Wisconsin's outreach was horrible. If you look at the number of players being offered, with Leonhard being part of the team, it wasn't that often. Most of it was done by others. Jimmy was more involved when they came for visits. The problem really was that the recruiting group was destroyed by Chryst. It came to light when Saeed Khalif left the Badgers for Michigan State, with the Player Personnel title, and a raise from $100k to $150k. To put it bluntly, the Badgers are cheap!
The entire budget for recruiting was so tight that Saeed decided it wasn't worth it, and said so in an interview not long after joining MSU. He felt that they weren't reaching out.
After he left, Chryst just handed it off to one of his coaches and walked away. They did nothing. They spent nothing. They worked the phones, and all recruiting was pretty much done with driving distance of Madison, where the only cost was the gas bill, using University vehicles. In fact, the entire amount spent by the Badgers in football recruiting in 2020 was less than 10% of what the University of Texas spent on one weekend for 8 guys they were trying to lure into their program. That's how bad it was.
No doubt, Fickell came in with knowledge that wasn't going to be the case for them. It's already showing.
As for Jimmy, he was hamstrung by the restrictions that existed. Was it Chryst who was tight? Was it Alvarez? Was it above them? I don't know, but I do know it was unacceptable. It was part of a culture that thought you just recruited within 300 miles of Madison. Even though that's essential, you still need to reach out to get the very best. You just fight hard to keep those kids you need who are within 300 miles. It's considered home turf.
Always remember that last year, they had a kid show up on campus for a visit, and none of the coaches even knew he was going to be there, even though it was an official visit.
