Barry Alvarez didn’t waste any time making his feelings clear about Wisconsin’s hire of Shawn Eichorst.
The former Badgers athletic director and longtime standard-bearer for the program gave Eichorst a strong public endorsement after Wisconsin turned to him to replace departed athletic director Chris McIntosh. Alvarez, who once had Eichorst working as a deputy athletic director, said on ESPN Milwaukee, "I don't know where you could've found a better person for that position."
That kind of reaction carries weight in Madison. Alvarez’s name still looms large over Wisconsin athletics, and Eichorst’s path back to the school runs straight through that old Alvarez connection. He worked under Alvarez before taking a winding route through college athletics and eventually landing back with the Badgers.
Alvarez framed Eichorst’s journey as one that added value, not baggage. He pointed to Eichorst’s time at Wisconsin and Texas as meaningful, and even his stint at Nebraska - "even though it didn't work out," - as part of the growth that helped shape him into a stronger athletic director.
That’s where the divide around the hire comes into focus. On one side are the people who see Eichorst’s Texas experience and think Wisconsin is getting someone who understands the modern college sports machine.
They point to fundraising, new systems, the move into a pay-for-play reality with student athletes, and his role in helping Texas transition from the Big 12 to the SEC. From that angle, Eichorst looks like exactly the kind of administrator Wisconsin needs after McIntosh.
On the other side are the skeptics who can’t get past Nebraska. They see a failed run in an athletic director chair, one that ended with Eichorst being fired after what they view as damage to the football program. That criticism isn’t baseless, and the source of the concern is obvious.
Alvarez, though, sounds firmly in the optimistic camp. He sees the Texas and Wisconsin background as the right fit for where Badger athletics are now, and he treats Nebraska less as a fatal flaw than as a lesson Eichorst had to learn.
For Wisconsin fans, that endorsement matters. Alvarez wasn’t part of the hiring process, but his approval still lands like a final stamp. And after the McIntosh era fell short, there’s no one with a better feel for what the Wisconsin athletic director job demands than Barry Alvarez.
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