Looking at the recruiting territories for the Rutgers assistants
Recruiting has changed quite a bit over just the past few years, as each individual assistant coach was previously assigned regions across the country that they were responsible to recruit.
However over the past five years or so, some programs such as Rutgers and others have switched to more position based recruiting for their assistants, with some still handling specific regions.
Today we examine where each of Rutgers Football’s assistant coaches are recruiting and the areas that are specifically assigned to them when it comes to the process.
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OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR KIRK CIARROCCA
The Scarlet Knight offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach is in charge of all quarterback recruiting regardless of location. He decides who they want to offer, and will be the main recruiter for all quarterbacks regardless of location.
Now technically speaking, he’s not alone here as he has his son Cade Ciarrocca on staff, who has been a big help with recruiting quarterbacks. For the most part, Cade builds the early relationship with some of the younger prospects and offers a younger voice in the process to help convince them to become Scarlet Knights.
RUNNING BACKS COACH DAMIERE SHAW
Arguably the top recruiter on staff, Shaw does a little bit of everything on the trail for the Scarlet Knights. Of course he is the main recruiter for the Scarlet Knights when it comes to running backs, but he also has some regions he focuses on, including South Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania where he was born and raised.
There’s also been times where if they need to close on a top target, they will assign Shaw to that prospect with the hopes that he can get it done. For example, he’s been the main recruiter for WR Dyzier Carter, OL Jared Smith and EDGE Wydeek Collier this cycle alone.
WIDE RECEIVERS COACH DAVE BROCK
The veteran offensive assistant coach hasn’t really focused on specific region since his return to the banks, as he’s mostly just been the main recruiter for wide receiver recruits since he will be working with them in the future.
TIGHT ENDS COACH SCOTT VALLONE
Along with being the main contact for tight end prospects, Vallone also has a couple of different regions that he is the main recruiter for such as his hometown area of Long Island, New York and the state of North Carolina.
Since being promoted to recruiting on the road a few years ago, Vallone has built up some strong bonds specifically in North Carolina. So much so, that one coach from the state told TKR recently that they nicknamed him Hurricane Vallone, since he’s coming down to NC and scooping up all the talent recently.
On top of all that, Vallone will also help out with offensive line recruiting since he was working with that unit from 2020-23.
OFFENSIVE LINE COACH PAT FLAHERTY
When Flaherty was first hired prior to the 2023 season, he had Scott Vallone helping out a good amount on the recruiting trail since he was the assistant offensive line coach at the time. However in 2024, he was promoted to tight ends coach and while he still helps out with some O-Line recruiting, it’s not as much as it was before.
Now when Flaherty was hired, there was a bit of a narrative that he wouldn’t be going out too much on the recruiting trail. However he’s out to prove that one wrong, as he’s brought in a strong offensive line class in 2025 and continued that momentum into this 2026 class.
For the most part, he will play a role in recruiting just about every offensive line prospect that the program recruits.
DEFENSIVE LINE COACHES
There’s three defensive line coaches right now in Colin Ferrell, who holds the title defensive line coach, Julian Campenni who is the defensive ends coach, and now Charlie Noonan who is the defensive tackles coach.
For the most part, Ferrell will be involved with just about every defensive line recruit, whereas the other two coaches (Campenni, Noonan) will recruit their respective position groups.
However Noonan being a Pennsylvania native has him helping out some there and he’s also built some ties to the New England schools during his time at Holy Cross, so he will play a big role with those prospects as well.
CO-DC / LINEBACKERS COACH ZACH SPARBER
One of of the program’s new assistant coaches this offseason, Sparber will handle all the linebacker recruiting. On top of that, he will likely play a role in recruiting the Big North schools since he’s a Bergen Catholic alumni.
DEFENSIVE BACK COACHES
Cornerback coach David Rowe and Safeties coach Vic Hall both have split the duties of recruiting defensive back prospects. For the most part, Rowe will focus on corners and Hall on safeties, but there’s been times where the two of them are recruiting the same recruit or even the opposite positions.
Along with DB recruiting, Rowe also plays a big role in recruiting Florida recruits since he is the lone Florida native among the full time assistant coaches.
SPECIAL TEAMS ASSISTANT EDDIE ALLEN
Despite not being an official Special Teams Coordinator, Allen is the most senior special teams coach on staff and is responsible for all special teams recruiting.
