Nico Yankto made a bold hire for a new direction in Murray State football this week when dived into the Southeastern Conference and hired Jody Wright away from South Carolina.
Now, Wright is working to further assemble a top-flight inaugural staff for his stint atop the Racers program.
Sources tell FootballScoop that Wright is hiring Tyler Zielenske as Murray State's special teams coordinator.
A former placekicker at Mercer, Zielenske spent the past season as an analyst learning under noted special teams coach Pete Lembo; he's also worked previously at both Pittsburgh and Texas State.
He's also worked at Memphis and South Alabama.
Elsewhere, former University of Tennessee player Jimmy Ogle, whose career on Rocky Top spanned the end of the Johnny Majors era and the onset of Phillip Fulmer's run, will join the Murray State staff as an offensive assistant (position tbd).
Ogle has prep coaching experience as well as several additional stops, including a lengthy run at Jacksonville State. Ogle coached at his alma mater before he helped Knox Central High School to a runner-up finish in the TSSAA State Championship as an offensive assistant at the prep level.
Nick Williams, who played collegiately at Alabama for the legendary Nick Saban and also launched his coaching career with the Crimson Tide, is set to coach the Racers's wideouts for Wright.
Williams, with stops at Alabama, Jacksonville State and multiple seasons as a quality control coach in the NFL for the New York Giants, is himself a former wideout who has deep recruiting ties in the South. His father is former Michigan State head coach and longtime coaching veteran Bobby Williams.
Will update as more hires are clear. As always stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest coaching news.