Ryan Day and the Buckeyes are preparing for their monumental Week 1 match up against Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns this weekend, but sources share that Day and the Buckeyes made a recent addition to the staff aimed at fortify the support staff as they look to defend their national title from last season.
Sources tell FootballScoop that the Buckeyes are adding a member of a fellow College Football playoff participant to the staff in Columbus.
Dallas Dudley, who spent last season working in player personnel and recruiting at SMU, has joined the Buckeyes staff, source shares with FootballScoop.
A former student coach at Texas A&M Commerce for nearly three seasons, Dudley spent some time as a teacher with the Crandall ISD (TX) before jumping back into college football.
In the summer of 2023, he landed a defensive graduate assistant job working with the linebackers at Central Oklahoma (D-II), where he helped to evaluate high school and transfer prospects and assisted the recruiting coordinator on official visits in a variety of ways during their 11-2 season, where they won the school's first MIAA title.
After just over a year and a half in that capacity, Dudley accepted a role at SMU back in January. He spent the past eight months as a player personnel and recruiting specialist for Rhett Lashlee's program.
SMU used their momentum from the season to ink the 32nd ranked 2025 recruiting class in college football, according to 247. The Mustangs inked a respectable 5 4-star players and 17 3-star guys in that class.
The Buckeyes currently have one of the top ranked 2026 classes in the Big Ten, according to 247. At #9 nationally, Ohio State has two 5-star players and 12 4-star guys signed. USC currently leads the Big Ten's 2026 recruiting rankings with a single 5-star and a whopping 21 4-stars for Lincoln Riley's program, with Oregon not too far behind at #7 with five 5-star commits and ten 4-star players.
Michigan is nipping at the heels of the Buckeyes in the national recruiting rankings with two five-star commits and 13 4-stars.
Dudley joins a recruiting department in Columbus that has established itself as a well-oiled machine. The last time Ohio State's class ranked outside the top five nationally when it was all said and done (per 247 rankings) was 2019.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.