Latest news with #Stienecker
USA Today
06-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Wisconsin football top class of 2025 signee reacts to GM Max Stienecker leaving for USC
Wisconsin top class of 2025 signee Jaylen Williams captured the tone of many when he took to X to react to Tuesday's news that Badgers rising star general manager Max Stienecker was leaving for USC. The news, which came as a shock to many, is significant as Wisconsin looks to reestablish its position within the Big Ten. Stienecker is one of the fastest-rising names in the industry, and now is set to spearhead recruiting efforts for a Big Ten rival. Related: Six Wisconsin Badgers underclassmen we predict will break out in 2025 Wisconsin promoted Stienecker to general manager back in July 2024 after he spent one season as the program's player personnel director. Previously, he was the director of on-campus recruiting under Luke Fickell at Cincinnati -- he was one of many notable staffers to follow Fickell to Wisconsin in December of 2022. Stienecker delivered strong results leading Wisconsin's recruiting staff over the past two cycles. The Badgers finished the 2024 cycle with the nation's 23rd-ranked class, headlined by the program's first-ever blue-chip percentage of 50%. The program continued that momentum in 2025, finishing with the nation's No. 27-ranked class and No. 9 in the Big Ten. Williams is one of the group's headliners. The four-star defensive lineman flipped his commitment from Michigan late in the cycle, a significant recruiting win for Fickell, Stienecker and the rest of the Badgers staff. Williams finished as the third-highest-ranked player in the class, slotted by 247Sports as the No. 262 player in the country and No. 27 defensive lineman. His reaction, seen below, was likely shared by many when the news broke that Stienecker was leaving for a similar position at USC. Wisconsin has yet to hire Stienecker's replacement. The program is beginning to ramp up its efforts in the class of 2026, with the class of 2025 cycle now recently concluded. The Badgers would do extremely well to find a rising personnel director that matches Stienecker's success during his limited time with the program. Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion
New York Times
04-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Wisconsin football program loses GM Max Stienecker to USC
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin's football program is losing one of its most significant off-field staffers. General manager Max Stienecker has accepted a position within USC's recruiting department, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Athletic. FootballScoop first reported the news. Advertisement Stienecker, 24, was instrumental in helping build Wisconsin's last two recruiting classes under head coach Luke Fickell. Wisconsin's 2024 recruiting class set a program record with 11 four-star 247Sports Composite signees and was ranked No. 23 nationally — the second-best mark for the Badgers in the online ranking era. Wisconsin's 2025 class, which signed in December, ranks No. 26 in the country. Stienecker was part of a two-man team that followed Fickell from Cincinnati to Wisconsin in December 2022, alongside Pat Lambert, and formed the backbone of the Badgers' recruiting department. Lambert served as Wisconsin's director of recruiting, while Stienecker became the youngest director of player personnel in the Power 5. Lambert was considered the general manager of skill positions, and Stienecker was the GM of big skill, which meant he was in charge of running backs, tight ends and linebackers. Those two initially worked with current assistant offensive line coach Casey Rabach in the department.x Sam Lateju, a 2025 Badgers outside linebacker signee from The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, said many people assumed he committed to the Badgers in part so he could follow his former high school teammate, Raphael Dunn, a safety in the 2024 class. But Lateju credited Stienecker and referred to him as 'the cool older brother you hung out with.' 'It was not Raph,' Lateju said. 'Coach Max, he was always invested in whatever I was doing, even the little things. He always stayed in contact. I just talked to him like last weekend. He was one of the reasons that made it easy to fall in love with Madison. And his energy was unmatched. Out of every college that recruited me, I've never seen anyone that had his kind of energy.' Steinecker initially was interested in pursuing a coaching career and enrolled early at Cincinnati in the summer of 2018 to help with offseason football workouts while a student assistant for linebackers and special teams. He eventually began collaborating in the recruiting department with Lambert and then-Cincinnati recruiting director Chad Bowden. Stienecker earned a full-time job for Fickell right after graduation in 2021 working with Lambert as director of on-campus recruiting. Advertisement The move means Steinecker will now reunite with Bowden, who was named USC's recruiting director on Jan. 24 after working at Notre Dame for three seasons. Bowden appears to be building a powerhouse recruiting department, having already brought in former Illinois director of player personnel Dre Brown and former Notre Dame director of player personnel Zaire Turner this offseason. Brown will serve as executive director of scouting and personnel and Turner is the assistant athletic director of recruiting operations, while Stienecker is expected to be the executive director of personnel. Wisconsin still has a robust recruiting department that includes Lambert, Taylor Ewald (director of on-campus recruiting), Marisa Pavone (coordinator of recruiting operations), Jared Thompson (college scouting coordinator) and three assistant directors of player personnel — Zach Zilm, Izayah Green-May and Brandon Rose — among others. But filling Stienecker's role figures to be vital to continued recruiting success. Stienecker in 2022 was named to On3's 'rising star personnel staffers you need to know' and in 2023 was selected to 247Sports' 30 Under 30, which recognized the top young coaches and off-field staffers in college football. Fickell saw such great value in Steinecker's knowledge and enthusiasm that he promoted him at Wisconsin from player personnel director to general manager last summer.
USA Today
04-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
BREAKING: Wisconsin football star general manager hired away by Big Ten rival
BREAKING: Wisconsin football star general manager hired away by Big Ten rival Wisconsin football rising star general manager Max Stienecker has been hired away by the USC Trojans. The move was first reported by FootballScoop's John Brice, then confirmed by 247Sports' Matt Zenitz. The Badgers recently promoted Stienecker to GM in July 2024 after just one year with the program. He originally joined the Wisconsin staff as its player personnel director in January 2023, at the time becoming the youngest to hold the title in the sport's history (22 years old). He unsurprisingly landed on 247Sports' 30 Under 30 list following the promotion. The fast-rising assistant joined the Badgers after beginning his career at Cincinnati under Luke Fickell, most recently as its director of on-campus recruiting from 2021-22. Stienecker spearheaded Wisconsin's recruiting efforts over the last two-plus cycles. The Badgers finished the 2024 cycle with the nation's No. 23-ranked class and the program's first-ever blue-chip ratio of 50%. They followed that output with a strong class of 2025 cycle, finishing ranked No. 25 nationally and No. 8 in the Big Ten. Fickell, Stienecker and the rest of the Badgers recruiting department have undoubtedly raised the program's recruiting ceiling during their two-plus years with the program. Stienecker's loss is a significant one in that regard, especially with him moving to another Big Ten power. Brice reports that new USC general manager Chad Bowden is hiring the now-former Badger GM to be 'USC's executive director of personnel.' The Trojans are reworking their recruiting department after recently hiring Bowden away from Notre Dame. Wisconsin now has major shoes to fill with the class of 2026 recruiting cycle set to heat up. The program currently has one player committed in the class: three-star lineman Benjamin Novak. Badgers 2025 signee four-star Jaylen Williams captured the fanbase's tone after hearing the news: Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion
