MADISON - Seated in front of reporters with a Wisconsin backdrop behind him, athletic director Chris McIntosh looked mentally exhausted.

He was speaking to the media Sunday night just hours after informing the team of the decision to move on from Paul Chryst, who was in his eighth season as head coach, and naming defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard the interim head coach.

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Throughout the press conference, McIntosh set out to thank Chryst for his time and what he did for the program. He explained the move and demonstrated a high level of confidence in Leonhard.

“It goes without saying today is an incredibly tough day for our program, specifically for the players on this team,” McIntosh said in his opening statement. “Going forward our priority is to support them, both immediately and as the season unfolds. Had to make an incredibly difficult decision today for a change in leadership of our football program.”

Multiple times, McIntosh called the decision a “difficult one,” one he doesn’t “take lightly” and called it a “tough day for the program” before reiterating he felt it was time for a change.

“Couldn’t have more respect for Coach Chryst, for who he is, for what he stands for, for his commitment to this place,” McIntosh said. “First and foremost to our student athletes, to our players. Nobody has their best interest at heart or cares about them like Coach Chryst. Couldn’t say anything better about Coach Chryst right now.

“I’m tasked with making difficult decisions about the future and of the direction of the program and I felt at this point in time that a change was needed.”

The move is stunning one from a program that hasn’t fired a head coach since 1989 when it let go of Don Morton. Just five games into the season and not even a month since Wisconsin kicked off on Sept. 3, Chryst was let go.

A little over 24 hours after Wisconsin failed to respond in the second half against Illinois and was shutout, 27-0, in the second half, McIntosh felt it was time. Including a blowout road loss to Ohio State, the two performances marked significant “milestones” in what has been a gradual downhill in trajectory for Wisconsin since the 2020 Rose Bowl.

“It’s not a game-by-game decision,” McIntosh clarified. “This is a decision that’s based on where we’re at as a program. I think it’s important to make a decision when I feel it’s the right time given the circumstances of where we’re at as a program. It’s a tough time to make a transition but I felt it was the right time.”

An unpredictable 2020 season that included multiple cancellations opened with a pair of beatdowns over Illinois and Michigan before the team dropped the next three. A season ago, the team opened 1-3 but would win seven straight before falling in the regular season finale to Minnesota. All of that combined with a 2-9 record against ranked opponents dating back to the 2019 Big Ten title game likely did Chryst in.

McIntosh was asked what specifically was lacking in the program but didn’t go into any detail, opting to relay those questions to Leonhard.

“I’ve made it a practice of not commenting on the specifics of our program or our personnel or the players on it or the coaches, or what happens and the details,” he said. “That’s the role of a coach, and so those are the kind of questions that going forward will be directed to Jimmy.

“I will just comment more holistically on where we’re at. The expectations of our program at Wisconsin are to win championships and I felt it was the right time to make a change to pursue those.”

Sunday afternoon, McIntosh, Leonhard and Chryst met with the players in a closed door meeting to break the news to the team.

Now the spotlight moves fully onto Leonhard, who has seemingly been the head coach “in waiting” since he guided multiple top five defenses. For the Wisconsin native who walked-on at UW and became an All-American before putting together a 10-year NFL career, it all comes full circle.

With seven games to go, the group will have to go 4-3 over the remaining slate of games to become bowl eligible and extend the program’s streak to 21 years.

"This place means a lot to me," Leonhard said. "I really felt like I grew up here. I’ve talked about this many times. I really became who I am at the University of Wisconsin and in this football program and around so many people that are still here today. So to have an opportunity to be in this position is not one I take lightly and very excited for.

“Obviously a very emotional day for myself, for our staff, for our players. We have a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Chryst and everything he’s done for this program. His family and this program mean everything to him and I think it’s my duty as a coach to get our players to rally behind and really fulfill everything he envisioned for this team which we think is still out there… This man hired me without zero coaching experience and named me his coordinator a year later, so it was a very emotional day for myself.”

On Twitter, multiple players -- including team leaders Braelon Allen and Nick Herbig - have been vocal in their support of Chryst. Herbig went as far as saying the season will be for their former head coach.

Now with five games behind them, the top challenge ahead of Leonhard will be handling the raw emotion that comes with a coaching change for everyone involved in the program.

“A majority of the players, a huge determining factor in coming to Wisconsin was Coach Chryst, so very shaken with the news,” he said. “ We understand that our five game resume is not what we wanted. We have not been playing to our capabilities. Even before this news there were some hard conversations that were had today between coaches, players, among the staff, on how do we get it corrected.

"So I think the emotions of being very open and real about where we are and what can we do to win this coming Saturday and the timeline of this obviously is unique stepping into this role. And just how that will shake up staff dynamics and understanding we have to compartmentalize our emotions in order to get our players the best opportunity this coming week, because that’s not getting moved. That’s going to be the biggest in the short term.”

With five days until the Badgers match up with Northwestern in Evanston, Leonhard won’t have much time to get his feet under him. After turning down multiple positions in favor of sticking at UW, he now gets his chance to lead the program.

“I think it’s my role to have the position of our program always on my mind,” McIntosh said. “I think we just reached the point where I felt today was the right time to make that decision. I mention this is not one I take lightly. It’s an incredibly tough day for us all but I’m optimistic today is the first day of the future of this program and the direction that we’ll take it.”

“Very mixed emotions at this point but I feel like I can take this opportunity and help this place grow and that’s why I came back a number of years ago and that’s why I haven’t left,” Leonhard later said. “That’s the mission that I want to continue forward with our guys and just getting them to understand the confidence, the trust that we have in this group of men that we will get this thing in the right direction and it’s going to happen sooner than later.”

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