leap.

“I think that kids would 

love 
to 
play 
football 
at 

Rutgers, and I think there’s a 
lot of real genuine interest by 
the kids in our state. … I don’t 
think you’ve got to go 12-0, I 
think you’ve got to show that 
you can be competitive, and 
I think they’ve shown that 
already this year.”

To some extent, Rutgers 

has. It owns two conference 
wins 
over 
Illinois 
and 

Purdue, and another over 
Morgan State.

But losses to Washington, 

Eastern Michigan, Nebraska 
and Ohio State hurt. It won’t 
get any easier, either. The 
Scarlet Knights close out the 
year at Michigan, Penn State 
and Indiana, with two home 
games 
against 
Michigan 

State and Maryland.

And 
it’s 
against 
those 

powerhouses that Rutgers 
must 
compete 
against, 

not only on Saturdays, but 
also throughout the entire 
recruiting cycle.

“Yeah I guess you get that 

little type of pressure,” Gary 
said. “I remember because 
Rutgers was one of my first 
offers and for a minute I’m 
like, ‘Wow they’re the first 
team that showed me that 
they really cared about me.’

“So I was gonna go, but 

then as more offers start 
rolling in and rolling in, I 
started looking more and 
really trying to find the best 
school for me, so Rutgers 
just ended up slipping off 
the board. But there’s always 
that pressure to go home.”

***

The statistics of the last 

three years show progress.

According to 247Sports’ 

rankings 
of 
New 
Jersey 

recruits, Rutgers had six 
recruits committed to play in 
Piscataway in 2015, three of 
whom were in the top 30.

From there, the Scarlet 

Knights made strides. They 
secured nine recruits, with 
four in the top 30, in 2016 
and 15 recruits — including 
the second- and third-best 

prospects — in 2017.

This 
incoming 
class, 

however, appears to be a 
regression.

Though it’s still early, 

Rutgers 
has 
just 
five 

players 
committed, 
but 

only one is among the 
state’s top 30 players.

Where 
Rutgers 
goes 

from here remains to be 
seen.

One man that may have 

an idea is special teams 
coordinator Chris Partridge, 
who joined Michigan’s staff 
in January of 2015 after 
serving as the head coach 
at Paramus Catholic in New 
Jersey for five years.

With 
that 
experience, 

Partridge 
witnessed 

firsthand 
what 
yielded 

success.

“Forming 
relationships, 

speaking to the kids, knowing 
all the kids no matter what 
— even if it’s a guy who’s 
not maybe a Big Ten player, 
or Big East in those days, 
or whatever it might be,” 
Partridge said. “The Division 
I guys, understanding who 
they are and what they can 
do and just having a really 
good grasp of the whole 
state. They did a good job 
there, and (they’re) making 
the inroads. I know that Greg 
Schiano did a good job with 
the high school coaches and 
with knowing even down to 
the Pop Warner coaches and 
stuff.

“You’ve got to cultivate the 

whole state there, and I’m 
sure the staff is doing that. 
Like I said, I wasn’t there 
at all with the new staff — 
they’re 
getting 
talented 

kids on the team, they have 
talented kids, so I’m sure 
they’re doing a good job with 
that now.”

Campanile 
sees 
that 

Ash is making those same 
inroads, whether it be by 
trying to develop personal 
relationships 
with 
the 

coaches, 
making trips 
to 
in-state 

high schools 
when NCAA 
regulations 
permit 
or 

creating 
events 
that 

get 
coaches 

involved 
with 
the 

Rutgers staff 
and program.

Of course, 

Campanile 
says 
he’d 

love 
the 

opportunity 
to 
see 
his 

players 
close 
to 
home. 

He 
would 
like 
to 
give 

their 
families 
the 
same 

opportunity.

Right now, though, that’s 

easier said than done.

“Let me preface this by 

saying I think Coach Ash 
is doing a great job trying 
to 
recruit 
New 
Jersey,” 

Campanile 
said. 
“But 

everyone that’s ever been 
the head coach at (Rutgers) 
has tried desperately to keep 
the best players in state. 

And it’s not an 
easy task. He’s 
worked 
really 

hard at it.”

Perhaps 

that’s the most 
frustrating part 
for the Scarlet 
Knights. 
No 

matter 
how 

hard 
their 

coach 
works, 

they 
need 

results in order 
to harvest the 
elite talent in 
New 
Jersey. 

And in order 
to 
get 
those 

results, 
they 

need 
more 

talent. So flows 

the cycle.

That’s not to say the cycle 

can’t be broken. But with 
other coaches like Harbaugh 
consistently besting Rutgers 
both 
in 
games 
and 
in 

recruiting, it won’t be easy.

5
TheMichiganDaily, www.michigandaily.com

EVAN AARON/Daily

Sophomore defensive end Rashan Gary is the latest New Jersey standout to choose the Wolverines.

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Former Michigan standout Jabrill Peppers helped pave the way for other recruits from his home state of New Jersey to make the trip to Ann Arbor and play football for Michigan.

Everyone that’s 
ever been the 
head coach 
at (Rutgers) 

has tried 

desperately to 
keep the best 
players in state

