Penn State football’s Director of Player Personnel, Kenny Sanders, is leaving the program, per On3’s Ryan Snyder. He had been a key member of the recruiting staff under former head coach James Franklin for much of his tenure.

Sanders initially joined the program when Franklin was hired as head coach in 2014 as part of the recruiting staff. After five seasons at Penn State, he was hired as the Director of Recruiting at Oregon in 2019 under former head coach Mario Cristobal, but he returned to Happy Valley prior to the 2021 season and became the Director of Player Personnel a year later.

The departure is a big blow to Penn State’s “DMV” recruiting, as Sanders, a graduate of McDonogh School in Maryland, was a big part in getting some of the premier talent from the region to head to Happy Valley, including McDonogh graduates Dani Dennis-Sutton and PJ Mustipher.

According to On3, Matt Campbell looked to retain Sanders on staff, but he decided to pursue other opportunities. It continues the turnover in the recruiting department for Penn State, which has seen several staffers like Andy Frank, Rashad Elby, and Chris Mahon follow Franklin to Virginia Tech, while others have not been retained.