Kayli Johnson named Director of On-Campus Recruiting, new role for Christina DeRuyter

Michigan has hired a new Director of On-Campus Recruiting in Kayli Johnson.

Johnson joins the U-M staff after serving as the Director of Recruiting Communications at Michigan State. Prior to her time in East Lansing, Johnson was the Assistant Director of Recruiting Operations at Rutgers.

Johnson is the older sister of star Michigan cornerback Will Johnson, who was a first team All-Big Ten and All-American selection last season.

Kayli was a touted athlete in her own right as she competed in track and field at both Michigan State and Texas Tech, where she also served as a recruiting intern.

Kayli replaces former Michigan Director of On-Campus Recruiting Christina DeRuyter, who will remain with the program in an operations role. DeRuyter was widely regarded as a rising star in the recruiting industry, which makes her move into operations extremely surprising.

The Wolverine was told that DeRuyter elected to transition from recruiting into operations and was not reassigned.

Michigan’s recruiting department continues to experience some shuffling. Former Director of Recruiting, Albert Karschnia, is now a recruiting operations coordinator, while Sam Popper, who previously served as Assistant Director of Recruiting, is expected to slide into Karschnia’s former role.

Paige Shiver, who worked under DeRuyter as an on-campus recruiting and operations assistant, is now the Executive Assistant to the Head Coach.

Michigan now has a General Manager in Sean Magee, who will oversee all aspects of the recruiting and player personnel departments as well as coordinate the program’s NIL initiatives. He will handle the identification, evaluation and recruitment of prospective student-athletes in conjunction with the head coach and staff and manage the roster of current student-athletes while identifying future needs for the program.

This is Magee’s second stint at Michigan as he previously served as Associate Athletic Director for Football in four seasons in Ann Arbor.  In his role with the Wolverines, Magee was liaison to the Athletic Director and Senior Leadership Team while providing oversight and direction for the football program in the off-field areas including the management of the player personnel department, football operations and the administration of the budget for all football related activity. He additionally served as the program’s NFL liaison. 

More recruiting department additions and restructuring is expected to happen this offseason under new Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore, who has made it clear that he will have an aggressive approach on the trail.

Michigan has three verbal commitments in its 2025 recruiting class in On300 Fort Myers (Fla.) Bishop Verot quarterback Carter Smith, On300 Howell (Mich.) High defensive lineman Bobby Kanka and three-star Alcoa (Tenn.) High tight end Eli Owens. The class is ranked No. 17 nationally, per the On3 Industry team recruiting rankings.