Greg Schiano, at this point in his coaching career, is synonymous with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. The 35-year coaching veteran has spent nearly half of his career in New Brunswick during two separate coaching stints and is one of the best coaches in school history.
Now in his fifth year of his second stint with Rutgers, what does Schiano’s staff look like?
Rutgers Scarlet Knights Coaching Staff
Head Coach, Greg Schiano
Greg Schiano has put together two successful coaching stints at Rutgers, all things considered. Though he has a career-winning percentage below .500 with the Scarlet Knights, Schiano has put them on the map at a place where it is difficult to win.
Schiano was head coach of Rutgers from 2001-2011 and was rehired in 2020 after two separate breaks from coaching. He originally left the Scarlet Knights to take the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaching job, but lasted two years before being fired there and taking a break.
He re-entered the college ranks in 2016 as associate head coach and defensive coordinator at Ohio State, spending three seasons with the Buckeyes before taking the 2019 season off. He was rehired at Rutgers in 2020.
Before his initial hire at Rutgers, Schiano was a secondary wizard both in the NFL (Bears, 1996-1998) and college (Penn State, 1991-1995; Miami, 1999-2000).
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks, Kirk Ciarrocca
Schiano’s final offensive coordinator in his first stint at Rutgers, Kirk Ciarrocca, was rehired to run the offense and coach quarterbacks in 2023.
In between, he had stops at Richmond, Delaware, Western Michigan, Minnesota, and Penn State as a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, among other jobs.
He’s been an offensive coordinator at six different schools, including multiple stints at Minnesota and Rutgers. A 35-year coaching veteran, Ciarrocca got his start as a graduate assistant at Temple (his alma mater) in 1990.
Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers, Joe Harasymiak
Joe Harasymiak was on staff with Ciarracca at Minnesota in the late 2010s and was hired by Schiano at Rutgers in 2022.
Harasymiak rose through the coaching rankings quickly, getting his start at his alma mater, Springfield College, in 2009.
Impressively, Harasymiak moved to the University of Maine in 2011 as an off-field defensive analyst and quickly worked his way through promotion after promotion, moving to defensive backs coach, then defensive coordinator before becoming Maine’s head coach in 2016. He had a 20-15 career record in three seasons before moving to Minnesota in 2018.
Wide Receivers, Dave Brock
A 35-year coaching veteran, Dave Brock is a former offensive coordinator at Rutgers, though interestingly enough he was never on staff with Schiano until 2023 when he was hired hm as wide receivers coach.
Brock was the head coach at Delaware when Ciarrocca was the running backs coach in 2012. He’s another experienced coach on staff who spent time as an FCS head coach in the mid-2010s.
Tight Ends, Scott Vallone
One of the youngest coaches on staff, Scott Vallone was a standout defensive lineman for Schiano at the end of the latter’s first tenure at Rutgers. Since graduating in 2012, Vallone has bounced between a few schools, including two stints at St. Lawrence with a short stint as assistant defensive line coach at Rutgers in between.
After leaving St. Lawrence, he spent two years at Fordham before joining Schiano’s staff in 2020 as a graduate assistant. He worked his way into an on-field role in 2023.
Running Backs, Damiere Shaw
Damiere Shaw played one season for Temple before an injury forced him into coaching. He followed current Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule around at several stops including Baylor (2017-2018) and with the Carolina Panthers (2020) before becoming Rutgers’ director of player performance in 2021.
He coached wide receivers on the field in 2022 before moving to running backs last season, a role he will reprise in 2024.
Offensive Line, Pat Flaherty
Rutgers’ offense was greatly improved last season and longtime college and NFL offensive line coach Pat Flaherty was a huge part of that. The 45-year coaching veteran was coaxed out of semi-retirement by Schiano in 2023 as he took his first college position coaching job since 1999.
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After 18 years in the college ranks, including eight years as Rutgers’ offensive line coach from 1984-1991, Flaherty went to the NFL in 2000, coaching for six different franchises. He was most recently a consultant for the New York Giants and for Schiano at Rutgers in 2022.
Defensive Line, Colin Ferrell
Collin Ferrell is gearing up for his first season in college football at a school other than Kent State, his alma mater. After a few years in the high school ranks, he joined the Kent State staff in 2013 as a graduate assistant, moving to an on-field role in 2016, where he’s been ever since.
He’s a native of the Garden State and is returning for the first time since spending four years as a high school coach from 2009-2012.
Defensive Ends, Julian Campenni
Julian Campenni is entering his first year as defensive ends coach at Rutgers after spending the previous five at Bowling Green. He was a standout defensive lineman at Connecticut, earning a second-team All-AAC selection in 2015.
Campenni spent a year in the high school ranks and two years as a graduate assistant at Boston College before moving to Bowling Green, where he’s coached the defensive line since 2019.
Cornerbacks, Mark Orphey
Mark Orphey moved immediately into coaching upon graduating from Texas Southern, being named the cornerbacks coach the year after he finished playing. He then spent four years at South Carolina as a graduate assistant and then as a quality control analyst from 2013-2016.
Orphey then spent five years out west, coaching corners at Montana State and Utah State. He was a senior defensive analyst at Alabama in 2021 and then he made his Power Five position coaching debut at Rutgers in 2022. Since he’s taken over, the Scarlet Knights have had one of the best secondaries in the Big Ten.
Safeties, Drew Lascari
Drew Lascari might be the safeties coach, but he has an offensive background and was the lone holdover from Chris Ash’s staff when Schiano returned to New Brunswick in 2020. Under Ash, Lascari was a special teams quality control coach and then the quarterbacks coach in 2019.
Lascari stayed on as a defensive assistant in 2020 and 2021 before he was moved to an on-field position coaching safeties in 2022. Lascari came to Rutgers after eight years in the high school ranks, including three years as the head coach at Cardinal Mooney High School in Florida.
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