Ohio State Rewards Key Member Of Buckeyes' 2025 Title Run

Ohio State General Manager Mark Pantoni has been a huge part of the success the Buckeyes have had since he followed Urban Meyer to Columbus.

Mark Pantoni, Ohio State football's director for player personnel, said he expects 51 official recruiting visits and between 150-200 unofficial visits in June. R677tlyhtel9mqowlqr0wqmhkq / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch via Imagn Content Services, LLC

The Ohio State Buckeyes may not have won the 2025 College Football Playoff if not for General Manager Mark Pantoni.

The GM of team is still an newer concept for the public in college football, but people like Pantoni aren't much different than their much more well-known NFL counterparts. College football has always been big business, but it's now almost 100-percent out in the open. That's the big difference between 2015 and 2025.

While Ryan Day and his staff coaches the team, the general manager helps put it together and manages it. Pantoni has been fantastic at that for Ohio State, and the fruits of his labor was the Buckeyes' recent championship win.

Ultimately, he's also getting paid, because Pete Nakos of On3 is reporting that Pantoni and Ohio State have agreed on a new multi-year deal. This will make him one of the highest-paid general managers in college football, and that's a title that's well-deserved.

Pantoni has been at Ohio State since Urban Meyer's first season so he's now help build and manage two championship teams in over 10 years in Columbus. The Buckeyes have been dominant on the recruiting trail in this time period, which Pantoni has something to do with.

Now in the NIL and transfer portal era, his role has become even more important. Heading into this past season, Pantoni helped Ohio State put together one of the top transfer portal classes in the nation. That was a group of players that came to Columbus that included quarterback Will Howard from Kansas State, running back Quinshon Judkins from Ole Miss and safety Caleb Downs from Alabama.

All three played a major role in Ohio State's championship run this past season, and Pantoni deserves some of the credit as well. He's been doing this at a high level in Columbus since 2012, and the expectation is he'll keep the Buckeyes on the winning path moving forward thanks to this new contract.

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