Wisconsin Football Faces Setback as 2025 Recruit De-Commits

National attention on Cody Haddad intensified after the four-star safety verbally committed to Luke Fickell and the Wisconsin football program subsequent to a junior day recruiting visit.

Among the flurry of teams that offered Haddad a scholarship afterward was the Ohio State Buckeyes, whom the St. Ignatius High School standout visited unofficially almost two weeks ago. It was only a matter of time before he retracted his verbal commitment to the Badgers.

Allen Trieu reported that Haddad was de-committing from the Badgers and “wants to see what other schools have to offer.” In addition to Ohio State, he has reported offers from Iowa, Michigan State, Boston College, Nebraska, Cincinnati, Kansas, Nebraska, and Texas A&M.

Cleveland (Ohio) St. Ignatius safety/athlete Cody Haddad has de-committed from Wisconsin.

He recently visited Ohio State and says he wants to see what other schools have to offer. (VIP) https://t.co/NLKsRYaMAj pic.twitter.com/hUfBBcANQf

— Allen Trieu (@AllenTrieu) April 1, 2024

According to the composite recruiting rankings, Haddad is listed as the No. 37 athlete in the 2025 class and the No. 16 ranked player in Ohio.

Wisconsin Football Commit Opts Out of the 2025 Class

This has been a less-than-ideal week for the Wisconsin Badgers on the recruiting trail. First, three-star in-state defensive end Torin Pettaway flipped his verbal commitment to the Minnesota Gophers. Now, Cody Haddad is re-evaluating his options and is unlikely to come back into the fold.

When the Wisconsin football coaches locked up Cody Haddad on his recruiting visit, I was shocked the Badgers were able to close it out so soon. It felt inevitable that many offers would still be rolling in, and ultimately, the allure of exploring opportunities at other major programs became too enticing to resist. It’s worth noting that Haddad has picked up a crystal ball prediction to land with the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Other schools probably felt they had more time in his recruitment since Haddad missed the bulk of his junior season with a broken arm and didn’t have a ton of junior season tape. However, Haddad did return for the final four games and put some impressive film together, totaling 42 tackles, forced three fumbles, and intercepted four passes.

At the time he committed, Wisconsin football safeties coach Colin Hitschler was Haddad’s lead recruiter. Now, Badgers assistant Alex Grinch will have to get back to work on the recruiting trail and attempt to find a viable replacement. A few names to watch in the 2025 class at safety are Marcus Wimberly, who will take an official visit to Madison, and Jussiah Williams-West.

No recruit is irreplaceable, and there’s more than enough time to find a great fit, but Haddad looked like a home run for Wisconsin football. Luke Fickell and the Badgers now have the nation’s No. 13 recruiting class and are down to seven verbal commits, per 247Sports. 

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