The Vest was recruiting the night he was announced. Dustin Fox said he was watching the Buckeyes basketball game and they rolled Tres out at halftime. 20 minutes later the phone rang and it was Tressel, from a phone in the arena, working on convincing him to change his mind and play for the Bucks.
You don't need a staff or an office set up or anything else to get started on recruiting. Just the numbers of the guys you want to target first, and a phone.
Fox went to OSU, btw.