Rutgers Football kicked off its 2026 recruiting class on Monday, landing a commitment from 3-star quarterback Gavin Sidwar out of La Salle College High School in Pennsylvania. Sidwar is rated as a 5.6 three-star and the 34th-ranked quarterback in the class with an impressive offer list.
Similarly to the Scarlet Knights' 2025 recruiting class with Sean Ashenfelder, 2026 starts with head coach Greg Schiano locking in a signal-caller to open the class.
"I chose Rutgers because of the family atmosphere," Sidwar told TKR. "Also the level of genuine feeling shown from the staff was like no other. How they will be there forever and the true family it is. Along with how great they are as football coaches."
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After being recruited by offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca, Sidwar chose Rutgers over nine other offers, including Big Ten programs Indiana, and Maryland. While he has yet to take an official visit, he had taken unofficial visits to several schools on his offer list, including Rutgers twice.
"Coach Ciarrocca and I just have a true connection," said Sidwar. "We talk ball, but everything outside of it too. He’s a great guy and we mesh well."
The Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania-native first earned his offer from the Scarlet Knights on May 3rd after throwing in front of Ciarrocca and eventually meeting wth Schiano. The staff was also quick to reach out to Sidwar on June 15th, the first day coaches can contact rising junior recruits. He also participated in Rutgers' 7-on-7 camp on June 22nd with Torrey Smith’s Level 82 squad.
Though Sidwar had originally planned on announcing his college decision during his junior year of high school, he switched course and instead committed to Rutgers, as Schiano and staff have been able to close out commitments with ease during the 2025 cycle and now get a head start with 2026.
"Honestly I've known for about four days now I wanted to commit, but I just knew it was time and made my decision today."
Now Sidwar is only the first commit for the Scarlet Knights this recruiting cycle, but he has his eyes set on getting a Northeast four-star recruit to join him in this class.
"I've already been working getting Chris Hewitt to join us," he said. "I've been telling him how Rutgers is home, it’s a family atmosphere and there no better culture and place to play build."
In his sophomore season for the Explorers, Sidwar threw for 2,439 yards and 29 touchdowns through the air.
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