Category: Rutgers recruiting

How a post-game visit helped Jaeylene Matthews connect again with Rutgers football

Jaelyne Matthews is on-board with the direction of Rutgers football under head coach Greg Schiano.

A post-game visit with Rutgers football head coach Greg Schiano has helped Jaelyne Matthews re-connect with the program that was his first offer. For the coveted offensive lineman, a meeting following a recent visit to Rutgers has helped form a deeper connection with Rutgers.

Last week, Schiano took the helicopter to Toms River North High School (Toms River, New Jersey) to visit Matthews, a four-star offensive tackle. Matthews had been committed to Penn State for much of the last year but re-opened his recruitment in September.

In early October, the class of 2025 recruit took a visit to Rutgers for their win over Wagner. Matthews had played in a game earlier in the day but made his way to SHI Stadium for the second half of what was a blowout win.

Following the game, he spent time in Schiano’s office where the two connected.

“We spent time bonding and talking about how he’s been recruiting me since eighth grade,” Matthews told Rutgers Wire.

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Per 247Sports, Matthews is the No. 11 offensive tackle in the nation. He is also the third-highest ranked recruit in New Jersey. He has a strong offer list that includes Georgia, Louisville, Maryland, Miami, Ohio State, Tennesse and Texas A&M among others.

He is the No. 85 player in the nation according to ESPN.

The chance to sit down with Schiano saw Rutgers make a move in his recruitment.

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“Yes it did,” Matthews said.

“I like them more than before and he’s a great guy and the coaching staff is cool as well.”

Rutgers is currently 6-2 (3-2 Big Ten) and will host No. 3 Ohio State on Saturday (12:00 PM ET, CBS).

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This weekend, Matthews will be taking an unofficial visit to Maryland, who lost on Saturday at Northwestern. Maryland hosts No. 9 Penn State.

Watch: Rutgers football commit A.J. Surace throws three touchdowns for Notre Dame Prep

Rutgers football commit A.J. Surace was outstanding this weekend for Notre Dame Prep.

A.J. Surace continues to show why he should be considered one of the top quarterbacks in the nation. The Rutgers football recruit had a big weekend in leading Notre Dame Prep (Lawrenceville, New Jersey) to an important win.

Surace was 11-of-15 for 150 yards and three touchdowns in Notre Dame’s  35-34 win over Hopewell Valley (h/t to the Trentonian). Notre Dame is now 9-0 on the season.

He also had 73 rushing yards and a touchdown on eight carries.

Surace has thrown just one interception all season and has 23 passing touchdowns.

In February, Surace committed to Rutgers, becoming one of the first commits in the class of 2024. He held an offer list that included Power Five programs Boston College, Duke, Indiana, Michigan State, Northwestern, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

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He is ranked a three-star recruit and the ninth-best player in New Jersey by 24Sports.

Also on the Notre Dame roster is Gabriel Winowich. A four-star running back, Winowich was another early commit to Rutgers.

Watch: Rutgers football commit Samarian Robinson goes Bobby Boucher on Friday night

Rutgers football commit Samarian Robinson produces a huge highlight play on Friday night.

Corey Hetherman was at Samarian Robinson’s game on Friday night. The Rutgers linebackers coach had to like what he saw from Robinson, who committed to the Big Ten program in June.

Robinson is a man among boys. That is an overused sentiment but it is true in this case. A mobile and athletic steamroller on the field, Robinson loves to play football.

And it shows.

Robinson was committed to UCF in June until he opened up his recruitment. He took an official visit to Rutgers and then committed in June. He also held offers from Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado and Louisville among others.

On Friday night, Hetherman was at Lincoln High School (Tallahassee, Florida) to see Robinson’s team come away with a 13-6 win over Chiles. What he saw was a player who is absolutely a physical presence with an innate knack for the ball.

Playing on special teams, Robinson races down the field on a kickoff return duty. He absolutely blows past everybody who should be blocking him.

And when a Chiles player attempts the block, well…there is no nice way to put this. Robinson simply runs the player over (to the credit of the Chiles player, he was the only one who attempted to block Robinson).

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Then after running over the would-be blocker, Robinson drilled the returner at the 16-yard line.

 

This is the athleticism of a Big Ten linebacker on display in this clip.

Last season as a junior, Robinson had 63 total tackles as well as a pass defended and two fumble recoveries.

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Rutgers is on a bye week. They currently sit at 6-2 (3-2 Big Ten) are bowl eligible.

Rutgers football offers 3-star athlete Desman Stephens II

Desman Stephens II is offered by Rutgers football on Friday.

Desman Stephens II was offered by Rutgers football on Friday, putting the Big Ten program in the mix for a player who is likely to see his recruitment explode over the next few months.

A class of 2024 recruit, Stephens plays his high school football for Clarkstown (Clarkstown, Michigan). He is a three-star athlete who projects as a defensive back at the next level.

ESPN ranks him as the ninth-best player in Michigan this season.

Stephens holds offers from Boston College, Duke, Indiana, Louisville, Michigan State, Purdue and Vanderbilt among others. He also has a pair of Ivy league offers from Columbia and Yale.

Last season, he had 61 total tackles, five tackles for a loss and three interceptions.

He posted about the offer from Rutgers on his social media:

 

Clarkstown is 5-5 this season.

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Rutgers is currently 6-2 (3-2 Big Ten) on the season and has qualified for a bowl game. This marks the fourth season under head coach Greg Schiano and his rebuild of the program.

 

Rutgers football linebackers coach C.J. Hetherman spotted on a recruiting trip in Tallahassee

Corey Hetherman was in Florida recruiting this weekend.

This weekend, Rutgers football is using their bye to hit the recruiting trail. Nearly the entire Rutgers coaching staff is out this weekend, making stops in the tri-state area and Florida.

One of those coaches is Corey Hetherman, who was spotted on Friday at Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, Florida.

Lincoln is where Rutgers football commit Samarian Robinson plays his high school football. Robinson is a three-star linebacker who was committed to UCF until re-opening his recruitment in June.

He took an official visit to Rutgers in June and committed to the Big Ten program shortly thereafter. Robinson is a member of a very solid 2024 recruiting class for Rutgers.

Hetherman is the Rutgers linebacker coach.

Robinson also held offers from Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, UCF and Louisville among others.

In 2022 as a junior at Lincoln, he had 63 total tackles along with two fumble recoveries and a pass defended. This season in six games, he has 57 total tackles.

What’s the plan for Rutgers football coaches this weekend?

Rutgers football’s coaching staff will be out at some of the top games in New Jersey this weekend.

Even without a game scheduled for this week, Rutgers football’s coaching staff will be busy. In fact, it might be the busiest weekend of the season for the staff as they hit the recruiting trail and check in with members of the 2024 class.

And…continue relationships with the important 2025 class.

The plan is for every Rutgers football commit who hasn’t been visited by a coach this year to get a visit this weekend. Schedules don’t always align but that is the plan from Rutgers. Here are a few of the games that Rutgers Wire has learned will have members of the coaching staff in attendance:

  • Bergen Catholic at Paramus Catholic (a number of Rutgers football targets will be at this game and four-star commit Kaj Sanders is having an outstanding season for Bergen Catholic).
  • Notre Dame Prep @ St. Frances Academy (Rutgers offensive coordinator Krik Ciarrocca will be in attendance to watch two commits in quarterback A.J. Surace, running back Gabriel Winowich).
  • Norland at North Miami Beach (offensive tackle Raynor Andrews, and the twins, defensive ends Tycoolhill Luman and Tyclean Luman – all Rutgers football commits – all attend Norland).
  • All told, Rutgers coaches will be at games in Florida, New York and New Jersey.

On Tuesday, head coach [autotag]Greg Schiano[/autotag] was asked about his schedule for the week. His answer pointed towards this weekend.

“You know, actually you go recruiting. So we’ll practice Thursday and then everyone will hit the road,” Schiano said following practice on Tuesday.

“But I want to make sure that our staff gets a little time so they’ll get they’ll get a day, a whole day. How about that? But yeah, they work really hard. And we all do. It’s part of the business.”

Paramus Catholic standout Malachi Goodman has been offered by Rutgers football

Malachi Goodman was offered by Rutgers football this week.

Malachi Goodman is the latest offer to go out for Rutgers football.

A class of 2025 recruit, Goodman is an offensive lineman at Paramus Catholic (Paramus, New Jersey). He already holds offers from Boston College, Duke, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska and Penn State among others.

Goodman was offered a month ago by Virginia Tech.

He is a 6-foot-5, 315-pound offensive lineman who projects as a guard at the next level.

Goodman is a mountain of a prospect who already has Power Five size. He moves very well and uses his length to force pass rushers into changing directions. He shuffles easily and has impressive footwork as well as hips.

He posted about the Rutgers offer on Wednesday night on X, the socially media platform formerly known as Twitter:

 

He needs to work a bit on his pad level and use of hands, but he has a lot of good tools to work with. Perhaps most impressive is that he does a nice job of finishing his blocks off.

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Rutgers is currently 5-2 (2-2 Big Ten) following a comeback win on Saturday where they overcame an 18-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Michigan State.

 

Connor Winn talks about his Rutgers football visit: ‘Saturday made me more excited about Rutgers’

Rutgers football recruit Connor Winn talks his recent visit.

On Saturday, Connor Winn took his first visit to Rutgers football since being offered over the summer. The Florida tight end is a freshman and is already off to a strong season.

Winn is a 6-foot-3, 220-pound tight end from Bartram Trail High School (St. John’s, Florida). He was offered this summer by Rutgers following his participation in a camp this summer.

It was his first Power Five offer and Winn has only backed that up with his performances this season.

In his varsity debut this past August, he had over 200 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

This past weekend, Winn took a visit to Rutgers. He saw the Scarlet Knights overcome an 18-point deficit for a 27-24 win over Michigan State.

“Overall it was a great time and game, and it was really cool getting to see the players and coaches celebrating the win,” Winn told Rutgers Wire.

“It definitely felt like football weather out there today and I was impressed on how they fought back in the fourth quarter in spite of the conditions.”

Prior to his visit, Winn had talked to Rutgers Wire about his impressions of head coach Greg Schiano and tight ends coach Andrew Aurich. It is still early in the process, and contact is limited, but Winn said he is developing a good relationship with the coaching staff at Rutgers.

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That continued on Saturday during his visit.

“I don’t think myself nor my family could have any higher respect than we do for this staff. And Rutgers as a school has such a great balance between high-level football and high-level academics,” Winn said.

“I got to speak to coach Schiano and coach Aurich personally, and even though this process is all new to me, they made me feel very comfortable and gave me good advice. I really appreciate the opportunity they are giving me to continue to build on the relationship and Saturday made more excited about Rutgers.”

Because his team is vying for a state title, Winn won’t be taking any visits anywhere during the football season.

Scroll down and check out all the best photos from Saturday as Rutgers football completed an incredible comeback win over Michigan State!

Watch: Rutgers football quarterback commit A.J. Surace shines for 8-0 Notre Dame Prep

Rutgers football commit A.J. Surace has impressed this season.

A.J. Surace is pretty good at this football thing. A Rutgers football commit, Surace is showing this season why the Big Ten program got in on him early in the process.

A class of 2024 quarterback, Surace is leading Notre Dame Prep (Lawrenceville, New Jersey) to an 8-0 start. Also on the team is Gabriel Winowich, a four-star running back who transferred to the program this offseason from Michigan.

Surace committed to Rutgers in early February and held offers from Boston College, Duke, Indiana, Michigan State, Northwestern, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

He has certainly been impressive for Notre Dame Prep. Surace’s best quality is his ability to throw open a wide receiver, putting the ball nicely in stride for his targets.

A good decision-maker, he also has pocket poise. His accuracy has been impressive and he has a good, strong arm.

Surace has also been impressive running the ball, showing an ability to read a defense and escape the pocket to make positive plays.

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He also has been moving very well in the pocket and throws well on the move.

It has been an impressive senior season for Surace, one where he is showing the potential to be a four-star quarterback prospect when it is all said and done.

Impressive ’25 offensive lineman Michael Troutman talks Rutgers football visit, offer

Michael Troutman talks about his Rutgers football offer on Saturday.

Following an unofficial visit on Saturday, Rutgers football became the latest offer for Michael Troutman.

Rutgers now joins a very crowded recruitment for the talented New Jersey offensive lineman. A member of the class of 2025, Troutman already has a strong Power Five offer list that includes: Boston College, Duke, Michigan State, Penn State, Pittsburgh and Texas A&M among others.

And now, of course, Rutgers. The offer from Michigan State came last week.

A 6-foot-3, 270-pound offensive lineman, Troutman plays for powerhouse program DePaul Catholic (Wayne, New Jersey). He is a three-star recruit who is ranked the No. 24 player in New Jersey by Rivals.

Troutman visited Rutgers on Saturday to see the game against Michigan State. Rutgers pulled off an improbable comeback, scoring three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to improve their record to 5-2 (2-2 Big Ten).

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“I had went with my step-dad and my little brother, the game was great – especially with the comeback win at the end,” Troutman told Rutgers Wire.

“After the game, I was blessed enough to be in the locker room with the players and got to celebrate with them a little bit. A little bit before I left I got to speak with coach Schiano (head coach Greg Schiano) personally where we spoke about what it took and what it meant to be part of the Rutgers family.

“Shortly thereafter, I was blessed to have received an offer from coach Schiano himself.”

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t was another significant offer for Troutman, who has worked his way to holding one of the most impressive offer lists in the state.

“It’s a blessing and I feel like it’s an opportunity most New Jersey football players hope to have,” Troutman said.

Up next for Troutman are a couple of visits to ACC programs.

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“As of right now I plan on going to Boston college for the game against UConn on the 28th,” Troutman said.

“And then I should be at Pitt for the game against Florida State on November 4th.”