Former Ohio State football recruiting staffer Erin Dunston. Photo Credit: Ohio State Athletics

Former Ohio State football recruiting staffer Erin Dunston. Photo Credit: Ohio State Athletics

A second member of Ohio State’s football staff has departed for Ann Arbor, Michigan. 

Assistant athletic director for football recruiting and events Erin Dunston is leaving the Buckeyes, associate athletic director of communications Jerry Emig confirmed to The Lantern in an email. As indicated by Dunston’s social media platforms, including X — formerly known as Twitter — and LinkedIn, she will join the University of Michigan as its next director of football operations.

Dunston will join former Buckeyes running backs coach Tony Alford as the second Ohio State football staffer to head north for a new position at Michigan. Alford left for the Wolverines on March 13 for the same position he held at Ohio State. 

The exact reasons behind Dunston’s departure remain unknown. The Lantern reached out to Dunston for comment and didn’t hear back.

Dunston originally joined the Buckeyes in 2021, having served as the program’s director of on-campus recruiting until Tuesday.

According to the Ohio State athletics website, Dunston was promoted to assistant athletic director for football recruiting and events in February; while occupying this role, she was responsible for managing budgetary funds associated with on-campus recruiting and coordinating recruitment with a focus on official visits, unofficial visits, game day recruiting programming, junior days and special events. 

The Ohio State athletics website stated that prior to her time at Ohio State, Dunston graduated from the University of Delaware in May 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science before spending two years at Louisiana State University. 

At LSU, Dunston graduated with a master’s degree in kinesiology with a concentration in pedagogy and psychological sciences and worked as a graduate student assistant with the football operations staff, according to the Ohio State athletics website. 

Dunston then spent a year in West Lafayette where she was Purdue University’s athletics administration associate. She spent her final two years before Ohio State working in football operations and being the director of on-campus recruiting for the University of Kansas, the Ohio State athletics website stated.