Pine-Richland grad Molly Rottinghaus kicks off career with Wisconsin football program

Molly Rottinghaus grew up in a football family and spent many Friday nights watching games in the bleachers dreaming that one day she’d be involved in the sport.

Her great grandfather and grandfather were high school football coaches and her dad and uncles played collegiately.

Now she’s on the frontier of females breaking into football at the front office level.

Rottinghaus, a Pine-Richland grad, was recently hired as a recruiting specialist for the Wisconsin football program.

She got the job just three months after graduating from Boston University, where she played field hockey.

“When I got the phone call that I got the job I was in a little bit of shock,” Rottinghaus said. “After graduating from Boston University, my goal was to be at a Big Ten football program in two to three years. I never really imagined that three months after graduating I’d be in this position. I’m super excited for this opportunity.

“I interviewed for the job a couple weeks prior and was really nervous going in, but everybody at Wisconsin was so welcoming from Coach (Paul) Chryst and the staff. I knew I was going to be surrounded by great people at a respected program.”

It was a fast jump from graduation to a job at a major college, but she started building her resume before college.

When Rottinghaus was at Pine-Richland, she worked with coach Eric Kasperowicz and the Pine-Richland football program. When she was at BU, she worked in the athletic department doing leadership camps and gameday operations — everything from sweeping floors to taking tickets and ushering.

She also had an internship with the Bowling Green football program, where she worked in operations and recruiting and most recently was doing a postgrad internship with the NCAA in Indianapolis prior to getting the Wisconsin job.

In her new role at Wisconsin, she’ll be communicating with potential recruits, scheduling their visits to campus.

“I’ll be diving into how we target a player from Wisconsin versus a player from Pennsylvania or Texas or wherever they are from and how we gear their interest and ultimately get them to commit to Wisconsin,” Rottinghaus said. “We want to make them feel that sense of family and community within the Wisconsin football program as soon as they step on campus and in every interaction with them. I’ll be doing visit itinerary and game day operations too, making sure the recruit and their family and friends are taken care of and have the best quality experience.”

Rottinghaus sees more opportunities for females in sports front offices in the future, especially at the collegiate level. She said there have been some women before her that have helped pave the path, which she’s grateful for.

Now she’s continuing the path and believes it will grow.

“I think a lot of these programs are seeing the benefit of what females can bring to a program, whether it’s setting itineraries or getting recruits on campus,” Rottinghaus said. “We can relate to the mothers and the families, and recruiting is as much about the people closest to them making the decision as it is the recruit.

“These programs are really starting to expand their departments, which Wisconsin has done over the last year. There’s more opportunity for both males and females, especially with NIL coming in. I was lucky enough to find this opportunity at Wisconsin and jump-start my career.”