildcatAuthority.com that Arizona Athletic Director Desiree Reed-Francois is involved with the Wisconsin AD opening with the belief that she is in the final group of candidates,” Scheer wrote.
“In response to our report, Reed-Francois contacted the Arizona Daily Star saying that she was currently happy at Arizona. However, as stated in the article by Michael Lev, ‘She did not directly comment on whether she sought the Wisconsin job or is eyeing other opportunities.’”
In addition to reporting that Reed-Francois was a finalist, Scheer added that there’s a belief around that the Badgers are down to between three and five finalists for the job.
“The Wisconsin story was independently confirmed by multiple top level sources and each one described her positioning as within a final group of anywhere from three to five candidates,” Scheer added.
Scheer revealed that Reed-Francois has been actively looking to move on from Arizona, and now the Badgers job could be that next destination. But, it seems unlikely that Wisconsin will hire Reed-Francois.
“The general belief in the industry and within Arizona’s Athletic Department is that Reed-Francois is actively looking to move on, but the Wisconsin opening is as far as she has gotten. One source within the Arizona Athletic department told WildcatAuthority that it would be a surprise if Reed-Francois got the Wisconsin job due in large part to her current relationships within the department.”