With two new assistant coaching hires last week (Damiere Shaw, Corey Hetherman), some might think that Rutgers Football is done with hiring assistants this offseason.
However with Hetherman coming in as linebackers coach, the rumor is that former LBs coach Bob Fraser will be moving to an off the field role, while remaining with the program. This means that the Scarlet Knights still have one more open spot on their coaching staff.
If you look at the current staff, there is also some room for movement as head coach Greg Schiano hinted at in his press conference last week.
“In this day and age of college football, you have to be ready to pivot all the time, whether it's players, whether it's staff, and the staffs are large,” Schiano said via his press conference. “You have recruiting staffs, personnel staffs that are working behind the scenes. You have quality control coaches that are working behind the scenes. I think matching them with the right position coach and matching them with recruiting staff, all of that's critical. I've been working really, really hard on that since the bowl game really. Really before the bowl game, to get the right people in the right seats. You know the old saying you've got to get them on the bus, but you've got to get them on the right seats on the bus, as well. That's really been my challenge. I think within not too long, I'll be able to make some announcements on that, but just not ready quite today.”
With all that being said, TKR decided to go position by position offering a reason why our staff could see Rutgers hiring for that position as well as a few possible candidates at that spot.
QUARTERBACK.....
WHY? This one is probably the most unlikely of all the position groups as Sean Gleeson seems to have a pretty good handle of this group. Everywhere he has gone, he has also handled the quarterbacks and I don’t see that changing. However could a different set of eyes help out the position group that has seen its struggles over the years?
POTENTIAL NAMES…
– Boston College TEs coach Steve Shimko (Former Rutgers QB under Schiano)
– Texas QC Mike Bimonte (Former Rutgers QB / NJ native)
– Rutgers offensive assistant TJ Weyl
– Former Don Bosco HC Mike Teel (Former Rutgers QB under Schiano)
RUNNING BACK.....
WHY? Now this is where things get interesting as Schiano hinted there could be some movement along the staff and all signs point towards Augie Hoffman helping out more with the OLine as he’s been mentioned as the main point of contact for a lot of the recent OL transfers and commits.
POTENTIAL NAMES……
– Boston College asst. RBs coach Savon Huggins (Former Rutgers RB, recruited by Schiano)
– Out the Door Academy RBs coach Earnest Byner (Tampa Bay Bucs RBs coach ‘12-’13)
– Rutgers Offensive Asst. Jamel Mutunga (Former Princeton RBs coach)
– Gonzaga High School HC Randy Trivers (Rutgers RBs coach in ‘09)
WIDE RECEIVER.....
FILLED. With the recent hire of Damiere Shaw as the new wide receivers coach replacing Tiquan Underwood, it seems like this is extremely unlikely. So we won’t even dig into details here.
TIGHT END.....
WHY? Like stated above, Schiano hinted at some switches within the coaching staff and with current TEs coach Nunzio Campanile having experience at multiple positions, it would make sense for him to move to a different position group and allow Rutgers to add another recruiter to the staff.
POTENTIAL NAMES….
– Former Lafayette HC John Garrett (Tampa Bay Bucs WRs coach under Schiano)
– Boston College TEs coach Steve Shimko (Former Rutgers QB under Schiano)
– Carolina Panthers TEs coach Brian Angelicho (Rutgers TEs coach in ‘11 / Tampa Bay Bucs TEs coach in ‘13)
OFFENSIVE LINE.....
WHY? Now this is pure speculation here, but Aurich has experience coaching running backs, tight ends and offensive line, along with even some time coaching defense. So there are options for him to move to another position if need be and this could allow for Rutgers to change it up along the OL, whether that be switching Hoffman to full time OL coach or hiring someone else.
POTENTIAL NAMES……
– Wisconsin ILBs Bob Bostad (Tampa Bay Bucs OL coach in ‘12-’13)
– Rutgers Offensive Asst. Scott Vallone (Former Rutgers DL under Schiano)
– Robert Morris AHC/OL Rod Holder (Former Rutgers OL coach in ‘14)
– Rutgers Offensive Asst. Phill Guard (Offensive Line asst.)
DEFENSIVE LINE.....
Similar to the wide receivers spot, this one is also very unlikely as Marquise Watson came to Rutgers to run the defensive line room. Now could Schiano and crew hire a defensive ends coach to help him out in terms of development and recruiting? Sure why not, so let’s have some fun with this one and speculate a few different names that could be added.
POTENTIAL NAMES……
– Former Arkansas State DL coach Ed Pinkham (Rutgers DC in ‘09-’10)
– Thiel College DC/LBs John Harakal (Rutgers Asst. DL coach in ‘09)
– Rutgers defensive asst. Charlie Noonan (Former Rutgers DT under Schiano)
– Rutgers quality control Jamaal Westerman (Former Rutgers DE under Schiano)
LINEBACKERS.....
Now again similar to the wide receivers and defensive line position groups, the Scarlet Knights also just hired a new linebackers coach in Corey Hetherman. However it is possible they could target an outside backers coach to help him and the defense out as a whole. There aren’t many names at this time that could fill that role, but here are a few because speculating is fun.
POTENTIAL NAMES……
– Columbia DC/AHC Paul Ferraro (Former Rutgers DC from ‘01-’04)
– Air Force DL Bill Sheridan (Former Tampa Bay Bucs DC from ‘12-’13)
– Former Houston DC/LBs Marc D’Onofrio (Rutgers LBs from ‘01-’03)
DEFENSIVE BACKS.....
Now yes this Fran Brown’s room and Rutgers did just add a DC who has a good track record with developing defensive backs in Joe Harasymiak, add in head coach Greg Schiano who specializes in DB development/coaching and there isn’t really a need for another DBs coach. However DB coaches are usually the best recruiters out there, so if you have a chance to add another recruiting shark, you do it – no questions asked. Plus there are a ton of possible names that could fit here.
POTENTIAL NAMES…..
– Houston CBs coach David Rowe (Former DB under Schiano)
– Western Michigan CBs coach Marvin Clecidor (Rutgers GA in 2011)
– New England Patriots QC Ross Doulas (Former Rutgers player / Asst.)
– Rutgers Defensive Asst. Drew Lascari (Former Don Bosco OC)
– Rutgers Asst. Director of Recruiting Matt Hewitt (SEC experience)
– Akron CBs coach Tre Bell (St. Peter’s Prep alum / NJ native)
– NCCU CBs coach Ty Greenwood (South Jersey Native)
Now there's no telling where the staff could go with this one and technically there hasn't even been an open spot announced as of now, but with Hetherman taking over linebackers it means either Bob Fraser will transition to an off the field role or he will be coaching a different spot in 2022. Only time will tell, but for now speculation is fun.
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