Veteran coach and recruiting specialist Will Cinelli has been named executive director of personnel and recruiting for the Ball State football program, and Demetrius Murray has been named as director of player personnel for defense, as announced by Cardinals' head coach Mike Neu.

Cinelli, who will lead recruiting efforts for the Ball State offense, is welcomed on the Cardinals' coaching staff following his stint the past two seasons as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at NAIA Pikeville University in Kentucky. He was a lead recruiter for the Bears during his two years at Pikeville, following a career in which he has coached high school and college athletes, briefly served as interim head coach at St. Augustine HS in San Diego, and operated in either a recruiting capacity or football operations role throughout the past 10 years. He graduated from Northwestern University in 2010 and earned a master's degree in 2012 from University of St. Francis, where he began his career in operations and coaching.

Cinelli heads the Cardinals' newly shaped player personnel staff that also features Murray, who steps into his new role after two years of graduate assistant work, with Ball State last season and Tennessee-Chattanooga in 2022. Murray spent four years on the Ball State roster from 2017-20, earning three letters and helping the Cardinals to the 2020 Mid-American Conference Championship and the program's first-ever bowl victory over San Jose State in the Offerpad Arizona Bowl.

"I'm really happy we are able to expand our player personnel staff by adding Will and Demetrius," said Neu, referring to what was previously a one-man position. "Will has a diverse football background and will be a great asset for us in our recruiting efforts. Demetrius will continue to lead our program as a former player, graduate assistant and now, recruiter."

Rounding out the staff are four graduate assistant coaches who will join returning offensive GA Jack Connolly. Paxton Cottrell assists Connolly on the offensive side of the ball, with Josh Lawrence and Mayomi "Mayo" Olootu supporting the defense. Jack Wellenhofer has been hired as a special teams graduate assistant.

Cottrell played on the offensive line at Wofford and served on the Tennessee Chattanooga staff at the same time as Murray, while Lawrence was previously a defensive GA at UT Chattanooga after assisting the football team as an undergraduate assistant at North Carolina. Olootu, who played cornerback at Northern Illinois, returns to the MAC after coaching at McKinney High School near his hometown in Allen, Texas. Wellenhofer, a former long-snapper at UNC-Charlotte, was a special teams coordinator at Brevard College in North Carolina, since 2021.

The Cardinals open spring workouts on Sunday, February 25.