UW-Whitewater finished runner-up at the NCAAs last season under the guidance of head coach Tim FaderYou'd say it sounds like a nightmare. But it's waking reality for Tim Fader, former University of Wisconsin-Whitewater head wrestling coach who experienced "non-renewal" regarding his reporting of an alleged sexual assault -- quickly recanted by the victim -- which took place Easter weekend in 2014.
How could this happen? InterMat sought to find out the story behind the story ... by contacting coach Fader himself.
Meet Tim Fader
Tim Fader was born in Ida Grove, Iowa, in the northwest part of the state, but grew up in Rochelle, Illinois, in the north-central portion of the Land of Lincoln, a bit more than an hour west of Chicago on I-88, the Ronald Reagan East-West Tollway. His father Pete, a former wrestler at Cedar Rapids' Coe College in the late 1960s, was a teacher and wrestling coach at Rochelle Township High School.
Tim Fader"I had an OK career in high school," said Fader, who quickly followed up by saying, "I was recruited by some Division I schools but didn't think I was Division I material." It was only in a quick follow-up, fact-checking interview that, when asked, Fader admitted he had been a finalist at the Illinois high school state championships.
"The very last week of high school, I got a call from Kevin Puebla (then head wrestling coach) of Augustana College," said Fader, referring to the Division III school to the west of Rochelle, in Rock Island, Illinois. "We'll struggle at first, but we will become a great team."
"By the time I graduated, we were a top five program."
Fader graduated from Augustana with a bachelor's degree in both Business Administration-Finance, and Accounting in 1991. What he didn't mention in his interview with InterMat was that he graduated summa cum laude (among the top scholars at his school), named Augustana Top Scholar-Athlete, and was a two-time GTE (now Verizon) COSIDA First Team Academic All-American. Nor did he talk about his individual accomplishments on the mat, as a three-time NCAA qualifier, and two-time NCAA All-American at 142 pounds. He also didn't say anything about being a two-time team captain, or that he was named the team's MVP ... all according to his official coach's bio at the UW-Whitewater wrestling website.
Fader stayed in the Quad Cities after graduation. "I took a position in Moline as a consultant, but, at 3:30, I felt the urge to be back in the wrestling room," Fader disclosed. "I worked things out with my job to be able to go back to Augustana to help coach. Did that for two years."
"I felt like I should be a wrestling coach," Fader continued. "So I started at (University of) Minnesota-Morris as an assistant, then went to UW-La Crosse for their sports administration program. I really respected (wrestling) coach Greg Lonning, and became an assistant coach there for three years, while working on my Masters. I was promoted to head coach, and was there for almost ten years."
"We were national runners-up one year, and could claim five All-Americans, and eight Academic All-Americans."
Fader comes to Whitewater
Then Fader thought it might be time for a change in scenery. "I had been told about an opportunity at UW-Whitewater. The previous coach, Dr. Willie Myers, had been there 36 years. He was well-respected, and like a mentor to me. Friends said that they thought I should come here."
"I spent the afternoon at Whitewater," Fader recalled. "The basketball coach told me, 'You'll really like it here. They'll help you be successful.'"
"I got an offer, but they admitted up front, 'When you get here, your program won't be very good.'"
Fader took the helm of the Whitewater Warhawks wrestling program in 2004. "It was a rough first year," Fader told InterMat. "We had twelve wrestlers. Took my team to La Crosse, lost in a rout, 42-3. But we started recruiting, got a full-time assistant. Each year, we got better."
"Whitewater won conference titles repeatedly. I kept thinking, 'We're getting closer.' You could feel it."
"In July (2014), I told my team, 'You could be the first Wisconsin team to win a national wrestling title.'"
During Fader's tenure as head coach at Whitewater, he coached 21 All-Americans, including four NCAA finalists, and guided the Warhawks to an overall record of 117-67-3.
What kind of wrestlers did he coach at Whitewater?
"Of the kids I recruited, many did not place at state. Some may not have even qualified," Fader responded. "Some kids didn't have dazzling resumes, but were really excited to be a part of a team."
"Once you have success as a school, then you start hearing from kids who seek you out."
"In-state kids like the in-state tuition, the size of the schools, the size of the towns. Each of the schools in the University of Wisconsin is known for a specialty. Whitewater was known for strong programs in education, and business."
Although it may sound as if the Whitewater Warhawk wrestlers were entirely from America's Dairyland, Fader said that about half his wrestlers hailed from nearby Illinois. The state line is less than 30 minutes to the south of the campus, which is located in southeastern Wisconsin.
"We had a good blueprint," Fader said. "Great alumni support, as well as wrestler and family support."
The phone call that changed everything
That 'good blueprint' suffered some serious damage over Easter weekend, starting on Good Friday, April 18, 2014.
"I got a phone call from a mom who said her daughter had been sexually assaulted by a wrestling recruit visiting campus," according to Fader.
"The recruit had come Wednesday night. The next day, he experienced a typical recruit visit, and was introduced to some academic advisors. Spent Thursday night in town. He stayed on campus Good Friday, went to lunch with the assistant coach. I got the call from the mother that day. It was very clear to me what happened, that this was a very serious situation."
"I knew the alleged victim. She was a student (at Whitewater), a student volunteer for the program the previous fall. Her mom was a volunteer for the program."
"I went to the recruit, and told him the (Whitewater) police wished to see him. About 8:30 Friday night, police asked for additional information to conduct an investigation. When I called the mom to update her on what was going on, she apologized, saying, 'I shouldn't have called.'"
To be clear, the mother recanted her story within hours of the initial phone call, on the same day. Coach Fader immediately tracked down the recruit, and took him to the local town police. However, he did not immediately notify anyone within the administration at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. As Fader told InterMat, "The alleged incident took place off-campus. Neither the recruit nor the former student was connected in any way to the school. The only connection to the school was me."
"If I had told the recruit, 'Hey, get out of town, there's trouble' I would have resigned immediately."
As Fader told InterMat -- and the "Rockford Register-Star" this summer -- he figured the Whitewater town police would contact school administrators in a timely manner.
"It's just always been that way: Whenever anybody did anything wrong on campus, the university was always notified by the police," Fader told "Register-Star" reporter Jay Taft in early August. "There was certainly no intent to cover anything up or hide anything. I acted immediately and with the best interest of the alleged victim in mind, and I still think I did the right thing."
Fader also made clear to InterMat that the incident took place over Easter weekend, with most students, faculty and administrators away from campus.
Despite the timing of the alleged incident on a holiday weekend -- and the assumption, based on past experience, that the community police would inform the school -- Fader not telling administrators directly himself may have ultimately cost him his coaching job.
Administrators get involved
It was approximately two weeks after Easter weekend -- "with only about two weeks left in the school year," Fader told InterMat -- that University of Wisconsin-Whitewater administrators became directly involved in the situation.
At about the same time, the U.S. Department of Education had announced an investigation of 55 schools with suspected Title IX violations such as unreported sexual assault cases. UW-Whitewater was the only school in the state of Wisconsin to find itself on that list.
"I was contacted by the AD (interim athletic director Amy Edmonds) -- 'We need to go see the chancellor'" said Fader. On the way to the meeting, she became somewhat emotional, saying, 'You know, this could be the end of our jobs.'"
"It was then that the chancellor asked me, 'How could you not report this to the school?'"
"It was at this point he talked about the future of the program, and told me to watch the school's sexual assault video."
"The next day -- May 13 -- I attended another meeting. A paper was slid across the table, telling me I was suspended with pay," Fader continued. "I was told, 'Don't discuss this with anyone. Don't rally the troops -- referring to the wrestlers. Don't use university email. Don't come on campus' which was an issue because my daughter participated in daycare at the school."
On Wednesday, May 14, chancellor Richard Telfer sent an email to UW-Whitewater's faculty and staff midday Wednesday. Here is the complete text of that message:
"Campus colleagues,As Tim Fader expressed in his InterMat interview more than once, he believed that this email portrayed him as being directly involved in the incident mentioned by the chancellor ... a concern that was reinforced by the questions and comments of others which were directed to the coach, comments which seemed to have been drawn from reading the email.
"On Monday, I was notified that the Whitewater Police Department is investigating an incident involving an adult-aged recruit for the wrestling team. This matter is ongoing and I can only share limited information at this time.
"Because of my concerns about the circumstances surrounding the incident, and the possibility that NCAA rules and university policies and procedures may have been violated, on Tuesday I placed head wrestling coach Tim Fader on paid administrative suspension. I have also suspended all wrestling recruitment activities effective immediately.
"I have asked Assistant Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management Matt Aschenbrener and Center for Students with Disabilities Director Elizabeth Watson to conduct the internal investigation into the recruitment practices for wrestling.
"I expect to conclude the internal investigation in a timely fashion. It is my intention to share further information with the campus community as I am able.
Richard J. Telfer
Chancellor"
The email not only raised concerns and confusion in the minds of a number of coach Fader's colleagues, but also generated the interest of local newspapers and TV stations.
"It was at this point I started hearing from the media," Fader told InterMat. "There were questions about recruiting. Concerns about 'showing recruits a good time.'"
"By then, classes were over. My contract was coming up. I needed to see the AD."
"I asked about my career, my reputation, my compliance record, and what was being done for the alleged victim."
"She said my reputation was strong, my compliance record, good."
Despite those assurances, the situation was anything but normal.
"Chris (assistant wrestling coach Chris Heilman) took a picture of me at the College World Series, then posted it on Twitter. The AD told him to take it down."
"On June 8, the school said, 'We got results back from the report,'" said coach Fader. "There were two recruiting violations. The first, there were two times when alumni brought recruits to see campus, then gave the recruits a ride home. (Per NCAA rules, recruits are not to receive free transportation or be reimbursed for travel expenses when visiting a college campus.) And, in the second case, it was alleged that a recruit was seen in (wrestling) gear in the wrestling room, allegedly getting a 'tryout' from the assistant coach, whose office was basically in the wrestling room."
In his interview with InterMat, Fader characterized these allegations as "minor violations."
At this time, various media organizations in southern Wisconsin were reporting that the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater had completed its internal investigation of recruitment policies for the school's wrestling program. The investigation, conducted by school administrators Matt Aschenbrener and Elizabeth Watson, recommended the university form an "external compliance committee to review policies and practices of student recruitment, eligibility, financial aid and other related compliance issues," according to a news story in the "GazetteExtra."
The "GazetteExtra" story stated that the school's seven-page report alleged there was a failure to keep complete records of recruits, recruits were allowed to be housed off campus during visits, recruits' transportation to and from the university was paid for, and recruits were allowed to participate in practices with coaching staff present.
While these reports were circulating in local newspapers and TV news reports, "At this point the school said, 'If you resign now, you could get unemployment,'" Fader told InterMat.
"The next day, I met with the chancellor and the HR (human resources) director, but not the AD. They said, 'We think you're a great coach and have high values. We'll give you until the end of the week to resign, or you will not be renewed.' Protection of teachers is now limited in Wisconsin," according to Fader.
"I got an attorney. He wrote a letter that Chris (Heilman) and I wanted our jobs back, and that I had never been involved in criminal activity. The school's attorney said no."
"I had a meeting with the team on July 1. Had them come to my house. They told me they had been asked about their recruitment experiences, and what they knew about the experiences of recent recruits."
"One of the wrestlers had been asked to be on the committee to hire my replacement."
"The (wrestling) alumni met with the chancellor," Fader continued. "They were joined by two current members of the team, former coach Willie Myers, Ben Peterson (Wisconsin native, NCAA champ at Iowa State, and two-time Olympic medalist) and Lee Kemp (three-time NCAA champ for University of Wisconsin-Madison, member of the 1980 US Olympic team). They thought the meeting went well."
"The next Monday, the chancellor said I would not be reinstated."
"At the end of July, the AD said, 'We can put something on the website, listing your accomplishments, but we need a letter of resignation from you.'"
"I said that I wouldn't do that."
It was widely reported by the media in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois that UW-Whitewater wrestling coach Tim Fader was released because of "recruiting violations." WISC-TV from Madison, Wis. reported that campus officials had told them they decided "not to offer another contract" to Fader. In his interview for this article for InterMat, Fader used the word "non-renewed" more than once to describe his employment status with the school.
At the time, Fader told the "Rockford Register-Star" that he believed the recruiting violations to be "secondary" in nature and that the real reason he was not returning for his 11th season as coach was because he reported the alleged sexual assault to Whitewater police and did not notify campus officials. He said he expected the university to be notified by police, but that he'd been informed since he did not follow campus protocol, it could cost him his position.
A ploy to eliminate the wrestling program?
For long-time wrestling fans who have seen too many college programs get the axe for the flimsiest of reasons, it would not be beyond reason to wonder if UW-Whitewater administrators saw what happened over Easter weekend as an opportunity to eliminate wrestling at their school.
The idea crossed Fader's mind ... for a time.
"The first time I was called into the chancellor's office, he was incredibly angry, saying, 'We need to investigate about whether we should have a wrestling program,'" Fader told InterMat.
"Friends said that I should ask (whether administrators were planning to cut wrestling), and I did."
Fader then shared elements indicating a long history of support -- along with some recent developments -- that would contradict any notion that the wrestling program was on the chopping block.
"We've had new additions made to the wrestling room and to our locker rooms," according to Fader. "We've had successful fundraising efforts."
"Our new AD came to the Nationals. We had a successful end-of-season banquet, attended by the chancellor and his wife. About a month before all this happened, we were talking about a raise."
"Years ago, (the school) had an OCR-Title IX complaint at Whitewater," Fader admitted. "The administration put caps on all our sports programs, then asked each program to give back some slots to comply with proportionality aspects regarding women's sports. They could have handled that differently, eliminated a men's program outright, but instead worked to make things fair for all."
Aftermath
In the months since Tim Fader's contract was not renewed by University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the school hired Ned Shuck to head up its wrestling program. Shuck, a former University of Iowa wrestler, had been head coach at Heidelberg University, an NCAA Division III school in northern Ohio. In late September, Shuck tagged Mike Kelly, who had coached at University of Wisconsin-Parkside and at Harper College in suburban Chicago, as his assistant coach. Meanwhile, former UW-Whitewater assistant coach Chris Heilman landed a position on the coaching staff at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, working for Sam Barber, who was named head coach of the Falcons this summer.
InterMat reached out to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for their perspective on coach Fader's situation. Chris Lindeke, the school's sports information director, responded to our request, stating, "UW-Whitewater cannot comment on personnel matters."
Meanwhile, Tim Fader is not coaching.
Tim Fader with UW-Whitewater wrestlers this past summer"I have friends who say, 'You have business and sports management degrees, why not go into the world of business?'"
"I love the sport of wrestling too much to leave it. I feel I have a really strong background and resume, and have made contributions to the sport. I have 10-15 guys who wrestled for me, who are now coaching in college."
"It's a dark cloud hanging over my head. Why would a school take a risk in hiring me for a sport like wrestling?" Fader asked rhetorically.
Despite having difficulties finding a college coaching position, Fader does have considerable support behind him.
"I've received hundreds of texts and other messages of support."
Tom Trieloff, who wrestled for Fader at Whitewater from 2005-09 and is now president of the school's alumni club, said he believes a Department of Education investigation of 55 schools -- including Whitewater -- with suspected Title IX violations such as unreported sexual assault cases, was key to Fader's dismissal.
"Coach Fader is a great coach and an even better person, and the thing he stressed more than anything in the world was that this was a family, not just a team or a school," Trieloff told the "Rockford Register-Star". "They threw all that out the window. This program and this school now have a black eye, and I don't think it has anything to do with Coach Fader's actions. It's all about how this has been handled.
"It wasn't the recruiting violations that they let (Fader) go for, it was the pressure they felt from the federal investigation. They made a bad decision; this could have been a learning process, a learning tool. Instead it's a black eye."
There is hope, in the form of some recent communications Fader has received.
On November 6, the former UW-Whitewater coach received a letter from Daniel A. Necci, District Attorney for Walworth County, where the school and town of Whitewater are located. The letter is designed for Fader to use with potential employers to clarify his status. Here is the text of that letter:
"Dear Sir or Madam,At the same time, the NCAA issued a Case System Management report concerning its investigation of Fader and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater wrestling program. In the section marked "Conditions", the text read: "No further action should be taken by NCAA enforcement staff in the matter."
"Please be advised that as of the date of this letter, my office has not now nor ever before been in procession of any referral or other form of documentation from any law enforcement agency which contains any allegations or accusations of criminal wrongdoing of any kind against or involving a Timothy Fader.
"Furthermore, I am not aware of any criminal investigation into or concerning the actions of Timothy Fader.
Daniel A. Necci
District Attorney
Walworth County"
Here's the text in the section labeled "Rationale": "It was determined that the case should be classified as secondary."
Update: In late November 2014, Chancellor Richard Telfer announced his retirement, effective June 30, 2015.
Update: On Sept. 3, 2015, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire announced it had hired Tim Fader as head coach of its Blugold wrestling program, effective Sept. 15.
InterMat wishes to thank the individuals who provided background information on this situation, and helped make it possible for coach Fader to tell his story.
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