According to a post made by Pete Thamel, the Los Angeles Chargers are expected to hire Rutgers OLB Coach Julian Campenni to be their new assistant defensive line coach. He becomes the second Rutgers assistant coach to leave the program this week, as former Associate Director of Player Development Tyrell Smith has decided to join the Virginia Tech coaching staff. Campenni still had one year left on his contract, where he was scheduled to make 300k.
Campenni has spent the last two years with the Scarlet Knights. In 2024 and 2025, Campenni was listed as the defensive ends coach before his title changed to the outside linebackers coach sometime during this off-season. Before his days with Rutgers, he had a five-year coaching stint at Bowling Green and was a graduate assistant at Boston College. His playing days include a college career where he appeared in 47 games for the UConn Huskies.
Campenni was one of two remaining defensive coaches on the Knights roster to carry over from last season. Now, the only carryover from last season is defensive tackles coach Charlie Noonan.
Losing Campenni will take a toll, especially on the recruiting trail, as he was regarded as one of Rutgers’ best recruiters on the defensive side of the ball. He also helped walk-on Jordan Walker lead the team in sacks in 2024, and assisted players like Eric O’Neill and Bradley Weaver in making the jump to the Big Ten in 2025.
His departure opens up another vacancy to be filled by Rutgers’ new defensive coordinator, Travis Johansen.
