EAST LANSING — Michigan State football will spend three years on probation, pay a fine and vacate all wins over a three-year period for recruiting violations that occurred under former coach Mel Tucker.
Those are the findings announced Wednesday by the university as part of a negotiated resolution with the NCAA and the Division I Committee on Infractions.
Michigan State will pay a fine of $30,000 plus 1.5 percent of the football budget and face recruiting restrictions due to rules broken by Tucker’s former general manager, Saeed Khalif, and his pass-rush specialist, Brandon Jordan.
Due to spending approximately $10,764 in impermissible benefits and using three unnamed ineligible players, the Spartans must vacate 14 total wins that occurred from 2022-24, which spanned the end of Tucker’s tenure and coach Jonathan Smith’s first season last year.
A Michigan State spokesman confirmed all the victories during those seasons will be vacated and none of the ineligible players are still with the program. The Spartans posted a losing record each of those years: 5-7 in 2022, 4-8 in 2023 and 5-7 last season.
“Today’s announcement brings closure to an NCAA investigation resulting from violations committed by a previous staff. Michigan State pursued a negotiated resolution to minimize the penalties and limit the possible impact on our current football student-athletes and staff, who were not involved in the violations. With this matter behind us, we are able to move forward, focusing on the present and future of Spartan football,” Michigan State president Kevin Guskiewicz and athletic director J Batt said in a joint statement.
“Michigan State athletics is committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and operating in compliance with NCAA rules. Our compliance systems worked as intended. Once Michigan State became aware of a level 3 violation, we self-reported and followed all appropriate protocols. This prompt self-disclosure and acceptance of responsibility for the violations mitigated the case and penalties, even as new violations and corroborating evidence were uncovered during the subsequent investigation.
“While we accept the NCAA’s findings and respect the process, we are disappointed in the prescribed penalty related to the vacation of records. We understand that the enforcement process follows established guidelines, but we also recognize the opportunity for continued modernization.”
Tucker, who was fired for cause in September 2023 for sexual harassment, was not involved in the recruiting violations and contested his responsibility through a separate NCAA hearing. However, the COI panel found he “followed an NFL model for his program, running all off-field operations through Khalif, his general manager. As a result, Tucker failed to adequately monitor his program. Additionally, multiple members of Tucker’s staff reported that he did not emphasize compliance, and they did not feel comfortable coming to him with concerns or potential violations.”
Tucker received a three-year show-cause order from the NCAA, which effectively prevents another school from hiring him. Khalif received a six-year show-cause order while Jordan’s is five years.
Michigan State’s recruiting restrictions as a result of the negotiated resolution are:
* Two fewer home game official visits for the 2025 season and one less in each of the next two years.
* The loss of 12 weeks of unofficial visits from 2025-27 with at least one week each year including a home game. (Michigan State already cut two weeks off that total this spring.)
* A total six-week ban on recruiting communications through the 2027 season.
* The loss of 30 total days of permissible recruiting person days through the 2027 season. (Michigan State reduced that by five days in the spring.)
* A one-week ban on off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations through the 2027 season.
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