Urban Meyer adds familiar faces Voltolini, Pantoni to administrative staff

New Ohio State head football coach Urban Meyer added two members to his coaching staff Monday, both of whom worked under Meyer during his coaching tenure at Florida.

Brian Voltolini will serve as the program’s director of football operations and Mark Pantoni will serve as the director of player personnel.

“I am really pleased that Brian Voltolini and Mark Pantoni wanted to be a part of the football program at The Ohio State University,” Meyer said in a press release. “I have spent considerable time working with each and I certainly appreciate the passion and the effort that both bring to their positions every day.”

Voltolini, an Idaho native, has worked with Meyer dating back to 2001 when Meyer was coaching at Bowling Green and followed him to Utah and eventually to Florida.

As director of football operations, Voltolini will manage the football program’s budget, scholarships, team travel, housing, camps and clinics.

“Brian not only has a sharp awareness of what needs to be done for an efficient, fluid operation of a football program,” Meyer said in the release, “but he also has that keen sense of knowing what the program needs from an operations perspective. And I appreciate that greatly.”

Pantoni, a Florida native, will mostly be involved in helping the program in its recruiting efforts. He spent the past five years working for Florida including the previous two years as the Gators’ recruiting program coordinator.

During his time at Florida, Pantoni helped Meyer put on Friday Night Lights, a summer recruiting showcase in which invited players competed at night and under the lights. Friday Night Lights was considered an instrumental recruiting tool and many have speculated Meyer would bring a similar idea to OSU.

“Mark has proven abilities at organizing recruiting efforts and in building relationships with prospects and their families,” Meyer said. “I have seen how well he understood recruiting in the state of Florida and nationally, and I am certain his efforts are going to be well-received in the state of Ohio. He is one of the hardest working people I have been around.”