Jack Del Rio of Wisconsin was arrested and charged with OWI

Former NFL head coach Jack Del Rio will resign from his position on the Wisconsin football team after he was arrested early Friday for driving a vehicle while intoxicated.

Del Rio, who joined the Badgers as a senior adviser in August, allegedly crashed his vehicle into a street sign, crashed through a fence and came to rest in a yard, according to a Madison (Wis.) police incident report.

“He’s going to move on and step back and move on,” Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell said during a news conference Monday. “But it is a difficult situation, decisions for which we must all be able to take full responsibility. So that’s what Jack is going to do and we’re going to keep moving forward.

“We still have a few weeks left in the season, there are a lot of things we have to keep fighting for and no one wants to take that away from us, whether it’s me or Jack or anyone in our football program. We’ll move on from that.”

According to multiple reports, officers were pointed to the 61-year-old Del Rio by witnesses, noting that the former Raiders coach left the area and “showed signs of impairment.”

According to ESPN, Del Rio admitted to driving the vehicle and was arrested for OWI for the first time.

The University of Wisconsin addressed the matter in a statement before Fickell’s announcement.

“Wisconsin Athletics is aware of the incident involving football staff member Jack Del Rio,” the statement said. “We take such matters very seriously and continue to gather information.”

Del Rio joined Fickell’s team in August as a senior advisor after spending nearly 35 years in the NFL as a player and coach.

A former linebacker for USC, Del Rio spent time with the Saints, Chiefs, Cowboys, Vikings and Dolphins during his playing days from the 1980s to the mid-1990s.

He began his coaching career with the Saints in 1997 as an assistant strength coach.

Del Rio later led the Jaguars as head coach from 2003 to 2011. He led the Raiders from 2015 to 2017.

His most recent NFL stop was with the Commanders, where he served as defensive coordinator from 2020 to 2023.

Del Rio and Fickell’s paths first crossed in New Orleans when Del Rio was a strength coach.

The Badgers, coming off their bye week, face No. 1 Oregon on Saturday.