NCAA and Michigan State reach negotiated resolution, including vacated wins, for recruiting violations under Mel Tucker

In collaboration with the NCAA and the Division I Committee on Infractions (COI), Michigan State Athletics reached a negotiated resolution regarding recruiting rules violations by former staff members within the MSU football program during the tenure of disgraced former head football coach Mel Tucker. On Wednesday, the COI released the details of the negotiated resolution, whic was approved on Sept. 25, 2025.

Former general manager Saeed Khalif and former pass rush specialist coach Brandon Jordan were also named in the negotiated resolution as "non-participating parties."

Michigan State self-reported violations and cooperated with the NCAA throughout the process. MSU also has had a new staff in place since late November of 2023 under current head coach Jonathan Smith. Despite all of this, MSU still faces severe punishments.

The parties agreed that "the former staff members arranged for and provided impermissible recruiting inducements and benefits and unofficial visit expenses, and engaged in impermissible contacts with prospective student-athletes."

As a result of the findings, Michigan State was given the following penalties:

• Three years of probation

• A financial penalty of $30,000 plus 1.5% of the budget for the football program

• Restrictions on official visits, unofficial visits, recruiting communication, recruiting-person days and off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations over the three-year probationary period

• Vacation of wins due to participation of three ineligible student-athletes

• Show-cause orders for former staff members

The show-cause penalties are for Tucker (three years), Khalif (six years) and Jordan (five years). None of those three individuals are currently employed by a NCAA member school.

Tucker was fired for cause on Sept. 27, 2023, following a suspension after being accused of sexually harassing Brenda Tracy, an anti-rape activist who was working as a vendor with Michigan State. Jordan left the Spartans in early March of 2023 to take a job in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks. MSU parted ways with Khalif in late March of 2023.

Perhaps the harshest penalty is the vacation of wins due to the participation of ineligible players. According to a Michigan State spokesperson, the Spartans will vacate all wins from 2022 through 2024. That is a total of 14 wins — five under Tucker in 2022, four combined under Tucker and interim head coach Harlon Barnett in 2023, and five under Smith in his first year at the helm in 2024. A program spokesperson also confirms that none of the ineligible athletes involved are part of MSU's 2025 roster.

According to the violation summary, Khalif and Jordan provided impermissible recruiting inducements to multiple prospects. Tucker was not involved in the recruiting violations, but was still found responsible despite trying to contest his own violation.

"Khalif and Jordan provided impermissible recruiting inducements to six prospects in connection with unofficial visits. The inducements primarily consisted of airfare and hotel lodging for the prospects and the individuals who traveled with them. Separate from the unofficial visit violations, Khalif also arranged and/or provided airfare for three prospects and their family members who were traveling to Michigan State for the prospects’ enrollment. The NR also included post-separation failure to cooperate violations for Jordan and Khalif. With respect to Tucker, the panel concluded via a written record hearing that he did not rebut the presumption of responsibility for his staff’s violations, and he was automatically responsible for the portion of the violations that occurred after January 1, 2023."

As for the restrictions on recruiting activities, an except from the summary is provided below:

"Three years of probation; a fine of $30,000, plus 1.5% of the football program budget; a reduction in football official visits by two home games during the 2025 football season and one home game during each of the 2026 and 2027 football seasons; a reduction in football unofficial visits by a total of 12 weeks during the 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 academic years, with at least one week each year coinciding with a home game; Michigan State previously self-imposed and is credited with a reduction of two weeks during spring 2025; a total six-week ban on recruiting communications in football during the 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 academic years; a reduction of permissible recruiting person days in football by a total of 30 days over the 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 academic years; Michigan State previously self-imposed and is credited with a reduction of five days in spring 2025; a one-week ban on off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations in football during each of the 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 academic years; and a vacation of team wins and records in which the ineligible student-athletes competed."

Michigan State President Kevin M. Guskiewicz and Vice President/Director of Athletics J Batt released the following statement regarding the NCAA investigation and negotiated resolution:

“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 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 was 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.”