A member of the Penn State football staff is leaving the program.

The XFL has hired Justin King as its manager for football operations, an XFL spokesperson told PennLive on Thursday. He spent the last two years as an assistant recruiting coordinator for the Lions.

King, who starts with the league next week, will work under senior vice president for football operations, Doug Whaley, the spokesperson said. Whaley formerly was the general manager of the Buffalo Bills.

The eight-team XFL is scheduled to begin to play on Feb. 8-9, 2020.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for Justin and his family and we couldn’t be more excited for him,“ Penn State coach James Franklin said in a statement.

”Justin brought so much passion for Penn State to the recruiting department and we are thankful for his contributions. We wish Justin nothing but the best with the XFL.”

An All-Big Ten selection in 2007, King was one of Penn State’s first five-star recruits, as he formed a dynamic duo with fellow five-star Derrick Williams back in the Class of 2005. King went on to play offense and defense for the Lions, as he played receiver for the 2005 team that capped its season with an Orange Bowl victory before starting for two seasons as a corner. He later went on to play in all or parts of six NFL seasons.

King and his stepfather Terry Smith, who has been Penn State’s corners coach since 2014, are both members of the WPIAL Hall of Fame.

Penn State listed a pair of job openings seeking assistant recruiting coordinators on its jobs website this week, one for offense and one for defense. It was not immediately clear if King’s departure was the reason for at least one of those openings or if the program is expanding its recruiting and player personnel department, which is run by Andy Frank.