On the heels of finishing the longest defensive coordinator searches of this off season, which ended with Greg Schiano landing the head coach from a top FCS program to fill the role, Rutgers is set to have another defensive opening on staff.
ESPN shares that Scarlet Knights outside linebackers coach Julian Campenni is joining the Chargers staff.
Campenni's role on Harbaugh's staff will be assistant defensive line coach, the report adds.
Prior to spending the past two seasons on staff at Rutgers, Campenni logged five seasons on staff at Bowling Green where he worked with the Falcons defensive line.
Campenni earned a promotion to run game coordinator prior to the 2022 season, and added assistant head coach responsibilities in 2023 at Bowling Green.
The experience in the NFL will be Campenni's first stop in the league, capping an impressive rise after less than a decade coaching at the college ranks.
After playing in nearly 50 games as a defensive lineman at UConn, the Huskies team captain got his start in coaching at Wyoming Area HS (PA) before landing a graduate assistant job at Boston College for the 2017-18 seasons. His first full-time post was at BGSU, followed by his most recent stop - a pair of seasons at Rutgers.
In LA, he will join a defensive staff now led by first-year NFL defensive coordinator Chris O'Leary who was hired away from the MAC after the former Chargers safeties coach helped Western Michigan to a 10-win season and MAC title last fall.
As for Rutgers, their defensive shuffle continues as Travis Johansen recently left his post as the head coach at South Dakota to take over as Schiano's new defensive coordinator. Yesterday we also shared that another FCS head coach was joining the staff, as Joe Woodley is leaving after one season as the head coach at Drake (FCS - IA) to join the new-look defensive staff as well. Before taking over at Drake, Woodley led Grand View (NAIA - IA) for five seasons, going 72-5 overall while never losing a regular season game and capturing the national title in 2024. Woodley went 7-2 last fall in his only season at Drake, won the Pioneer Football League, and punched their ticket to the FCS playoffs.
The hires are meant to shore up a defense for Rutgers that finished dead last in FBS in yards per play allowed in 2025 at 7.6.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.