What does this all mean? Five things to know about Colin Ferrell and the implications for Rutgers football
Colin Ferrell is the newest addition to the Rutgers football coaching staff, bringing a strong resume to the Big Ten. This is a homecoming for Ferrell, who is from New Jersey.
The news was broken by Rutgers football insider Pete Thamel of ESPN on Tuesday morning.
He joins a program that went 7-6 (3-5 Big Ten) last year. Rutgers ended their season with a win over Miami in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl.
Ferrell, who played for Steinert High School (Hamilton, New Jersey), was a standout defensive lineman at Kent State for four years. He joined the MAC program’s staff in 2012 and has been an integral part of his alma mater ever since.
Scroll down and check out five things to know about Colin Ferrell, the new defensive line coach at Rutgers, and what it means for the Scarlet Knights.
Rutgers football: Colin Ferrell has deep ties to New Jersey
Born in Hamilton, New Jersey, Ferrell lived in and played his high school football in the state. After a standout career at Kent State (more on that further down), he coached for three years at The Hun School.
Having Ferrell on staff gives the Rutgers staff another assistant with ties to the emerging recruiting area in south Jersey. Rutgers did very well in that part of the state in head coach Greg Schiano’s first two years back with the Scarlet Knights.
A Jersey boy coming back to the state has some serious recruiting implications.
Rutgers football: This is a good strategic move for recruiting and Greg Schiano
Before diving into recruiting, let’s make this clear: Colin Ferrell is a very strong head coach who is a passionate communicator and teacher. For a developmental program, that is huge.
But, for recruiting, this is also significant.
As noted above, Rutgers was strong in south Jersey during Schiano’s first two years back with the program. The reason why? Fran Brown, now the head coach at Syracuse. And while recruiting in the southern half of the state isn’t poor, Rutgers definitely felt the loss of Brown (who became an assistant at Georgia for two years before heading to Syracuse this offseason).
Having Ferrell, who was born and played in south Jersey and then coached in Princeton, is a not insignificant deal for the program. Ferrell is tremendous at connecting with high school talent. He will be an asset in and around the region.
Rutgers football: Colin Ferrell had a strong playing career
Ferrell played four years at Kent State from 2004-07. From there, he signed with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted rookie free agent.
He is fifth all-time in program history with 45.5 tackles for a loss.
He joins a Rutgers staff that has a number of former NFL players on staff. Players and recruits value this kind of experience as they look to transition to the next level.
At Kent State, he was an All-Mid-American Conference selection (first team) and a captain as a senior.
Rutgers football: Colin Ferrell transitioned to coaching very quickly
After his time in the NFL, Ferrell moved rather quickly into coaching
He joined the staff of The Hun School in 2009 and spent three years with one of New Jersey’s top programs. He then went back to Kent State as a graduate assistant and was promoted in 2016 to be his alma mater’s defensive line coach.
For longtime Rutgers football fans, he did not coach four-star Anthony LaLota, a product of The Hun School who was at Michigan for one season and then transferred to Rutgers.
Rutgers football: Colin Ferrell has some big shoes to fill in replacing Marquise Watson
Ferrell is a highly-touted positional coach, but he certainly has been tasked with a big job at Rutgers.
Watson was one of the most popular coaches on staff and was a big brother (or a father) to several of the current players. He was approachable and never lacking in energy.
Based on his resume, Ferrell is certainly capable of picking up where Watson left off. And it is good news that Watson is transitioning to a new role off the field for Rutgers.
Having Ferrell on staff and Watson around the program builds the quality depth and experience that Rutgers needs.
