Michigan football is adding to its recruiting staff, at the expense of a rival.
The Free Press has confirmed the Wolverines are poised to hire Ohio State’s Erin Dunston, the Buckeyes’ assistant athletic director for football recruiting and events. Dunston had been with the Buckeyes since 2021 as the program’s director of on-campus recruiting. She was recently promoted to her most recent title.
Dunston’s previous stops include Kansas and Purdue. In 2022, On3 named Dunston, who was entering her second season with the program, a “rising star personnel and recruiting staffer.”
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Ohio State spokesman Jerry Emig confirmed to the Freep that Dunston has left Columbus, while David Ablauf, Michigan football spokesman, told the Free Press the university “can’t comment publicly at this time.”
Who is Erin Dunston?
According to Ohio State’s football site, Dunston spent two seasons as a graduate student at LSU with the football operations staff. She completed her master’s in kinesiology, with a concentration in pedagogy and psychological sciences, from LSU in May 2017. She earned her bachelor’s degree in exercise science from the University of Delaware in May 2015.
Dunston joined the program in March 2021, helping the Buckeyes to big wins on the recruiting trail. With Dunston on the staff, Ohio State recruited four straight top-five recruiting classes, per 247Sports’ Composite rankings. The Buckeyes never finished lower than fifth nationally and currently rank as the top overall class in 2025.
Michigan’s new coach, Sherrone Moore, also poached running backs coach Tony Alford from Ohio State during spring practices.
The Wolverines won the 2024 College Football Playoff national championship and have faced roster turnover since Jim Harbaugh left for an NFL head coaching job with the Los Angeles Chargers. Meanwhile, Michigan lost 13 players to the 2024 NFL Draft. The national championship was the first since 1997.