BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Historically, the offensive line has been a part of the Wisconsin brand.
Chris McIntosh has sweat equity as one of the All-American lineman who made it happen.
Today, as a member of Barry Alvarez's senior staff, he's developing and protecting the brand.
"One thing we're extremely conscious of — what might be a lucrative financial partnership might not be a good brand partnership," said McIntosh, UW's Associate Athletic Director for Business Development.
"So for us, our brand — what it means to be a Badger — carries with it a set of values and beliefs and there's a way about it. We have a desire to seek out partners in which those values align."
Madison-based American Family Insurance's commitment and partnership with the school is a prime example.
"What I'm trying to say," said McIntosh, a native of Pewaukee, "is that a successful partnership is not only limited to the financial terms.
"We're looking for strategic partners — brand partners that lift each other up. Their brand complements ours and vice versa. That's a good part of my work."
As such, he's uncovering opportunities related to corporate development and partnerships.
"As well as that," said Alvarez, the Wisconsin athletic director, "we have him dealing with licensing and merchandising partnerships, along with a lot of external things."
To this end, McIntosh has worked closely with Walter Dickey, the deputy AD.
"That has been a really valuable experience for me," McIntosh said. "It has been a lot of fun and variety assisting with some other senior staff in a lot of what you witnessed the last month or so."
Of course, he was referencing UW's string of coaching hires, most notably in men's hockey.
"I've been trying to help — no pun intended — by doing the blocking," said McIntosh, a first-round draft pick of the Seattle Seahawks, "to make sure things can get done."
Along with exposing McIntosh to the different facets of the operation, the mechanics behind running an athletic department, it's obvious Alvarez has great confidence in his former team captain.
"He has his hands in a lot of things," Alvarez conceded before listing some qualities. "He's very bright. He thinks outside the box. He can express himself very well. And he has a passion for the UW.
"He does relate well to our athletes," Alvarez said of McIntosh, who turned 39 in February. "He's not somebody who has to read about it, because he has lived it and taken it to the next level.
"He also has been out in the private sector and he has had his own businesses. So he can relate in a lot of different ways to what we're doing here."
McIntosh loves challenges — best explaining his vision for reaching the mountain top.
You can take that literally since he has personally climbed Mount Rainier (14,417 feet), Mount Orizaba (18,491) and Mount McKinley (20,237). Denali is one of the Seven Summits.
One of the most ringing endorsement for McIntosh came from one of his former Badgers teammates, Ross Kolodziej, who's now the head strength and conditioning coach for football.
"What made him a great player," Kolodziej said, "continues to make him a great administrator, a great businessman, a great father and husband and a great person.
"Number one, he's a very smart guy. Number two, with his intelligence, he also has the ability to read the situation. He has great leadership skills and he does a great job with people."
Kolodziej was echoing some of the things that Alvarez had earlier said about McIntosh. But it was from a different working perspective within the walls of the department.
"It's cool to see his passion for the program and what this place means to him," Kolodziej said. "That the foundation of everything we learned and what was instilled in us as players has carried over."
McIntosh has just one regret from his playing days at Wisconsin. "When I was here," he said, "we didn't have a Student-Athlete Development program like we do today."
Bridget Woodruff is the director of the Student-Athlete Development team that is housed in the Fetzer Center. One of the interns is LaMar Campbell, a former defensive back and teammate of McIntosh's.
"Some of the work they do," McIntosh said, "is to help our student-athletes understand that the skills they're learning today are applicable to their careers tomorrow."
Reflecting on his own career, McIntosh played on two Rose Bowl teams in addition to what he achieved as an individual by making 50 starts and earning induction to the UW Athletic Hall of Fame.
"But there's a trap there," he cautioned, "because when the music ends, if that's what you believe is your identity, then what are you left with? It took me awhile to figure that out.
"While I was the captain of two Rose Bowl teams, that's not what I really was. What I became was someone who was capable of leading a team of people. I had developed leadership skills."
All those career starts, the most in school history, told him something else.
"I'm tough and dependable and I don't allow little things to get in the way of my goals," he said. "So that's a trait that I can take in life and do something with. It doesn't end when my eligibility ends.
"We now have a whole department of people, as part of the curriculum, to make sure that our kids from the day they get here to the day they leave realize some of the things they've gained.
"Through this process and experience," McIntosh concluded, "they're filling their toolbox with these kinds of tools that will serve them for the rest of their lives."
He's a great example.
