Football
Five thoughts on Rutgers football’s 2025 recruiting class as it stands right now
The month of June is typically a busy recruiting month.
Greg Schiano and Rutgers football have taken that to another level.
Since the start of the month, the Scarlet Knights have added 19 commitments to their 2025 recruiting class, with 10 of those pledges coming during the first weekend of the month.
As it currently stands, the class comprises 27 total commitments. It ranks 10th in the nation and third in the Big Ten according to 247Sports. Rutgers has gotten pledges from recruits in nine different states, as well as Washington, DC.
By any measure, it’s a strong class that’s gotten plenty of attention from the college football world.
Here are five thoughts on the class it stands right now:
Rutgers football is keeping New Jersey talent home
When the Scarlet Knights landed safety Kaj Sanders as part of the 2024 recruiting class, it was a big deal for multiple reasons. For one, Sanders was a highly touted safety out of Bergen Catholic – a four-star prospect and the No. 8 overall recruit in New Jersey per the 247Sports Composite – and he has a chance to become a major weapon in Rutgers’ secondary.
But it also signaled a shift: Elite in-state talent starting to seriously consider Rutgers. That was always a step the Scarlet Knights needed to take in the Schiano 2.0 era.
So consider Rutgers’ 2025 class a sign that it’s continuing that momentum.
The Scarlet Knights have eight in-state commitments, including Donovan Catholic wide receiver Michael Thomas III, St. Joseph Regional running back John Forster, Toms River North offensive lineman Jaelyne Matthews, Bergen Catholic offensive lineman Chris Vigna and Matawan offensive lineman Jayden Elijah – all of whom are Top 25 in-state prospects, according to 247Sports.
Rutgers is landing talent from the North Jersey non-public powerhouses like Bergen Catholic and St. Joseph. That’s a vital pipeline.
The days of the Scarlet Knights being an afterthought for the elite recruits who play at those schools are over.
Rutgers continues to find success in Georgia
There’s a ton of football talent in Georgia. The state produces a high number of players who eventually end up in the NFL.
The fact that Rutgers continues to make inroads there is huge.
The Scarlet Knights landed safety Antonio White from the state as part of the 2024 recruiting class. In the current cycle, they have four Georgia commitments – cornerback Michael Clayton, defensive lineman Braxton Kyle, defensive lineman Chase Linton and defensive end Canaan Edwards, who committed Monday night.
Building momentum in Georgia is crucial. Rutgers is starting to.
The need for speed
Rutgers has added a lot of it in recent recruiting classes, and it’s adding even more with the Class of 2025.
Jourdin Houston, a wide receiver from St. Thomas More in Connecticut, and Vernon Allen, a wide receiver from Baltimore City College High School in Maryland, both add elite speed to the receiver room.
Four-star safety Tariq Hayer from St. John’s High School in Washington, DC is also an elite track athlete who’s run a 4.6 40-yard dash. Hillside athlete Talibi Kaba, who committed back in February, also brings formidable speed, as well as Clayton, who’s run a blazing-fast 10.44 100-meter dash.
And that’s just a portion of the class.
To win in the Big Ten, you need speed. Rutgers is piling that up at an impressive rate.
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Building depth in the trenches
In addition to speed, you also need size up front to win in the Big Ten.
Rutgers has done a good job in this class of adding six offensive lineman who already boast Big Ten size – including the 6-foot-5, 295-pound Chris Vigna from Bergen Catholic, 6-foot-5, 305-pound Jaelyne Matthews from Toms River North and 6-foot-7-265-pound Jayden Elijah from Matawan.
“We look for big athletes,” Schiano said. “I don’t expect high school linemen to be trained to the point where they can come in and play right away. That’s rare and few and far between. But big frames. We have the best strength coach and best strength staff in America with Coach (Jay) Butler and his people. We have a tremendous nutrition program. We’ll put the muscle, the weight on these guys. We just need to find big athletes.”
That’s true on the other side of the ball too, where Rutgers has landed commitments from defensive lineman, including 6-foot-6, 255-pound Miron Gurman from Spencerport, NY (he’s the second-ranked recruit in the state, per 247Sports) and 6-foot-4, 230-pound defensive end Robbie Johnson Jr. from Salesianum in Delaware (Johnson is ranked as the top prospect in the state).
“Both sides, O and D,” Schiano said. “We’re losing quite a few guys next year. It’s real important – I talk all the time about the pipeline. The pipeline has to be continually filled. When you get it going, the pipeline just keeps pushing players to the NFL on the other end. But you’ve got to bring the right ones in.”
Rutgers has stayed true to its recruiting philosophy
The NIL era has thrown so much of recruiting into chaos. What worked years ago for many programs doesn’t work anymore. Plenty of major programs are getting into bidding wars and throwing money at high school recruits through their collectives.
The days of relying on building relationships and earning trust to recruit at a high level are becoming more obsolete.
But Rutgers and Schiano have stayed true to that philosophy – finding the right athlete who’s a true fit for the program and culture without relying on NIL dollars to secure commitments.
“I really love the group and the guys we have committed right now,” Schiano said. “I think the reason is our coaches do a great job of identifying the guys that are right for us. We don’t worry about their stars or who else is recruiting them. We really do a deep dive and evaluation on each kid. It takes a lot of time.”
How does the coaching staff get the information they need?
From just about anyone who might know a recruit.
“That takes the most time,” Schiano said. “Because how do you find that out without digging, whether it’s the cafeteria people at the school, the parking lot attendant or the guy at the 7/11 across the street, you’ve just got to keep asking questions until you make sure this guy is a potential fit for our program.”
And in the transfer portal era, finding recruits willing to put the work in and who won’t look to transfer as soon as something doesn’t go their way is even more important.
The recruiting landscape has a changed a lot in recent years. Rutgers’ philosophy, though, has stayed consistent.
As the 2025 class shows, that’s paying off.
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