Michigan State hires Tyler Johnson as Director of Recruiting Operations
Michigan State’s recruiting department continued its expansion with the addition of Jacksonville State’s director of on-campus recruiting Tyler Johnson. The newly hired Johnson will hold the title of director of recruiting operations.
Johnson comes to East Lansing after a brief stint with Jacksonville State. Johnson joined Rich Rodriguez’s staff at Jacksonville State in January. Prior to the five-month stint on Rodriguez’s staff, Johnson held the role of coordinator of recruiting operations at Texas.
Johnson joined Steve Sarkisian’s staff at Texas in Feb. 2022. During Johnson’s time in Austin, the Longhorns nabbed the No. 3 recruiting class, according to the 2023 On3 Team Industry Rankings. Texas’ recruiting class included the No. 1 overall player in five-star plus quarterback Arch Manning. Additionally, the Longhorns accumulated 14 On300 recruits in its 2023 recruiting class.
Johnson is the third addition to Michigan State’s recruiting department since executive director of player personnel and recruiting Mark Diethorn took over on May 1. Diethorn added former Pittsburgh recruiting analyst Sam Kukura as assistant director of player personnel. Kukura will aid director of player personnel Sean Levy, who was retained from the previous recruiting staff.
Diethorn recently added Jenna Learn as director of on-campus recruiting. Learn came to East Lansing after a rising quickly through the ranks at South Florida. On-campus recruiting coordinator Diamond Boston was also retained by Diethorn.
The Spartans support staff also added creative director Derek Blalock and two assistant creative directors, Dylan Gray and Matt Whipple, who are heavily involved in recruiting operations.
Michigan State underwent a major recruiting department shake up this offseason after general manager Saeed Khalif’s contract was not renewed. The Spartans’ new recruiting department leader has wasted no time making quality hires.
