Devan Carter Commits to Rutgers

Brighton High School (Rochester, NY) running back Devan Carter verbally committed to Rutgers on Monday, becoming the 22nd member of the Knight's 2013 recruiting class. He had previously been committed to Syracuse, and he switched his commitment after making an official visit to the Piscataway this past weekend. Current Rutgers linebacker and fellow Rochester native Quentin Gause is a friend of his, and he helped sway his decision. Carter ran for 1440 yards and 14 TDs as a junior with the Barons.

Measurables: 6'3'' 230 pounds 4.54 40 yard dash

Stars:

Rivals	ESPN	Scout	247
2 Star ILB	3 stars, #127 OLB, #6 in NY	2 Star OLB	2 stars, #78 ILB, #17 in NY

Offer Sheet: Syracuse was the only other school to offer him a scholarship. Buffalo, UConn and UMass showed some interest in him.

Injury: Carter suffered a spiral fracture to his fibula and missed most of last season.

Scouting Report: Carter is a very big and strong back with plenty of speed and athleticism. As a ball carrier, he displays very good balance, speed in the open field, and is very tough to bring down, but he is pretty raw overall. Playing against a very low level of competition in upstate New York, he has not really been challenged, and thus he has just been able to rely purely on his size, strength and speed. He runs very high, leaving himself susceptible to being hit, and he has not had to develop the necessary vision or patience a running back needs. He was recruited by Syracuse as a linebacker, and the feeling is he will out grow tailback. A move to defense or fullback is in the cards for him at the college level.

Video:

My Take: Carter's blend of size, strength and athleticism makes him an interesting developmental player at linebacker or fullback (which is the position I think he belong at). If he can pick up blocking, I think he could be a future starter at fullback, capable of being a threat out of the backfield as a runner and receiver. Rutgers' depth at the position was a problem last year, and although he would ideally redshirt next season, he gives them another body at the position for 2013. Poaching a recruit from Syracuse is always fun too, especially when their fans overreact and bring up their Rutgers conspiracy theories.

Offensive Coordinator Candidates

Now that Dave Brock has moved on to become the head coach at Delaware, Rutgers must search for a new offensive coordinator for the fourth year in a row. They could take this opportunity to reevaluate the style of offense they run, but I don't see that happening, and frankly, I don't think they should make a change. Rutgers has and can recruit the personnel you need to have a successful traditional* offense, and Kyle Flood clearly prefers this style.

When asked what qualifications he was looking for in a new coordinator, Flood mentioned only one thing: previous coordinating experience. So that gives us a somewhat clearer picture when thinking of potential candidates. For this list, I tried to slim it down further to coaches who have some background in the north east, even though that's not a must, and mostly to coaches who have run a traditional style of offense, with a few spread coaches just in case. Even with these things in mind, there are plenty of  quality options available.

*I'm not going to use the term pro style anymore. The term was very vague in the first place, and with NFL offenses incorporating more and more concepts from the college game, the term is obsolete. So for now, I'm going to refer to the style of offense Rutgers runs as "traditional."
Accepted NFL Job After I Already Started his Post

John McNulty Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Coach (Clarks Summit, PA)
McNulty was an assistant at Rutgers from 2004-2008, first as the wide receiver coach and then as the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. He took over coordinating duties in 2006, and he oversaw the best offenses in school history during his three seasons as a play caller. In 2009, he joined Ken Whisenhunt's staff with the Arizona Cardinals as a receivers coach, before being promoted to QB coach in 2012. Arizona brought in a new coaching staff this offseason, forcing him to look for a new job, and unsurprisingly, he rejoined Greg Schiano in Tampa Bay as the QB coach. It was a long shot for Rutgers to land him again anyway. He interviewed for the head coaching job last year, and I highly doubt he would want to come back for a lesser role after being passed over.
 
Matt Cavanaugh QB Coach Chicago Bears
Cavanaugh has been an NFL assistant coach for a long time, as both a QB coach and a coordinator. He worked most recently as QB coach with the Jets and he has plenty of previous coordinating experience at the highest level with the Bears ('97-'98) and Ravens ('99-'04). His only collegiate coaching experience came at Pitt, where he was an offensive assistant from 1992-1993 and then the offensive coordinator under Dave Wannstedt from 2005-2008. He joined Marc Trestman's staff in Chicago on Friday.

Available

Ralph Friedgeon Former Head Coach Maryland (Harrison, NY)
Friedgeon was fired by Maryland after the 2010 season in which the Terps finished 9-4 and ranked 23 in the final AP Poll. He has not coached since. His offenses at Maryland went through extreme ups and downs, but he was a very successful coordinator with the San Diego Chargers and at Georgia Tech prior to that. He runs a traditional, ball control offense that takes a lot of shots down the field, so he seems to be the kind of coach Rutgers will probably be looking for. The big question is if he has any motivation to get back into coaching and even if he does, would he want to be only an assistant?

Mark Whipple Former (?) Cleveland Browns QB Coach (Tarrytown, NY)
Whipple runs a pro style offense, but he is more of an air it out type of coach, predicating his offense on the vertical passing game. He was a highly successful head coach at UMass, winning a D1-AA national championship in 1998, but he left the Minutemen to become the quarterback coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2004. With the Steelers, he coached a young Ben Roethlisberger during his first three seasons in the NFL, and he was apart of a staff that won a Super Bowl in 2005. He was most recently a coordinator at Miami in 2009-2010, and he had some success there before returning to the NFL.

Jeremy Bates Former Chicago Bears QB Coach
Bates, the son of a coach, is only 36 but he has spent quite a few years as a QB coach in the NFL. He coached with the Jets and Broncos before moving on to his first coordinating job, at USC in 2009. He only spent one season there before following Pete Carroll to the Seahawks, again as a coordinator, and he was fired after one season in Seattle. He spent the last two seasons as a QB coach with the Bears, and he was let go along with the rest of the offensive staff after Lovie Smith was fired.

Dana Bible Former Offensive Coordinator North Carolina State
Bible has been an offensive coordinator at various stops since 1986, save for the three years he spent as the QB coach for the Cincinnati Bengals in the early '90s. He was the Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator in 1998, and most recently, he was the offensive coordinator at Boston College and North Carolina State under Tom O'Brien. He runs a traditional offense that has been pass heavy in recent years, and he has done a great job developing quarterbacks, with Matt Ryan, Russell Wilson and Mike Glennon amongst his protege. He is on the market now that new Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren hired a Matt Canada as his offensive coordinator.

Mike O'Cain Former QB Coach Virginia Tech
O'Cain was the head coach at NC State from 1993-99, and has been a coordinator at three ACC stops (North Carolina, Clemson, Virginia Tech) since then. He was most recently at Virginia Tech, and he was fired after this past season. He runs a ball control offense, usually out of traditional sets, but he and the Hokies made a half assed attempt at the pistol in '12, after he lost coordinating duties.

Internal Options

Norries Wilson RB Coach Rutgers
Wilson would be the preferred candidate if they promote from with in. He was the offensive coordinator at Connecticut back when they had a competent offense (2002-2005) and he was even a finalist for the Broyles award in '04, when the Huskies led the Big East in total and scoring offense. He also coached UConn's offensive line coach during his time in Storrs and was a coordinator at Bucknell prior to that. He came to Rutgers last year after a head coaching stint at Columbia, and he did a great job helping Jawan Jamison rush for over 1000 yards while also bringing Savon Huggins along nicely.

Rob Spence QB Coach Rutgers (Pellham, NY)
Spence has 15 years of coordinating experience at six different stops. He was a very good coordinator at his initial stops at smaller programs like Hofstra, Louisiana Tech and Toledo, but he hasn't been able to replicate that success in BCS conferences. He had a disastrous end to his tenure at Clemson and then was a flop in his two seasons at Syracuse. He had a...let's say up and down year in his first season on the Banks, coaching QBs. Gary Nova took some steps forward as a passer, but he looked lost at times and had a couple horrific games that he looked unprepared for.

Would Have to Buy Pry Them Away

Warren Ruggiero Offensive Coordinato Bowling Green (Glen Rock, NJ)
Ruggerio was the quarterback coach at Hofstra during Kyle Flood's final two seasons with the Pride and the QB coach at Kansas State during Dave Brock's only season as the Wildcats' offensive coordinator. Since 2009, he has been the offensive coordinator at Bowling Green, where he had a very good offense in his first season, and some not so good offenses since then. He runs a spread attack with the Falcons, and he also served as a coordinator at Elon.

Jeff Jagodzinski Georgia State Offensive Coordinator
Jagodzinski is a curious case. He was a successful coordinator with the Packers, and went 20-8 as the head coach at Boston College, but he was fired for interviewing with the Jets for the head coaching job after the 2008 season, and hasn't been able to land on his feet. He was hired as the Buccaneers offensive coordinator in 2009, but he was fired before the regular season, and he's been in the UFL and at small schools since then.

Tim Albin Ohio Offensive Coordinator
Albin has conducted some very good offenses for the Bobcats since 2005, under Frank Solich. He also has coordinating experience from his time at North Dakota State, and he was also an assistant with Solich at Nebraska. He has run the pistol offense in recent years.

Bob Stitt Head Coach Colorado School of the Mines
Stitt is a complete wild card here. He has been a very successful head coach at Colorado School of the Mines, which is an engineering school with extremely tough academics restrictions that plays at the division 2 level, but he may want to make the move to the FBS level as a coordinator. He was a candidate for offensive coordinator jobs at other FBS schools, but he either did not want to leave or was passed over. He runs a spread offense (he has studied the west coast offense too), and he supposedly created the fly sweep pass play that West Virginia torched Clemson with in the 2012 Orange Bowl.

Candidates I Did Not Think Of

Brian Angelichio TE Coach Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Ilion, NY)
Angelichio was the tight end coach at Rutgers for one year, 2011, before following Greg Schiano to Tampa Bay. Prior to that, he was the tight ends coach at Pittsburgh for 5 seasons and the offensive coordinator at Ithica College from 2000-2005. He's also a great recruiter, and he helped land a number of recruits from eastern Pennsylvania for Rutgers' 2012 class.

Brian White RB Coach Florida (Groveland, MA)
White is a Harvard grad and he has been at Florida since 2009, first as the tight end coach and now as the running back coach. He has 8 years of coordinating experience at Wisconsin (1999-2005), and then at Syracuse (2006-07). He might be "out of Rutgers' price range", but if they can not shell out $300K for a coordinator when the head coach is making less than $1,000,000, I will be pissed.

Rutgers will have a new offensive coordinator for the fourth year in a row next season, and all that turnover is not necessarily a bad thing. There are plenty of quality coaches out there who can come in and significantly improve the offense. The Knights will likely stick with a traditional style of offense, but there is a small chance they could go in another direction. With the impending move to the Big 10, I expect this job to generate a lot of interest from coaches around the country, and Rutgers needs to make a home run hire.

For what it's worth, my preference goes as follows: Bible, Friedgen, Whipple, Wilson.

OC Dave Brock Will Reportedly be Named Delaware's Head Coach

Rutgers' offensive coordinator Dave Brock will be named the next head coach at the University of Delaware later today, according to Kevin Tresolini of The News Journal. Brock will take over the Blue Hen program after the shocking dismissal of KC Keeler, and although he has no ties to the school, he was the logical choice for the job. He has plenty of familiarity with their football program from his time at Hofstra (they were in the same conference), as well as strong ties to the north east and a solid track record as an assistant coach and recruiter at both the FCS and FBS level. He also reportedly impressed Delaware AD Eric Ziaday while they were both at Boston College a few years ago, and that certainly helped in landing him this gig.

For Rutgers, this means they will have their fourth offensive coordinator in four years next season. It would have been nice to keep some continuity at a position that has had so much turn over recently, but this move is probably beneficial for all parties involved. The Scarlet Knight offense struggled mightily at the end of the 2012 season under Brock, but it's unclear how much of the blame falls on him. Kyle Flood wanted to have an extremely conservative offense and win with defense and special teams, and Brock never really seemed to make his mark on the offense. Maybe a coordinator who Flood doesn't have as much of a history with will take more control. Brock did have a few great games as a play caller against USF, Temple, and Arkansas, but he had some pretty awful games too, against Virginia Tech, Pitt, and Army. He also served as the wide receivers coach and did a pretty good job with that group this year. Good luck to him at Delaware.

(Rutgers' linebacker coach Dave Cohen was also a candidate for this vacancy.)

Recruit Profile: Lester Liston

Linebacker Lester Liston of Grand Blanc, Michigan (which happens to be the hometown of Twitter legend Karl Welzein) became Rutgers' 16th 2013 commit back in September. Liston committed Cincinnati in 2012, but he did not qualify and he had to attend Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia as a post grad this year. While in high school, he forged a strong bond with current Rutgers' linebacker coach Dave Cohen while Cohen was coaching at Western Michigan, and although he didn't pick the Broncos a year ago, he "wanted to play for him, but was not sold on Western." He committed as soon as Cohen made him an offer on the Knights' behalf. He had 98 tackles as a senior at Grand Blanc High.

Measurables: 6'2 215 lbs 4.94 40 yard dash

Stars:

Rivals	ESPN	Scout	247
3 star LB	3 stars, #50 OLB, #9 in MI	3 stars, #56 OLB	3 star ILB, #23 in VA

Offer Sheet: Liston also had offers from Akron, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, and Western Michigan. It's unclear how much his qualifying status effected his list of offers.

Scouting Report: Liston is a very physical player who has a thick, stocky build. He is a violent hitter, delivering some crushing blows while leading with his shoulder, but he needs to work on his tackling technique, as he hits high and does not always wrap up. He is very good at disengaging from blockers, using both his strength and his excellent hand work, allowing him to make a lot of plays. His hand work also makes him a good pass rusher, with the swim move being his go to technique. Liston has plenty of speed and athleticism, and thus is a very good player in space, capable of containing the edge. He also has great closing speed, allowing him to play sideline to sideline and catch ball carriers from behind. He has pretty good instincts diagnosing run plays, and he is instinctive and fluid when dropping into coverage.

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My Take: Liston is a very strong player with good size, and he probably will not need to redshirt, as he is enrolling early. He could contribute right away on special teams, and with Rutgers losing a bunch of guys at linebacker, he could also make the two deep. With his ability to disengage from blockers, play in space and cover, he should be able to play either middle linebacker or strong side linebacker. He is a solid all around player, and he could become a starting caliber player if he improves his tackling technique. Liston also marks Rutgers' first inroad in the midwest, an area that will be more accessible to Rutgers as they make the move to the Big 10 in 2014.

Recruiting Update: Florida Invasion?

National Signing day is just 27 days away, and although Rutgers has a pretty strong class so far, they must close strong in order for the 2013 class to match the great 2011 and 2012 classes they brought in. The stretch run until signing day has gotten off to a pretty bad start, with one of their top prospects decommitting and one of NJ's top recruits taking his talents to South Beach, but there are still plenty of prospects out there for them to get to significantly improve their class. The recent move to the Big 10 has put Rutgers on the radar of some national recruits, and the Scarlet Knights might be able to take advantage of the coaching carousel as well. One of the main reasons Kyle Flood was promoted to head coach was because of his recruiting prowess, and he's going to have to show it down the stretch.

Let's start with the bad news. Florida linebacker Skai Moore has decomitted from Rutgers, just a month after giving his verbal commitment. His family has apparently taken over his recruitment and they seem to be dead set on sending him to an SEC school. Moore was possibly Rutgers top recruit and losing him hurts a lot. He could have come in and played right away at a position of need for Rutgers. I wouldn't totally shut the door on him coming to the banks, but it is highly doubtful at this point. He canceled the official visit he was scheduled to take later this month.

Rutgers also lost out on Don Bosco defensive end Alquadin Muhammad. Muhammad picked Miami at the Army All American Game on Saturday, and in fact, he didn't even have a Rutgers hat on stage with him when he made his decision (in addition to Miami, he had a Notre Dame and Alabama hat up there). It was long beleived he was headed to Notre Dame, so him going to Miami is a bit of an upset. It seems like he never really considered Rutgers that strongly.

Now for the good news. Doug Marrone has accepted the head coaching position with the Buffalo Bills, and Rutgers now has the opportunity to poach some of Syracuse's recruits. The Orange have a pretty weak class overall, but one guy who has drawn interest from Rutgers is running back Augustus Edwards. Edwards is from Staten Island, NY, and he will visit Piscataway on January 25. He will also take visits to Miami and Florida State at some point. He is just "looking around."

With Moore out of the picture, Rutgers will probably go harder after another Florida linebacker, Jerod Fernandez. Fernandez was a high school teammate of Rutgers commit Taylor Marini, and he will be taking an official visit to Rutgers on January 25. He is currently committed to North Carolina State, but he is looking around after Tom O'Brien was given the boot in Raleigh. Fernandez reportedly said he would decommit if the Wolfpack fired their linebacker coach, Jon Tenuta, and although Tenuta was not fired, he recently left the program to accept the same position at Virginia.

The biggest prize left on the table for the Scarlet Knights is Florida cornerback Mackensie Alexander. Alexander is the 37th best recruit in the nation according to Rivals, and he recently named Rutgers as the co-leader for his services, along with Clemson. It is believed that he is a package deal with his twin brother, Mackenro, who is a safety, because their mother does not want to "have to go from place to place to see them play." They are both likely to make an official visit to Rutgers at some point. Mike Farrell of Rivals dubs Mackensie as "one of the most unpredictable prospects" and says "he may take things beyond signing day."

Other big names still considering the Scarlet Knights are Tampa, Florida tight end Travis Johnson and Immaculata (Somerville, NJ) defensive end Tashawn Bower. Johnson is the number 2 tight end in the country according to ESPN, and he is scheduled to make an official visit to Rutgers on the 25th. In addition to RU, he is considering USF, Cincinnati and Missouri. Bower will make an official visit on a date that has yet to be determined. He says he's still committed to Auburn after Gene Chizik was let go, but he is visiting Florida, Florida State, and LSU as well, and he may wait until after signing day to sign his letter of intent.

Rutgers has a solid recruiting class so far, but with the impending move to the Big 10, it needs to be better. There are a lot of talented players still interested, and Flood and the rest of the coaching staff must close strong down the stretch to get them on board. Signing day is fast approaching, and they must stop the bleeding and get this class up to the standards the last two classes have set.

Recruit Profile: Nadir Barnwell

Athlete Nadir Barnwell of Piscataway High School (Piscataway, NJ) became the 17th member of Rutgers' 2013 recruiting class back in September. Barnwell played both quarterback and corner back for the Chiefs, winning two state titles and throwing for over 3000 yard in his career, and he will play corner at Rutgers. Piscataway has produced a lot of defensive back talent recently in Malcolm Jenkins and Kyle Wilson, who are both in the NFL, and a lot of talent for the Scarlet Knights, most notably Anthony Davis, amongst many others. Rutgers has missed out on a number of New Jersey's top recruits this recruiting cycle, so Barnwell (who is the state's 7th best prospect according to Rivals) is a huge coup for Kyle Flood and his staff.

Measurables: 6'0'' 190 lbs 4.64 40 yard dash

Stars:

Rivals	ESPN	Scout	247
4 stars, #201 overall, #11 athlete, #7 in NJ	4 stars, #231 overall, #25 athlete, #9 in NJ	4 stars, #27 corner back	4 stars, #157 overall, #11 athlete, #8 in NJ

Offer Sheet: Barnwell has a very impressive list of offers, including ones from Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Penn State, Pitt, South Carolina, Tennessee, UCLA, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Injury: Barnwell separated his right (non throwing) shoulder in a preseason scrimage, and it caused him miss a few games early in the season, but it should not be a problem going forward.

Scouting Report: Barnwell is a long, wiry athlete who already posses good size for the corner postion in college. He is a very tough, physical player who is adept at defending the run, as well as the pass. He has great speed,  loose hips, very good instincts and tremendous ball skills, so he has top corner potential. In man coverage, he can jam receivers at the line, force them off their route, and run with them down field. In zone coverage, he is quick reacting to routes out of his back pedal, and he is often able to get there to break up passes. His toughness makes him a great run defender, and he is a very good tackler who always wraps up and attacks ball carriers low. As a quarterback, he is a terrific runner who can make defenders miss in the open field. He has a very solid arm and can make deep throws and out routes to the wide side of the field, but he doesn't get great zip on his passes. He has escapability in the pocket, and he throws the ball accurately on the run.

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My Take: Barnwell is probably Rutgers' best commit so far, and he fills a position of need. He is a fast, physical corner with good size who is ready to play right away in college. I think he could conceivably play quarterback, but given the immediate need Rutgers has at corner, he should play there. The Scarlet Knights lost their top three players at the position from 2012, so I expect Barnwell to compete for a starting job right away. He is reportedly enrolling early, so he will be able to participate in spring practice and have a better chance of winning the starting spot in fall camp.

Jawan Jamison Declares for the NFL Draft

Rutgers' redshirt Sophomore running back Jawan Jamison will forgo his remaining two years of eligibility and enter the NFL Draft. Unlike Logan Ryan's decision to go pro, this one comes as a bit of a surprise, but Jamison may be looking to take advantage of a pretty weak running back crop in this years draft. And again, guys should go after the money that will be there for them. The story was first reported by Joe Schad, and Jamison was supposedly given a third round grade by the draft advisory board.

Jamison came to Rutgers as a 3 star recruit out of The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida, and he became Rutgers' first running back since Ray Rice to rush for over 1000 yards in a season this year, as he earned second team All Big East honors. Jamison emerged as Rutgers' lead back at the end of 2011, and he ends his career On the Banks with 1972 rushing yards and 15 total touchdowns.

There aren't any running backs projected to go in the first round of the draft, but there are about a dozen backs projected to go in the 2nd to 4th round range. Giovanni Bernad appears to be the top back right now, and Marcus Lattimore should be another top back if his medicals check out. After that, things are jumbled. Jamison will be vying for position with guys like Andre Ellington and Kenjon Barner to get drafted by teams who run a zone heavy scheme or need a change of pace back. The third round is the median range of where he'll get drafted, and he could go as high as the 2nd or as low as the 4th.

Rutgers should still be alright at running back next year with out Jamison. Savon Huggins will take over as the lead back, but they will need a back up to emerge and take the load off Huggins and help in the passing game. Desmon Peoples figures to get the first crack at that role. It will still hurt losing a player of Jamison's caliber though.

Logan Ryan Declares for the NFL Draft

Rutgers corner back Logan Ryan has decided to forgo his senior season in Piscataway and enter the 2013 NFL Draft. The redshirt Junior was recently named a first team All American by Pro Football Weekly, and he is projected to go in the second round, according to most draft prognosticators. Any player who is projected to go that high should absolutely make the jump and maximize their earning potential, but his departure leaves a pretty big hole on Rutgers' defense.

Ryan came to Rutgers as a 4 star recruit out of Eastern High School in Vorhees, NJ and he more than lived up to that billing. In addition to being named a first team All American by PFW, he was an All Big East selection by the coaches in both of his two seasons as a starter, recording 170 tackles, 31 passes defended, and 7 interceptions in his career as a Scarlet Knight. Devin McCourty mentored him, and Ryan carried on the torch from him as Rutgers top shut down corner.

Even though he is projected to go in the second round, it is very possible he could sneak his way into the first round. This year's corner back crop is pretty thin, and the position is always at a premium in a pass happy NFL. Right now, Dee Milliner of Alabama is the only sure fire first round pick, and Ryan will compete with Mississippi State's Johnathan Banks, Florida State's Xavier Rhodes and Oregon State's Jordan Poyer to be the second corner off the board come April.

With Ryan's departure, Rutgers has another void to fill in their secondary that was already decimated by graduation. They will have to replace their top 3 corners and 3 of their top 4 safeties next year. Tejay Johnson and Sheldon Royster are two talented players who will likely step into the starting lineup, but they have limited experience. Jeremy Deering also figures to switch to the defensive side of the ball next year, and some youngsters are going to have to step up and provide some depth. Ryan will be greatly missed.