Wisconsin football sanctioned for violating recruiting rules

An early jump on football recruiting in the spring of 2023 will cost the University of Wisconsin $25,000 and other penalties.

Nine members of coach Luke Fickell’s staff at that time violated a since-changed NCAA rule by making phone calls to recruits before the recruiting calendar allowed them to be made, according to the NCAA’s investigation into what it deemed a Level II violation. The NCAA’s violation structure lists a Level II infraction as involving significant breaches of conduct that “provide or are intended to provide more than a minimal but less than a substantial or extensive recruiting, competitive or other advantage.”

The staff members made 139 calls to 48 recruits that violated recruiting rules. The staff placed 117 calls before the first day such calls were allowed, and 22 calls weren’t permitted because a permissible call to that recruit already had been made between April 15 and May 31, 2023. “The vast majority” of these calls would’ve been permissible under the current rules governing calls to recruits, which went into effect Aug. 1, 2023, according to the case report.

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Fickell and outside linebackers coach/special teams coordinator Matt Mitchell will not be permitted to contact high school recruits from Sunday to June 21 as part of the penalties, and the program self-imposed restrictions on communications and recruiting evaluation days in the 2023-24 academic year. The program is on a one-year probation as well. Fickell made nine impermissible calls and Mitchell 19, all of which were placed before they were allowed.

Former Badgers defensive line coach Greg Scruggs has a one-year show-cause order and will be restricted from recruiting communication for two months and suspended one regular season game for his role. Scruggs left Wisconsin after the 2023 season for the same role at Michigan, but he resigned months later after being arrested for DUI. Scruggs made 71 of the impermissible calls, 55 of which were too early and 16 were calls after a permissible one.

Former Wisconsin director of player personnel Max Stienecker, who left the program this winter for a similar role at Southern Cal, also faces a one-year show-cause order and will be restricted from recruiting communications Sunday to June 21. Stienecker made 19 impermissible calls, 14 early and five after an allowed call.

Five other staff members not named in the report, including three assistant coaches, a recruiting staff member and a scouting staff member, combined to make 21 early calls to recruits.

“Wisconsin athletics is deeply committed to maintaining the highest level of integrity and holding ourselves accountable,” the department said in a statement. “We believe in doing things the right way, no matter the consequences.

Colten Bartholomew | Wisconsin State Journal

“The issue at hand occurred two years ago under a rule that was actively being changed and no longer exists. We identified the mistake and were proactive in self-reporting and investigating and resolving the issue.” 

The penalties were negotiated in a settlement between the NCAA and Wisconsin after the university self-reported the calls as a Level III violation and the NCAA argued they rose to a Level II.

“The violations occurred as the result of a combination of factors, including the new football staff’s unfamiliarity with the school’s compliance processes for recruiting and logging calls,” the case report reads, “plus the involved coaches’ and staff members’ misunderstanding of rules pertaining to recruiting calls and/or incorrect belief that rules for recruiting calls had been lifted.”

Still, the three-member committee on infractions panel judged that “persons of authority condoned, participated in or negligently disregarded the violation or related wrongful conduct.”

This was Wisconsin’s first violation deemed major by the NCAA since 2001, when the athletic department was ruled to have violated bylaws on extra benefits for athletes. That case involved impermissible lines of credit and discounts at The Shoe Box in Black Earth.

Wisconsin’s prompt self-reporting of the violations, self-imposed penalties, absence of major violations in the past 10 years and history of reporting Level III and secondary violations were mitigating factors in the settlement of penalties, per the report.

Get to know members of Wisconsin football’s 2026 recruiting class

Note: A camp and multiple visits in summer 2024 led to Novak becoming the first offensive lineman in the class. 

Note: Bardo’s Hudl page lists that he ran a 4.49-second 40-yard dash as a junior. 

Note: Eloms has the versatility to play multiple cornerback positions and chose Wisconsin over an offer from home-state Purdue.

Note: Hopkins is the kind of big-armed passer with a mobility threat that the Badgers are targeting in their new offense. 

Note: Cochrane was the first offensive lineman to whom position coach AJ Blazek extended a scholarship offer after taking the job at Wisconsin. 

Note: Reeder plays all over the box at the prep level, but Wisconsin coaches see him fitting as an inside linebacker in Madison. 

Note: Scott became the first commit off of the Badgers first major official visit weekend of the summer.