Michigan State coach Mel Tucker isn't wasting any time in getting his personnel department back to full strength on the heels of Scott Aligo's departure to Lance Leipold's Kansas Jayhawks' staff within the past week.
Tucker is raiding the staff of Big Ten rival Wisconsin to nab Saeed Khalif as the Spartans' new player personnel director.
Timing is key; the NCAA on Tuesday lifted its moratorium on recruiting activities and camps that was first enacted in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Khalif had spent four seasons in Madison, Wisconsin, overseeing the roster development and maintenance for the Badgers' program.
A Georgia Tech alumnus, Khalif also had experience at his alma maters in personnel work as well as serving as an on-field defensive coach at Savannah State in 2011-12.
The Wisconsin State Journal first reported Khalif's departure from the Wisconsin program to Tucker's Michigan State rebuild Tuesday morning. Additional sources confirmed the move to FootballScoop.
Wisconsin is coming off an abbreviated 4-3 2020 campaign that concluded with a 42-28 win against Atlantic Coast Conference resident Wake Forest in the Duke's Mayo Bowl.
The Spartans, in Tucker's first year after he was hired away from Colorado in February 2020, posted just a 2-5 ledger.
However, those two wins were significant building blocks for Tucker's efforts to get the Spartans back on solid footing in the Big Ten. Sparty posted top-15 wins against heated rival Michigan as well as then-No. 8 Northwestern.
MSU is scheduled to open its 2021 campaign Friday, Sept. 3, at Northwestern.