The University of Wisconsin football program dipped into the junior-college ranks for its second transfer portal addition of the offseason, adding a player who’s coming back home to play for the Badgers.
Linebacker Taylor Schaefer, a JUCO standout with deep Wisconsin roots, has announced he’s joining the Badgers for the 2026 season. The expectation is that he’ll have two years of collegiate eligibility remaining.
“Coming Home,” Schaefer wrote.
If the name sounds familiar, it should. Schaefer grew up in Sturgeon Bay, played his high school ball at Southern Door, and built the kind of reputation locally that usually ends with someone wearing Wisconsin colors.
It just took a few detours along the way for that moment to arrive.
Schaefer’s journey reads like the kind of story coaches love to retell on signing day. He wasn’t a national recruit out of high school. He didn’t have a mountain of Power Four offers waiting for him back then, and he didn’t land in the Big Ten conference on his first try. Instead, Schaefer carved out his path to Wisconsin the hard way: first redshirting at Minnesota Duluth, then grinding through developmental reps, and finally transferring to Iowa Central Community College to see if he could push his trajectory upward.
For taking the JUCO route, the return was about as good as it gets.
At Iowa Central, Schaefer didn’t just blend into a roster full of hungry players. He stood out. Over his JUCO career, he piled up 146 tackles, 70 solo stops, 15.0 tackles for loss, and seven sacks in 22 games, including a breakout 2025 season where Schaefer finished with 97 total tackles, 10.0 TFLs, and five sacks in just 10 games for the Tritons. Those numbers don’t happen by accident. They happen because of his motor. The instincts are real, and the physical tools match what the Badgers’ defensive scheme demands.
That production turned him into one of the most widely pursued defensive players in the JUCO ranks who was available in the portal. Schaefer quickly drew heavy interest, picking up scholarship offers from Arkansas, Kentucky, Iowa State, Nebraska, Purdue, Minnesota, and Colorado, among others, a far cry from the attention he received out of high school.
Programs were calling because they saw a linebacker with Big Ten measurables, proven productivity, and frame versatility at 6-foot-4 and around 240 pounds. He moved well enough to play multiple spots and had enough length and power to fit inside or bump out based on the front.
But for all the regional and national interest, the pull of Madison never really faded. Wisconsin was the dream when he was younger. Once the Badgers got Schaefer on campus for his official visit, the conversations in meeting rooms, the coaching staff’s demeanor, and the opportunity to come in and compete for snaps made the decision easier to see coming.
From Wisconsin’s perspective, the fit makes plenty of sense.
There’s no denying that, on paper, inside linebacker is one of the more talent-rich position groups returning in 2026, with Christian Alliegro, Mason Posa, and Cooper Catalano all positioned to play meaningful snaps again. But depth charts aren’t static, especially in Fickell’s program, and you’re always one injury away from seeing your rotation stretched past your comfort level.
Schaefer arrives as a player who can compete immediately while still offering developmental upside across multiple linebacker roles. He’s long enough to play in space, strong enough to play inside, and athletic enough to push for sub-package work potentially.
This is also the profile Wisconsin wanted in the portal: older, proven, physically ready, equipped for Big Ten football, and wired to embrace competition. He won’t be handed anything, and he doesn’t expect to be. But Schaefer gives the Badgers something their linebacker corps needed: an experienced, versatile defender who plays fast and tackles well.
His path to Madison may have detoured through the Division II ranks and JUCO ball, but there’s nothing accidental about how he got here. The progression has been steady: a redshirt year, a season Schaefer worked his way into the mix, followed by a breakout season, and now a Big Ten opportunity as a result. That’s a three-year arc that says as much about his trajectory as any camp evaluation or high-school film ever could.
This is also the kind of roster-building move that matters for Wisconsin in this particular offseason. You don’t retool a defense solely through high-school recruiting anymore. That’s not possible. Every program now has to explore every avenue, whether that’s the portal, lower-division standouts, or anything else that can bring in proven production and experience. In a win-now college football landscape, those traits matter more than ever.
The hope is that adding a player like Schaefer gives Wisconsin exactly that. He’s ready to compete and ready to continue pushing the room.
For the Badgers, it’s a nice early win in the portal cycle, the type that keeps the roster balanced and the depth chart insulated from attrition. And for Schaefer, it’s a homecoming that’s been years in the making.
Wisconsin still has more work to do when the Division I transfer portal opens on January 2. But adding Schaefer gives the defense another talented piece, another physical presence, and a competitor wired the way Luke Fickell prefers. It’s the kind of move that doesn’t grab national headlines, but often ends up mattering most when the pads come on.
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Storms Friday night but a dry weekend ahead in SE Wisconsin
More storms are likely Friday night before our weather quiets down for Easter weekend in SE Wisconsin
RIGHT AFTER WORLD NEWS WITH DAVID MUIR AT 530. THANK YOU DIANA. SHOWERS AND STORMS ARE MOVING IN, BUT IT WILL NOT BE A REPEAT OF LAST NIGHT. THAT’S GOOD NEWS, MARK. THE CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER IS VERY LOW. IT IS VERY GOOD BECAUSE NO, I WOULDN’T WANT TO HAVE A REPEAT OF LAST NIGHT. THANKFULLY, WE’RE NOT GOING TO DO THAT. WE DO HAVE SOME SHOWERS ROLLING IN. IT’S A ROUND OF EVENING SHOWERS, BUT A LOT OF THIS IS FALLING APART. I THINK IT’S MAINLY GOING TO BE A COUPLE OF SPRINKLES BY THE TIME IT GETS TO MILWAUKEE. RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY OVERNIGHT. A COUPLE OF STRONG STORMS POSSIBLE. YES. RAIN MOVES OUT BY EARLY SATURDAY. MOST OF SATURDAY IS DRY. IT GETS BREEZY. TEMPERATURES. NOT BAD THOUGH. WE’LL MAKE IT INTO THE MID 50S. ALL RIGHT. FOR THE REST OF TONIGHT YOUR SEVERE THREAT LEVEL ONE AGAIN. LAST NIGHT WE ARE LEVEL THREE ON THE SEVERE THREAT INDEX. WE’RE NOT THERE. ANY KIND OF THREAT WOULD BE HAIL. THAT’S THAT’S OUR ONLY WORRY. I’M NOT WORRIED ABOUT TORNADOES. ANYTHING LIKE THAT. SO A LOW CHANCE OF SOME HAIL. ANY OF THE THREATS ARE VERY LOW. VERY LOW THREAT OF DAMAGING WINDS THAT SHOULD STAY WAY SOUTH. VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY LOW THREAT OF TORNADOES. I’M ALWAYS SCARED TO PUT ZERO THREAT OF TORNADOES, BUT IT’S CLOSE TO ZERO FLOODING. WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT? WE ARE WATERLOGGED. AND SO IT’S NOT GOING TO TAKE THAT MUCH RAIN. WE COULD GET UP TO AN INCH OF RAIN AND THAT WOULD CAUSE SOME ISSUES. NOTICE HOW THIS CONTINUES TO FALL APART. IT’S A STEADY RAIN THOUGH IN WESTERN WAUKESHA COUNTY. IT’S STARTING TO MOVE INTO THE CITY OF WAUKESHA AND INTO PEWAUKEE AS WELL. THUNDERSTORMS BACK OUT TO THE WEST OF US. THE SEVERE THREAT REALLY, I THINK IS WELL, SOUTH. THAT’S WHERE THE WARMER AIR IS LOCATED. IT’S NOT HERE. SO AS WE HEAD THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT, THAT MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, WE BRING IN SHOWERS AND SOME THUNDERSTORMS, MAYBE A LITTLE SMALL HAIL IN THERE AS WELL. THE COLDER AIR STARTS WRAPPING BACK IN AS WE HEAD INTO SATURDAY NIGHT. MAYBE EVEN ENOUGH TO GET A PASSING FLURRY JUST IN TIME FOR EASTER MORNING. BUT THAT’S NOT GOING TO LAST LONG. EASTER IS OKAY. I WOULDN’T SAY IT’S GREAT, BUT IT’S ALL RIGHT. IT’S 49 DEGREES, A FEW SPRINKLES EARLY, EARLY, EARLY ON SATURDAY. IT’S GONE BY 8:00 AT THE LATEST. THE REST OF THE DAY IS FINE. HOW ABOUT EASTER? WELL, WE START OUT PRETTY CHILLY, 33 AT 7 A.M. IF YOU’RE GOING TO DO EASTER EGG HUNTS. ONE. IF IT’S OUTSIDE, YOU BETTER DRESS FOR IT AND ALSO BE READY FOR THE MUDDY BECAUSE IT IS GOING TO BE WET. WE’RE WET ALL OVER, BUT WE’RE GREENING THINGS UP PRETTY QUICKLY HERE, THANKS TO THE FACT THAT WE’VE HAD ALL THAT RAIN YESTERDAY. 1.8IN OF RAIN IN MILWAUKEE 39 RIGHT NOW IN ELKHART LAKE, 46 DEGREES IN DELAVAN, WHERE YOU’VE HAD A PASSING SHOWER, BUT THAT HAS MOVED ON. NOT EXACTLY SEEING ANYTHING WARM UNLESS YOU GO HERE 81 DEGREES DOWN IN SAINT LOUIS. YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE WHERE THE FRONT IS LOCATED. ALL RIGHT, EARLY SPRINKLES. A BREEZY DAY FOR TOMORROW. MOST OF THE DAY IS DRY, AND I DO THINK WE’LL SEE SOME SUNSHINE OFF. AND ON EASTER SUNDAY DRY, WHICH IS NICE. 49 IT’S KIND OF NICE BECAUSE MOST OF THE STRETCH AFTER WE GET THROUGH TONIGHT IS QUIET. MONDAY AND TUESDAY ARE QUIET. TUESDAY, OF COURSE, IS ELECTION DAY HIGH OF ONLY 38. SO DRESS WARMLY HEADING TO THE POLLS AND THEN WE WARM RIGHT BACK UP IN THE 50S. CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AS WE HEAD INTO THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. IT’S OKAY.
Storms Friday night but a dry weekend ahead in SE Wisconsin
More storms are likely Friday night before our weather quiets down for Easter weekend in SE Wisconsin
Updated: 6:30 PM CDT Apr 3, 2026
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More storms are likely Friday night before our weather quiets down for Easter weekend in SE Wisconsin
More storms are likely Friday night before our weather quiets down for Easter weekend in SE Wisconsin
We found no evidence that liberal Wisconsin Appeals Court Judge Chris Taylor has supported allowing noncitizens to vote.
Taylor and conservative state Appeals Court Judge Maria Lazar are running in the April 7 Wisconsin Supreme Court election.
A Lazar ad claimed Taylor is “pushing for noncitizen voting.”
Lazar’s campaign cited:
Taylor’s opposition, while a Democratic state lawmaker, to the Republican-backed 2011 state law requiring identification to vote.
Her introduction of a 2017 bill, which did not become law. It would have provided driver’s licenses to unauthorized residents, but the licenses would have been labeled: “Not valid for voting purposes.”
Taylor’s opinion, in a 2024 appeals court ruling, which said absentee ballots count even if voters’ witnesses fail to give election clerks their full address. Citizenship is required to vote in Wisconsin, but Wisconsin election officials generally do not verify citizenship when a person registers.
This <a target=”_blank” href=”https://wisconsinwatch.org/2026/04/wisconsin-supreme-court-candidate-taylor-lazar-noncitizen-voting-election-campaign-ad/”>article</a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https://wisconsinwatch.org”>Wisconsin Watch</a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.<img src=”https://i0.wp.com/wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-WCIJ_IconOnly_FullColor_RGB-1.png?fit=150%2C150&quality=100&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”>
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The president of Wisconsin’s largest mosque was detained by federal immigration agents, drawing accusations from local officials and religious leaders that the arrest was motivated by his statements against Israel.
Salah Sarsour, a Palestinian-born legal permanent resident of the United States, was taken into custody by nearly a dozen US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Monday in Milwaukee after he left his home, according to the Islamic Society of Milwaukee.
Supporters called for his immediate release on Thursday and his attorneys said he was detained on the grounds that he is a foreign policy threat. His attorneys say the claims have no merit.
Instead, they believe Sarsour, 53, was targeted for speaking out against Israel and for a conviction as a minor by Israeli military courts, which have faced scrutiny over allegations of limited due process and high conviction rates of Palestinians. Israel rejects those claims. The offenses included allegedly throwing rocks at Israeli officers, according to attorney Munjed Ahmad.
“Our government should not be doing the bidding of a foreign government,” Ahmad said of Israel. “There’s no question in my mind is that this is to stifle the discourse on the Palestinian narrative.”
Attorneys said Sarsour, born in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has no criminal record in the US.
Sarsour’s attorneys have likened the case to that of Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University activist who faces deportation because the federal government said he was a foreign policy threat.
An email message left on Thursday for ICE and the Department of Homeland Security was not immediately returned.
Sarsour has been the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, the largest Islamic organization in the state, for five years. His attorneys say he’s held a green card for years and lived in the Milwaukee area. His wife and four adult children are US citizens.
His arrest prompted outcry from top elected officials, including Milwaukee’s mayor, Cavalier Johnson, who called it “an outrage”.
“He is a legal permanent resident. There is no substantive evidence he has done anything wrong,” Johnson said in a post on X. “This is another example of overreach and harm from the U.S. Immigration authorities.”
Sarsour is being held at county jail outside Indianapolis. His attorneys have filed a petition seeking his release.
“He is ready to fight tooth and nail to make sure that he’s not drug through the mud,” Ahmad said. “He wants to stay in this country.”
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