How does the hiring of Scott Vallone as tight ends coach impact Rutgers football? How about recruiting?
Scott Vallone is the hire for Rutgers football as the tight ends coach. It is an interesting hire to say the least for the Scarlet Knights.
A former standout defensive lineman at Rutgers, Vallone is a highly-regarded and well-respected young coach. High school coaches value him and his recruiting style while young players can relate to him as one of the younger members of the staff.
It all makes for a very good hire by head coach Greg Schiano and his staff.
Vallone replaces Andrew Aurich, who coached the offensive line and running backs at Rutgers before taking over as tight ends coach last year. Aurich was named the head coach at Harvard this week.
But the hiring of Vallone will signal a shift for Rutgers, even if there is a sense of continuity and development with his elevation from an offensive line assistant last year to becoming the tight ends coach this year.
Scroll down and check out five things to consider in the hiring of Scott Vallone as the new tight ends coach at Rutgers.
Scott Vallone: The impact of Pat Flaherty on the new Rutgers football tight ends coach
Vallone spent last year in an apprenticeship of sorts under Pat Flaherty, who was in his first year as the Rutgers football offensive line coach. As an assistant, Vallone got valuable experience working alongside a coach who has over two decades of NFL coaching experience.
This was valuable for Vallone, who learned the ins and outs of positional coaching from Flaherty.
Vallone has spent time coaching on both sides of the ball, but being able to work with Flaherty is going to help him out tremendously as he transitions to this new role.
And Flaherty worked as a tight ends coach earlier in his career, both at the Power Five level and in the NFL. So one has to think that the relationship with Vallone will continue to be beneficial for the young coach.
The impact on Rutgers football recruiting
This is where things get interesting for Rutgers football. As one of the younger assistant coaches, he brings energy and relatability to recruiting.
He has recruited Long Island effectively for Rutgers. He also did some tremendous work in North Carolina for Rutgers in the last recruiting cycle where he helped pull in Ben Black and Isaiah Crumpler.
With Rutgers seemingly reaching out more and more to North Carolina, Vallone’s impact on the expanding recruiting blueprint should also grow.
Speaking of Rutgers football recruiting and Scott Vallone...
Interesting little note but Vallone played a big role in Rutgers landing three-star offensive lineman Jayden Elijah recently.
Offered by Boston College, Cincinnati, Florida State, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Virginia Tech among others, Elijah was a big get for Rutgers. Vallone’s relationship with Elijah was important in helping to land the coveted offensive lineman from New Jersey.
Vallone is a relationship-based recruiter, one who forms deep connections with recruits. Will be interesting to see how that helps Rutgers on the recruiting front.
He brings an intriguing resume to his new role with Rutgers football
As documented previously in this list, Vallone worked last year as an offensive line analyst at Rutgers. Prior to that, he worked quality control at Rutgers for three years. He joined head coach Greg Schiano’s staff in 2020 as a graduate assistant on offense.
Prior to that, he coached the defensive line at Fordham and was the defensive coordinator at St. Lawrence.
He was hired by Rutgers over several other candidates, including a couple with significant Power Five positional coaching experience. Certainly interesting to say the least that Vallone was hired for the promotion.
Certainly speaks to his upside and growth as a coach.
Scott Vallone bleeds Rutgers football
This is Vallone’s third stop at Rutgers. Hired in 2020 as a graduate assistant, he was a defensive line assistant at Rutgers in 2015 before leaving for St. Lawrence and then Fordham
But Vallone also was a former player at Rutgers, who made 51 consecutive starts during his Big East career. He then went on to play for three NFL teams and in the CFL.
This continuity is impactful on the recruiting trail. But it also speaks to loyalty and understanding.
There is no doubt that Schiano holds his assistant coaches to a high level and Vallone takes this role knowing full well what it will entail.
