South Carolina losing key figure in recruiting department to Texas, reports say

South Carolina football and head coach Shane Beamer are reportedly set to lose a key figure in their recruiting operation.

Football Scoop and Inside Texas both reported Sunday that USC director of player personnel Drew Hughes is joining new coach Steve Sarkisian at Texas in a similar role.

A South Carolina spokesperson confirmed Sunday that Hughes is no longer on USC’s staff but could not comment on his next position.

Hughes replaces Derek Chang, who said this week he wouldn’t be back after four seasons as Tom Herman’s director of player personnel at Texas.

Hughes was just at USC one year but held similar positions at Tennessee, Florida, NC State and Central Florida. At Florida, he worked with former Gamecock coach Will Muschamp, who reunited with Hughes in Columbia.

Hughes also was a recruiting specialist at Alabama from 2007-11.

At South Carolina, Hughes was in charge of the Gamecocks’ recruiting department and worked alongside Jessica Jackson, who heads up the on-campus aspect of recruiting, and Justin King and Zach Frehse, who manage the graphics/edits side of things.

“I’ve always said no one works for me, we all work together,” Hughes said in March.

A high school player in Alabama, he planned for a future as a high school coach. He started on the video side, shooting practice. He then started helping the grad assistants break down tape and then found his way to the recruiting room.

He came under the guidance of Ed Marynowitz, who worked for Nick Saban at the start of his tenure with the Crimson Tide, left for the Philadelphia Eagles and later returned. Hughes explained that Marynowitz was one of the pioneers of the personnel industry on the college level, and Lindsey had worked under him.

“That’s when it really clicked for me,” Hughes said. “Once I got into the recruiting side of it, particularly the team-building and the different critical factors that you look for at each position and the all the different elements that go into building a championship team, it just clicked for me.”

This story was originally published January 17, 2021 at 3:00 PM with the headline "South Carolina losing key figure in recruiting department to Texas, reports say."