Report: Wisconsin AD Alvarez to retire

Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez has decided to retire, ESPN's Adam Rittenberg reports.

He's expected to make an announcement in the coming weeks.

Alvarez has been the Badgers' athletic director since 2004. The 74-year-old previously coached the school's football team from 1990 to 2005, winning the Big Ten three times and posting a 118-73-4 record. Additionally, he went 1-1 as an interim head coach across two separate bowl games during the 2012 and 2014 seasons.

The two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year, who also led Wisconsin to three Rose Bowl wins, was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2010.

Wisconsin has made a combined 49 appearances in bowl games (26) and NCAA men's basketball tournaments (23) since 1993-94, the most in the country, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Jeff Potrykus.

Alvarez prefers deputy athletic director Chris McIntosh to replace him, sources told Potrykus.