‘I ended up trying to run here!’ How Julian Campenni joined Rutgers football
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Julian Campenni comes to Rutgers football this offseason with plenty of experience and upside. But when the opportunity to join the Big Ten program came along, there was no hesitation on the part of the now Rutgers defensive end coach’s mind to take the job.
Campenni joins defensive line coach Colin Ferrel as the new additions to the Rutgers football staff this offseason. Both hires by head coach Greg Schiano saw Rutgers dip into the MAC to find energetic, enthusiastic coaches brimming with potential.
The duo replaces Marquise Watson, who was sidelined last year for personal reasons.
Campenni comes to Rutgers following five years at Bowling Green, a program that is very solid defensively in the MAC. He has ties to the area having played his high school football in Pennsylvania and then in college at UConn where he was an All-American Athletic Conference selection.
The opportunity to work on Schiano’s staff stood out to Campenni as an important next step in his career.
“What happened with coach ‘Quise last year was very sad – and I didn’t know coach ‘Quise…I met him when I got here a couple of times but just hearing from everybody in the building about the type of dude he is – he’s a great person and someone obviously we’re still thinking about and praying for,” Campenni said on Tuesday.
“When I heard about this opportunity – to me it was a no brainer. To come back closer to home…to be in my opinion in the best conference in college football and work for a guy like coach Schiano and coach Harasymiak (defensive coordinator Joe Hrasymiak) and this staff. I ended up trying to run here as fast as I could. So it’s been great. I’m fortunate enough to be able to get an opportunity to be here and work with these kids and the staff.”
As he settles into life at Rutgers and in the Big Ten, Campenni said that he has taken note of Harasymiak.
Now in his third year at Rutgers, Harasymiak is one of the top defensive coordinators in the nation. Known for his attention to detail, Harasymiak has left a definite impression on the defensive ends coach.
“He’s elite. He’s elite at what he does. Everything he does is the best so I kind of just match him,” Campenni said.
“He sets the tone defensively as a defensive staff of the expectations and he makes it really easy to just fall in line and, and do that, so he’s awesome. I mean, he brings it every day and he makes it easy for us.”
