Well, here’s an interesting one.
Rutgers is set to hire Jeff Towers as its recruiting coordinator, according to a report from Keith Sargeant of NJ Advance Media. Never heard of him? Of course you haven’t. Towers has no football experience whatsoever.
Sargeant tracked down Towers’ LinkedIn profile which says he is an “executive with 30 years of experience leading robust marketing, communications and fundraising programs in some of the largest nonprofit organizations in America.” Towers claims to be the principal of New York nonprofit Jeffrey Towers & Associates and lists previous employers as American Red Cross, UNICEF, and Public Interest Data, Inc.
Sargeant also reported Towers is a financial supporter of the Scarlet Knights’ football program, but does not go into detail just how extensive that relationship is. He did find his most recent tweet, though, and noted that Kyle Flood was the second of the 269 people he follows, following his wife.#rfootball #RUDreamteam16 #NJFootball #OnlyTheBeginning #JustGettingStarted http://t.co/X9DYKXYSp8
— Jeff Towers (@jeff_towers) February 6, 2015
Off-the-field staff has become the next frontier of the never-ending arms war in college football, with staffs across the country loading up on recruiting help. While hiring a business professional/super fan is certainly a unique move, it’s not necessarily unwise. A recruiting coordinator’s job is much less about identifying and chasing prospects, and more about smoothing out the recruiting process of players the coaching staff has already targeted.
Someone with the communications experience Towers claims to have - and the passion it takes to regularly put in 80-hour weeks - could be a true asset to Rutgers’ recruiting efforts.
Sargeant also reports that Flood will flank Towers with real-world football experience in hiring Illinois director of player personnel Marcus Berry and promote volunteer assistant E.J. Barthel to his recruiting staff.
