O Canada! How Rutgers football's recruiting pipeline up north began

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PISCATAWAY – Greg Schiano was a young assistant coach when he received what might’ve seemed at the time like an unusual recruiting territory.

Working at Penn State on Joe Paterno’s staff, Schiano was tasked with going up to Canada to find prospects. Spending time identifying potential recruits while deciphering French in Quebec was a whole new experience.

“I’m 25, I thought the whole world was New Jersey, Pennsylvania,” the Rutgers football coach said. “All of a sudden I show up in Montreal, and the signs are different – I feel like I’m in Europe, which I hadn’t been to yet.”

Schiano didn’t know it at the time, but that assignment would pay dividends years later.

In both of his stints as the helm of the Scarlet Knights, Schiano and his coaching staff have added multiple Canadian players who have joined Rutgers and become integral contributors. The Canada-to-Piscataway pipeline – sometimes with a detour through an American prep school in between – has been a productive one for the Scarlet Knights, who play at No. 1 Ohio State on Nov. 22 (noon, FOX).

Just take a look at this season’s team.

Running back Antwan Raymond, a 1,000-yard rusher, is a Montreal native. So is starting linebacker Dariel Djabome, and so are defensive linemen Djibril Abdou Rahman and Farell Gnago, who forced a fumble that led to a game-winning field goal against Purdue.

Past Canadians who have played for Rutgers during Schiano’s second stint have included Wesley Bailey and Rene Konga.

While he was an assistant at Penn State, he coached Phil and Frank Yeboah-Kodie – they grew up in Montreal. Phil’s son, Trevor, played for Schiano at Rutgers as a transfer from Brown.

“There’s a long history there,” said Schiano, who had a brief stint in the Canadian Football League with the Toronto Argonauts after graduating from Bucknell. “You’re talking about an entire country. So there’s got to be players there. Then what happened was a lot of those Canadian kids started going to the prep schools in the United States, especially down in Florida. So that became a natural connection for us because we recruit Florida so heavily.

"It’s been very fruitful.”

The beginning of the Canada-to-Rutgers football pipeline

And it has been for a long time.

Jamaal Westerman was among the first to go from Canada to playing for Schiano at Rutgers during his first stint as a defensive end. Born in Brooklyn before moving to Central Florida, Westerman and his family moved to Ontario, where he played for Notre Dame Academic in Brampton, outside of Toronto.

Westerman, now an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Scarlet Knights, recalls how difficult it was to get the same type of exposure as recruits in the United States.

“We were just trying to play as much football as possible, and seeking out different camps and different high school combines so we can kind of show the talent we had there,” Westerman said. “We were driving all around. We came down to Rutgers for a camp, we went to Buffalo. We’d drive all around just for more American coaches to see us. We always felt once you get your eyes on us, you see what type of players we are.”

Clearly good ones.

After his time with the Scarlet Knights, Westerman signed with the Jets as an undrafted free agent and later played for the Dolphins, Cardinals, Colts, Bills, Steelers and Browns before several seasons in the CFL.

“If you’re going up to Canada looking for an athlete, you’re looking for a diamond in the rough,” Westerman said. “A guy who’s extremely hungry. That’s why I think you’ve seen the guys who have come to Rutgers, they’ve kind of accelerated their careers because a lot of guys are hungry but they’re so under-developed, once they get in our program, it’s all development all the time, it allows them to write any story they want to write.”

Lack of exposure a challenge for Canadian players

Still, getting on the radar of college coaches in the United States isn’t always easy. And even those who do fight the perception that the competition they faced in Canada was subpar.

“There’s not always necessarily a precedent,” Abdou Rahman said. “They might not always know someone there. Your coach might not have the relationships for it. They might see your tape and they assume it’s bad competition because it’s Canada and they don’t know the coaches, they don’t know anybody. So it’s harder.”

The lack of exposure was among the reasons why Djabome transferred from Ecole Secondaire Jacques-Rousseau High School in Quebec to Canada Prep Academy in Ontario. While still in Canada, Canada Prep’s football program travels to play American teams regularly.

Djabome’s older brother Rossini played at York College and in the CFL with the Edmonton Elks. But Dariel always wanted to play college football in America.

“Especially seeing my older brother, he was good but I was like, ‘I’m going to be better than him for sure,’” Djabome said. “He ended up playing in college in Canada. Then I was like, ‘I’ve got to make it and play in the NCAA.’”

Djabome succeeded.

Rutgers has benefitted from it.

Recruiting Canadian players does bring some extra hurdles – there are certain educational differences and processes that have to be accounted for, adding more layers to recruiting.

“I think people sometimes people get worn out by handling all the differences,” Schiano said. “In our situation, we can’t get worn out.”

Several players said they feel proud to represent Canada with a chance to show kids they can go from Montreal or Ontario to play major college football in the United States.

"I think I’m giving more hope to the people back home that this is possible. You can do this at the highest level and perform at the highest level," Raymond said. "I’m appreciative to be in that position to show little kids this is possible."

The Canadian recruiting pipeline has been a good one for Rutgers.

The Scarlet Knights hope to keep it going.

“It’s more tapped than it’s ever been, but it’s still an untapped area,” Schiano said. “You’re talking about a whole country, so you can find some players that can benefit your team.”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rutgers football's Canada recruiting pipeline pays off for Greg Schiano

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