The Badgers hired a new Director of Player Personnel over the weekend.
The Wisconsin Badgers have hired North Texas Director of Player Personnel Ethan Russo to the same role, according to several reports on Saturday.
Wisconsin had been searching for a top recruiter to replace former General Manager Max Stienecker, who was hired to an executive role for the USC Trojans earlier this offseason.
Stienecker had been the leader of a strong Badgers personnel department, initially coming along as the Director of Player Personnel before being promoted to General Manager last offseason. His departure paved the way for Wisconsin to promote Deputy Athletic Director and Chief Operating Officer Marcus Sedberry to GM.
But, with that move, Wisconsin was still looking for a big addition to their personnel department on the recruiting side, and they got that on Saturday with the hire of Russo.
Russo joined North Texas in 2023 as an Assistant Director of Player Personnel and was promoted to the Director of Player Personnel last offseason.
Prior to North Texas, he was the Director of Player Personnel at UNLV in 2022, while working as an Assistant Director of Player Personnel and recruiting assistant at Utah before that from 2019-22.
Russo has worked up the ranks in college football, and will now join a personnel department at Wisconsin that includes Director of Scouting Pat Lambert, as well as a number of up-and-coming assistants, including Assistant Directors of Player Personnel Zach Zilm and Brandon Rose.