Three University of Wisconsin football coaches were admonished in late March for violating National Collegiate Athletic Association rules by visiting prospective athletes during a “quiet period” for recruiting, according to records obtained by the Associated Press Friday.

Senior Associate Athletic Director Vince Sweeney said in an e-mail to The Badger Herald the rule violation was an inadvertent mistake on the part of the coaches.

“They cooperated fully with us as we put together our self report to the Big Ten and NCAA,” Sweeney said. “We regret that it happened, but we try to learn from it and we move forward.”

According to the documents, wide receivers coach DelVaughn Alexander, defensive coordinator Dave Doeren and recruiting coordinator Randall McCray made visits to recruits Jan. 4, which was the last day of a winter period determined off-limits for recruiting by the NCAA.

In previous years, the date had not been a part of the quiet period.

“They should have known the calendar changed,” Sweeney said. “We didn’t forgive them, but that’s how it happened. They felt terrible about it.”

According to the documents, university officials came across the violations in February when reviewing the recruiting log that depicted the visits. The university then reported the “inadvertent rules violation” to the NCAA on March 27.

Assistant Athletic Director Steve Waterfield issued a letter of admonishment the same day.

“Even inadvertent violations compromise the integrity of our athletics department and diminish the reputation of our institution,” Waterfield wrote in the letter.

One of the recruits was declared by the university to be ineligible after it reported the violations, but as of Thursday he was reinstated after UW asked the NCAA to do so.

Following the infraction, Waterfield met with UW football Coach Bret Bielema “to emphasize the importance of adhering to all recruiting calendar guidelines at all times,” according to the report filed with the NCAA.

The coaches were also prohibited from taking part in the first two days of the spring recruitment period, which began April 15 and runs through May 31.

Sweeney said the department in the future will consider informing potential players and their parents about practices that may affect eligibility.

He said he does not expect the NCAA to take further action. Osburn did not specify to the AP if the NCAA would be taking any disciplinary actions toward UW.

Osburn and Waterfield did not return calls or e-mails as of press time.

–The Associated Press contributed to this report.