Ohio State adds two new staff members to recruiting department

The Ohio State football recruiting department just got a little bigger Monday. The Buckeyes staff added Nick Murphy as the director of recruiting strategy and Zach Grant as the director of player personnel.

Grant, who held the same role at Western Kentucky, tweeted out a thank you to the Hilltoppers following the news.

“WKU is filled with special people who are obsessed with becoming their best,” he wrote. “There is no better culture than what coach (Tyson) Helton has built. Every person from player to coach to support staff is doing whatever it takes to win football games the right way and develop young men. The people here have molded me personally and professionally into who I am today. Thank you so much.

“To the players: I’m so impressed with your desire to reach your potential individually and more importantly as a team. You guys make the program what it is. It is rare to have a group so devoted to a common goal. Don’t take that for granted. Special things are ahead for this group. You know what you have to do. Go finish the job.”

The Hilltoppers hired Grant as their director of players personnel in 2017 when he was just 23 years old. At the time, that made him the youngest director of player personnel in all of college football. He led Western Kentucky’s recruiting efforts for the past five seasons, signing six of the top 10 players in program history. That includes last year’s starting quarterback Bailey Zappe, who set the NCAA single-season record in both passing yards (5,967) and passing touchdowns (62).

A Notre Dame graduate, Grant was promoted to general manager this past season with the Hilltoppers. Western Kentucky finished 9-5 and earned a victory in the Boca Raton Bowl against Appalachian State.

Murphy, a Charlotte native, spent this past season as director of player personnel for the Charlotte 49ers. He was also a recruiting specialist with the Texas Longhorns from 2016-17 and graduate assistant at South Florida in 2018.

“So excited to join the staff at The Ohio State University,” Murphy wrote on Twitter. “Can’t wait to carry on the excellence and winning tradition of this flagship university. Tap in with your boy and Go Bucks!”

The Ohio State recruiting department helped bring in Big Ten’s top class in 2022 and the No. 4 overall according to On3’s Team Consensus rankings. With these two excellent additions, the Buckeyes will aim to keep up the good work going forward.