Ohio State will be on the hunt for a new top-level recruiting support staffer less than two months before the 2025 season begins.
Assistant athletic director of player personnel Sam Petitto is leaving the Buckeyes to return to his home state LSU Tigers, per a report from Rivals' Shea Dixon.
BREAKING: LSU has hired Ohio State Director of Player Personnel Sam Petitto.
— Shea Dixon (@Sheadixon) July 11, 2025
Petitto, an Amite native, spent nearly a decade with Nick Saban as Alabama's Director of Personnel Operations.
More on the new front office hire by LSU's Austin Thomas: https://t.co/tpL6nmmw7o pic.twitter.com/K3kJ6Y1Mu2
Petitto, a native of Amite, Louisiana, will serve as LSU's director of scouting and personnel strategy. He spent just one season at Ohio State but earned a national championship ring during its 2024 campaign.
It wasn't Petitto's first time supporting a title-winner. He worked under Nick Saban for the final eight years of his Alabama dynasty, leaving to come to Ohio State after Saban's retirement in January 2024. Petitto was on staff for two of the Crimson Tide's national titles in 2017 and 2020.
Petitto spent two years as Georgia's director of player personnel. His career also includes stops at North Carolina, Grambling State and Southeastern Louisiana.
With Petitto's departure, Ohio State will hire its fourth new director of player personnel to work under general manager Mark Pantoni in as many years. Zach Grant was a one-and-done in 2022 before leaving to become general manager at Cincinnati, then Marc Votteler left for Mississippi State after his lone season in 2023.
