Rutgers 2013 Spring Practice Preview

Rutgers will open up spring practice tomorrow, as they get back on the field for their first of fifteen spring sessions that will take place over the next month, culminating in the spring game on April 27. Spring ball is much more relaxed than training camp in the summer, and no definitive roster decisions will be made, but it is a good opportunity for players, especially underclassman, to get more reps and some hands on coaching during the offseason. The two biggest things for Rutgers this spring will be for new offensive coordinator Ron Prince to learn his personnel from an on-field perspective, and for the players competing for starting spots in the defensive back field, at linebacker and on the offensive line to distinguish themselves in some sort of pecking order heading into summer work outs and eventually training camp.

At his pre-spring press conference today, head coach Kyle Flood announced some position changes, injury news, and the depth chart for spring ball.

Injuries

On the injury front, wide receiver Brandon Coleman, back up center Matt McBride and defensive end Dave Milewski will all miss the entirety of spring practice. Coleman, who had ten touchdown receptions last year, underwent a "minor procedure" on his knee this offseason and will look to get fully healthy for training camp in the summer. He is an experienced player and he knows the play book, so this isn't really that big of a deal (Mohammed Sanu missed spring practice before his monster 2011 season). McBride will sit out as he recovers from offseason shoulder surgery, and Milewski is still recovering from the torn ACL he suffered during training camp last season.

Incoming freshman corner Nadir Barnwell will be limited to non-contact drills this spring, as he comes back from shoulder surgery. Although he will be a limited participant, he will still be able to get mental reps in practice, which is just as important as getting physical reps, as he looks to fight for playing time in the fall. Kenneth Kirksey will also be limited to non-contact drills for the first three weeks of spring practice because of a foot injury, but they will try to work him back into contact drills by the end of spring.

Position Changes

Four Scarlet Knights will be permanently switching positions this spring. None of these moves are too surprising, and they were foreshadowed last year.

The most notable position change is Jeremy Deering moving from wide receiver to free safety. He practiced a little bit at safety last season, but he never saw any time on defense in a game. Deering has been one of Rutgers' top athletes since his freshman year in 2010, but he has struggled to consistently crack the line up on offense. A move to defensive back is quite common for talented skill position players who don't get the ball, and Deering has a much better opportunity to be an impact player at safety than he did at receiver. He is listed as a starter and will compete for the job. I think this move should work out very well.

Senior Michael Larrow will move from defensive end to tight end. Rutgers is very thin at tight end and very deep at defensive end, so this move makes a lot of sense. The rising senior showed flashes on the defensive side of the ball, but he suffered some injuries early in his career and was suspended for four games last year and basically in the dog house after he was reinstated. He practiced a bit a tight end in bowl preparation last season, and he will hopefully at least be able to contribute as a blocker.

Redshirt sophomore Marquise Wright is now an offensive guard after playing defensive tackle his first two seasons on the banks. He was buried on the depth chart last year at nose tackle, even with Al Page and Ike Holmes both missing significant time, and he did get a brief look at guard during bowl practices last year, so this move is totally unsurprising. Wright is a big, strong player, but he is probably not quick enough to play on the defensive side in Rutgers' scheme. He is currently listed as a back up at left guard, but he could conceivably fight for playing time elsewhere on the line once he learns the playbook.

Red shirt freshman Ian Thomas is moving to corner back after spending last season as a wide out. Wide receiver is another position Rutgers is very deep at, so he will have a much better opportunity to earn playing time as a corner. Thomas is a tall, rangy athlete who can run, so he is a great fit for Rutgers' scheme that has its' corners press and play man coverage often.

Pre-Spring Depth Chart

On the offensive side of the ball, there aren't any surprises. The Knights return seven starters from last year to this unit, and Savon Huggins and Paul Carezola unsurprisingly took over as the starters at running back and tight end, respectively. With Coleman hurt and the other wide receiver spot open, Miles Shuler, Quron Pratt and Leonte Carroo are listed as the starting receivers. The three of them will compete for the one starting role, but they will all still be involved in the offense regardless.

The only real intrigue on offensive depth chart is on the right side of the offensive line. As it stands now, Andre Civil, who started at right guard last year, is listed as the starting right tackle, and Taj Alexander, who received a lot of playing time last year backing up Civil, is listed as the starter at right guard. Civil is pretty locked into the line up, and he can play either guard or tackle, but Alexander will be in a fight for his job with at least two other players. Alexander is considered the favorite to start right now, but Chris Muller (who would play guard) and Keith Lumpkin (who would play tackle) offer more upside and are hot on his trail. Muller was one of the top offensive line recruits in the nation in 2012, and he impressed last year during practice. Lumpkin stands at a massive 6'8'', and he is extremely light on his feet and moves very well. Alexander was solid last season, but he will have to take a step forward to win this competition.

Rutgers suffered a lot of attrition on the defensive side of the ball this offseason, and they have a lot of big holes to fill, especially in the secondary, but there's still a lot of talent here.

On the defensive line, the two tackle spots are both listed as OR's on the depth chart, but it would be absolutely shocking if Ike Holmes does not win the starting nose tackle spot and Darius Hamilton does not win the starting three technique spot. There is plenty of depth at these two spots, but Holmes played very well in his four starts last season before suffering a season ending broken wrist, and Hamilton more than held his own playing as a true freshman last year.

At linebacker, Kevin Snyder will fill one of the two vacated spots, but the question is which one. He is capable of playing any of the three linebacker positions, and he will start either in the middle or on the weak side, depending on which redshirt freshman backer is more ready to step into the lineup. Quanzell Lambert, a big guy in the middle, and Steve Longa, a very athletic type on the weakside, are the two battling it out for the spot in the starting line up. Both players should see plenty of playing time during the season, but Lambert is listed as the starter and probably has the inside track to start.

In the secondary, three starting spots and basically all of the reserve roles are open. Lorenzo Waters is the only definitive starter here, honing his craft at strong safety, and everything else is up in the air. At free safety, the a fore mentioned Deering is listed as the starter, and he will be competing with Jonathan Aiken, redshirt  freshman Davon Jacobs, and South Carolina transfer Sheldon Royster for that spot. At corner, Tejay Johnson is the heavy favorite to win one of those two open spots, but Gareef Glashan (who is currently listed as the other starter), Jevon Tyree, Nadir Barnwell, Ian Thomas, and Delon Stephenson will all fight for the position opposite him.

Notes-
The only number change seems to be Gary Nova, who is switching from 15 to 10, which was his number in high school. He obviously couldn't have that number the last two years since DC Jefferson did.

Offensive lineman David Osei is no longer with the team, despite having a year of eligibility left.

The spring game will benefit the Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund. Each player will wear the name of a town affected by the storm on his name plate during the game, and each jersey will be signed by Coach Flood and given to that town.

Big East Schedule (Finally) Released

@cwalter76 We're working hard to get it done, will be ready soon. Obviously lots of factors holding it up this year (realignment, TV, etc.)
— BIG EAST Football (@BigEastFB) February 28, 2013

The Big East (finally) released their 2013 schedule today, after the scheduling process was delayed because of conference realignment and TV, according to my "inside" "source" at the conference. We already knew what Rutgers' schedule looked like for the first four games of the season, in addition to their home and away conference opponents, and now we finally know how the rest of the schedule is laid out.

August 29 @Fresno State (Thursday)
September 7 Norfolk State
September 14 Eastern Michigan
September 21 Arkansas
October 5 @SMU
October 10 @Louisville (Thursday)
October 26 Houston
November 2 Temple
November 16 Cincinnati
November 21 @Central Florida (Thursday)
November 30 @Connecticut
December 7 South Florida

Some thoughts:

I figured they would play Louisville on a short week, but I was really hoping it would not be this early in the season. Rutgers is going to have a young secondary this year, and it would have been ideal for this game to be in November or December so they had as much experience as possible before facing Teddy Bridgewater. At least they will have been tested by Fresno State and SMU, who both have very good passing attack, before this one. SMU is also probably the perfect team to play before a short week, since they are not a very physical team.

For some reason, Rutgers will have 16!!! days between the Louisville game and their next game against Houston. Having some time off at the half way point of the season is nice, but this is excessive. I don't recall a team ever having that big of a break in the schedule, and you have to worry about rust being a factor against Houston.

Having an off week before playing Cincinnati is probably the best thing about this schedule.

December 7th will be the latest Rutgers has ever played a regular season game. It will probably be cold, and that should be a big advantage for the Knights against South Florida.

The Louisville and Central Florida games will be nationally televised on ESPN, and the South Florida game be on either ESPN, ESPN2, or ABC. The Louisville game is obviously going to be the marquee game Rutgers plays this year, and it will be on at the same time as the baseball playoffs, presumably. That's really unfortunate, especially if the Yankees are playing at the same time. The opener against Fresno State should be on national TV too (the Mountain West has a really weird TV deal so it could be on NBC Sports Net, CBS Sports Net, Fox or one of the ESPN's), as should the Arkansas game.

Ron Prince Hired as Offensive Coordinator and Other Coaching News

Rutgers officially announced Ron Prince as their new offensive coordinator yesterday, ending the month long search to fill the position after Dave Brock left to become the head coach at Delaware. Prince, who spent the last three seasons in the NFL with the Colts and Jaguars, had been the presumed favorite for the job, and he accepted the position after interviewing and being passed over for the running back coach opening with the New Orleans Saints.

While not a super flashy hire, Prince is a pretty solid addition to the Scarlet Knights coaching staff. He has very good track record coaching offenses from his time as the coordinator at Virginia (2003-05) and the head coach at Kansas State (2006-08), and an extensive background running a pro style offense. As a former offensive line coach, he prefers to run the ball down your throat, and although his offenses have been successful for the most part, he has drawn some criticism for being too conservative. Being conservative is not necessarily a bad thing though, and Rutgers is capable of being very good offensively while relying heavily on their rushing attack. They have done a great job recruiting premium offensive lineman the last few years, and Savon Huggins is a work horse type back who gets stronger as the game goes along. Including Prince, Rutgers will have five current or former offensive line coaches on their staff, so expect for the offense to be very tough and physical.

Kyle Flood sees Prince as someone who can utilize all of their personnel packages and get the ball into the hands of their play-makers. That very well could just be coach speak, but Prince's NFL experience likely taught him a lot about deploying personnel packages and that should help Rutgers quite a bit in this department. The coaching staff struggled getting some people, i.e. Miles Shuler, the ball last season, so it's nice to see them make a concerted effort to fix it.

Personally, I was hoping that Rutgers would hire someone who is very good at developing quarterbacks, since Gary Nova (who clearly has talent but needs to be coached better in order to take the next step) will be a big part of what Rutgers does the next two seasons, but I've gradually talked myself into liking Prince since the rumors started. He has had some pretty good quarterbacks under his watch in Matt Schuab, Marques Haggans and Josh Freeman, but he is not very hand on with them, and he had really good quarterback coaches working with him in Mike Groh (who is now an assistant at Alabama) and James Franklin (who is now the head coach at Vanderbilt).

Prince's reputation has been mired a bit lately due to his poor tenure as a head coach, but his track record with offenses make him a pretty solid hire. He has plenty of experience calling plays and he will keep the pro style offense intact while putting his own spin on things. He also happens to be a pretty good recruiter, and he is someone who will likely stick at Rutgers for more than one season. Prince almost certainly will be an upgrade over Brock. He inherits a talented group that struggled at the end of last season, and it's up to him to get them to succeed up to their capabilities.

Elsewhere on the coaching staff, Dave Cohen was promoted to defensive coordinator, as expected. Cohen was a very successful coordinator at Delaware, but he did struggle a bit at Western Michigan for a multitude of reasons (some not his fault). He did a solid enough job coaching linebackers last year to earn the promotion, and he should be competent enough to do a good job. He knows what he's doing in this role and he should be able to keep the same scheme Schiano and Robb Smith ran in place. He will certainly have plenty of talent to work with.

And in a very surprising turn of events, tight end coach Darnell Dinkins has left the program to "pursue other opportunities." He seemed to be developing into a very good recruiter in Florida, and the timing of this is very odd. I suppose he may have a job lined up in the NFL or something, but there's a possibility he could have been let go for some reason. This is very strange, just totally out of left field.

Replacing him on the coaching staff is Anthony Campanile, who will coach wide receivers in addition to tight ends. I'm not sure why Prince wasn't given tight end responsibilities (a lot of offensive line coaches coach tight ends), but an assistant coaching two position groups isn't unheard of, especially when the two positions are very similar like tight ends and receivers are. Campanile was a graduate assistant at Rutgers last year working on the defensive side of the ball, but he does have experience coaching offense from his time as the offensive coordinator at Don Bosco. His promotion should be a huge boon to Rutgers recruiting wise, since he has the makings of a top recruiter with his very strong ties to the power house high school programs in North Jersey (he coached at Bosco, his brother is the head coach at Bergen Catholic and his dad was the head coach at Paramus Catholic).

In addition to all these moves, running back coach Norries Wilson was given the title of assistant head coach. That essentially just means he's second in command.

Kyle Flood didn't expect to have any changes to his coaching staff at the beginning of the offseason, but as often happens in the coaching profession, things changed in a hurry. In finalizing the staff, Rutgers brought in a new offensive coordinator who is probably an upgrade (Prince), and two very good recruiters (Campanile and Darrell Wilson), while also promoting a capable coach to defensive coordinator (Cohen) after Robb Smith left for the NFL. I think Flood did a really good job with all of these hires, and Rutgers will be better for it on the field and on the recruiting trail.

Quick Notes: Big 10 Scheduling and a Transfer

-The Big 10's athletic directors (including Tim Pernetti) held a meeting in Chicago last weekend, and and they agreed on a couple future scheduling revisions, that will not become official until this summer. The AD's, along with league commissioner Jim Delany, have decided to expand each team's conference slate from 8 games to either 9 or 10, and they also agreed to no longer schedule FCS (D1-AA) teams. These rule will probably not be implemented until 2016.

A nine game conference schedule is much preferable to eight, but a ten game conference schedule just seems excessive. The Pac 12 and Big 12 both play nine game conference schedules, and ten games would be setting new ground. Most athletic departments need seven home games to balance their budget, so being locked in to five conference road games a year would likely prevent teams from scheduling home and home series with major programs from other leagues. A nine game schedule gives you the flexibility to schedule out of conference road games on they years you have five conference home games, and it still allows you to play every team in the other division every two or three years or so (assuming they get rid of the cross over rivalry rule).

Not scheduling FCS teams anymore is a good idea in theory, but it may not be for the best in practice. This move probably is intended to improve strength of schedule, but if teams are going to schedule cream puffs from a non power conference instead, it's not going to have that big of an impact. Additionally, playing FCS teams usually allows you to get a look at your back ups and youngsters when the game gets out of hand, and not that it really matters from the Big 10's perspective, but the pay outs from these games are extremely important for the FCS programs' financial health.

 -Punter Nick Marsh has transferred from Utah to Rutgers. Marsh will have one year of eligibility remaining, and he can play right away, since he is receiving his undergraduate degree from Utah this spring. Rutgers was targeting a punter in this recruiting cycle, and they will end up with Marsh after Australian Dean Crozier was not cleared to play by the NCAA. The Knights now has three kicking specialists on scholarship, and that's really not ideal, even though Marsh will only be there for one year. Marsh was primarily the kick off specialist and rugby punter at Utah, and he will presumably have full time punting duties at Rutgers.

Darrell Wilson Hired as Defesnive Backs Coach

Rutgers announced the addition of new defensive backs coach Darrell Wilson to the coaching staff on Wednesday, filling one of the two positions Robb Smith had before leaving for the NFL. Wilson, who is from Camden, NJ, joins the Scarlet Knights after spending 11 seasons on Kirk Ferentz's staff at Iowa, and he brings a lot to the table for Scarlet Knights. He not only has a wealth of experience coaching  in the Big 10, which Rutgers will of course be joining in 2014, but a lot of success recruiting in the State of Rutgers (most notably in South Jersey) as well. This is a very good addition to the staff, and it signifies that Rutgers will promote from with in for the defensive coordinator vacancy.

Wilson began his coaching career as the head coach at Woodrow Wilson High in Camden, and he spent eight season there before moving on to Rhode Island, where he coached wide receivers and defensive backs. In 1999, he spent one season coaching running backs at Rutgers under Terry Shea, prior to becoming the outside linebacker coach and special teams coordinator at Wisconsin. He was with the Badgers for two years and he joined the Hawkeyes' staff in the same capacity in 2002. As a player, Wilson was a defensive back at Connecticut, and he played a few years professionally in the CFL.

At Iowa, Wilson had a very good run while having various responsibilities on the coaching staff. His special teams units were pretty good throughout his tenure, and he coached Chad Greenway up into a first round pick while he was the outside linebackers coach. In 2008, he began coaching all the linebackers, and Tyler Nieson and AJ Edds became all Big 10 selections under his watch. He served as an interim defensive coordinator in 2010 when legendary Iowa defensive coordinator Norm Parker dealt with a health issue, and he moved over to coach defensive backs coach in 2012. Ferentz is in the process of rearranging his staff, and he reportedly wanted Wilson to coach running backs, but he decided to accept the position at Rutgers instead. That's very understandable, given the AIRBHG.

The area where Wilson will help Rutgers out the most is in recruiting. He was named one of the 25 best recruiters in the nation in 2011 by Rivals, and he has very strong ties to the top high school programs in South Jersey, thanks to his Camden roots. While with the Hawkeyes, he was able to land quite a few players from South Jersey, including running backs Albert Young (Moorestown HS) and Shonn Greene (Winslow HS). He also recruited Pennsylvania and Maryland (he almost got 5 star OT Cyrus Kouandjio, who starts at Alabama, from there) while at Iowa, and a number of Scarlet Knight players have a good relationship with him from when he was recruiting them.

This move also seems to indicate that Dave Cohen will in fact be promoted to defensive coordinator. Nothing has officially been announced yet on that front, but they can only add one more assistant coach, and that will be whoever the new offensive coordinator is.

Wilson is a very good hire by Kyle Flood, and his recruiting prowess and Big 10 experience should help the Scarlet Knights a lot moving forward. Hiring a coach away from another BCS conference school for a similar position is kind of a big deal, as that is something that signifies your emergence into becoming a big time program. Wilson rounds out a defensive staff that is still very solid after Smith's departure, and he will have his work cut out for him in his first season, coaching what will be an inexperienced group.

Robb Smith Leaves Rutgers for the Buccaneers

Rutgers defensive coordinator and secondary coach Robb Smith has left the program to become the linebacker coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tom Lucci broke the news last week, and Smith will become the 10th former Scarlet Knight assistant to join old boss Greg Schiano's staff. He will take over the role former Rutgers assistant Bob Fraser had before being promoted to assistant defensive coordinator. (The Bucs now have Fraser as the assistant defensive coordinator, Bill Sheridan as the defensive coordinator, and Butch Davis as a consultant, in addition to Schiano, who is very hands on with the defense and calls the play. Talk about too many cooks in the kitchen.) 

Losing Smith is a huge blow to Rutgers' coaching staff, both on the field and on the recruiting trail. He did a great job in his lone season as defensive coordinator in 2012, devising very good game plans and making necessary in game adjustments. He oversaw a Scarlet Knight defense that finished in the top 10 nationally in both scoring and total defense and was named a semi-finalist for the Broyles award for his work. Smith was also one of Rutgers' top recruiters, responsible for mainly Central Jersey and Jersey Shore prospects.

Smith began coaching at Rutgers in 2009 as the special teams coordinator, and he was promoted to defensive coordinator before last season. He was the last remaining disciple of Schiano's fast, attacking style of defense on the staff, and he kept that scheme in place while also putting his own spin on things. He didn't blitz as much as Schiano had in the past, and he tinkered with a few different fronts, including the 4-3 under which they used a lot latter in the season. His best game as defensive coordinator was probably against Arkansas, when he switched to a three man front in the second quarter after the defense had some early troubles defending the deep ball. The extra defensive back or linebacker in the base defense helped slow the high powered Arkansas passing attack down, allowing Rutgers' offense the opportunity to come back and win. He did a really good job holding things together on the defensive side of the ball after an off season full of turnover, and I wish him the best of luck in Tampa.

In replacing Smith, Kyle Flood will most likely elect to promote from within, to keep the fast, attacking style of defense in place. Rutgers has successfully run this type defense for over a decade, so why fix it if it ain't broke? Linebacker coach Dave Cohen is the favorite to fill the position, and hopefully he learned enough in his one year under Smith to keep the current scheme fully intact.

Cohen was very solid as Rutgers linebacker coach in 2012 and he has plenty of coordinating experience from his time at Delaware and Western Michigan. His defenses struggled at Western, but he didn't exactly have a ton of talent (even by MAC standard) on an inexperienced group in that weird, high scoring league. He did have a lot of success with the Blue Hens though, enough to earn him the head coaching position at Hoftra. If he is promoted, graduate assistant Anthony Campanile would probably take over as the defensive backs coach. Campanile was a linebacker/safety at Rutgers from 2001-2004, and has the makings of an ace recruiter, based on his youth and ties to New Jersey's top high school programs (he was an assistant coach at Don Bosco, his dad was the head coach at Paramus Catholic and his brother is the head coach at Bergen Catholic).

If they do decide to hire from outside the program, former Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley is probably the best option available. Former Boston College defensive coordinator and head coach Frank Spaziani, who is a New Jersey native, is another possibility.

Promoting Cohen is probably the best choice for Rutgers right now. He is a qualified for the position, he can potentially keep the defensive schemes Rutgers has run for a long time intact and promoting him would save money you can spend on an offensive coordinator. Bumping Campanile up into a full-time assistant role would likely improve Rutgers instate recruiting as well. Losing Smith sucks, but Rutgers still has a lot of talent on defense and they should be alright moving forward with whoever the coordinator is.

Ron Prince Emerges as the Favorite in Rutgers' OC Search

Rutgers head coach Kyle Flood interviewed Jacksonville Jaguars assistant offensive line coach Ron Prince for the offensive coordinator position on Tuesday, according to Pete Rossel of Coaching Search. Tom Luicci confirmed this news on Thursday, and it appears that Prince is the favorite to land the job. Prince was most notably the head coach at Kansas State from 2006-2008, and he compiled a 17-20 record with the Wildcats before being fired and subsequently turned into an internet meme. Dave Brock coached under him for two seasons in Manhattan, and it would not surprise me if he recommended him when he departed for Delaware.

Offense was never the problem for Prince at K-State, as his offenses ranked 69th, 18th and 19th nationally in scoring offense with Josh Freeman at the helm, and he has a very strong track record as an assistant. He coached offensive lineman at Virginia from 2001-2005, and he did a great job recruiting and developing players at the position. D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Brandon Albert, and Eugene Monroe all became first team all ACC selections and first round picks in the NFL draft under his tutelage, and Prince's efforts earned him coordinating duties in 2003. During his three seasons as a play caller, the Hoos finished 48th, 28th and 59th nationally in scoring offense, with Matt Schaub and Marques Hagans at quarterback. Prince ran a traditional style of offense, relying heavily on the ground game to set up deep play action passes, some what similar to what Rutgers has done over the years. The main difference though is he used a man run blocking scheme, which is different from the zone blocking Flood utilizes. As a play caller, Prince is very conservative, running a ton of draws on third downs.

Additionally, Prince is considered to be a very good recruiter, and he has some ties with in the state of Rutgers. While at Virginia, he was responsible for landing Ferguson, Albert (a 4 star prospect) and Monroe (a 5 star prospect), and they are from Long Island, Rochester and Plainfield, NJ respectively. At Kansas State, he loaded up on JUCO players, but he did land Freeman, who was a highly sought after recruit and unearth Collin Klien, who had no other FBS offers.

Prince is from Junction City, Kansas, and he played at Dodge City Community College and Appalachian State. He coached offensive lineman at Alabama A&M, South Carolina State, James Madison and Cornell prior to his time at Virginia.

Prince would be a pretty solid hire for the Scarlet Knights, but he's not really an ideal fit for a variety of reasons. Rutgers' problems on offense last season were being overly conservative and not properly developing Gary Nova, and Prince won't help in either area. He is an overly conservative play caller himself and would presumably not be very hands on with Nova. He would also probably have to take over Brock's other responsibility of coaching wide receivers, and that's not something he has ever done before. Prince is very capable of being a quality coordinator, he could help in recruiting, and he would probably be in for the long haul, but I just don't think he's a great fit for Rutgers right now.

 ***

 Rossel also reported on Friday that former Virginia running back coach Mike Faragalli interviewed for the offensive coordinator job at Rutgers. Faragalli was with the Cavaliers from 2010-2012, and he has 24 years of coordinating experience. He spent eight seasons at Bowling Green, and the Falcons lead the MAC in scoring offense in four of those seasons, and a decade at the FCS level with Lafayette and Richmond. He also has an extensive background coaching in the Canadian Football League, where he won a Grey Cup as a coordinator with the Hamilton Tigercats. In 1995, he was the head coach of the Toronto Argonauts

Faragalli turned down the offensive coordinator job at Boston College a year a go, and he was one of the many fall guys on the UVA staff after Mike London's squad disappointed in 2012. He is presumably versed in the traditional style of offense, and he has coached quarterbacks before. His background in Canada makes him an intriguing option, as that league is known for its creative, wide open offenses.