Rutgers Football Spring Update: All Eyes on the Quarterbacks
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A Crucial Spring
After a disappointing 2025 campaign, in which Rutgers trotted out one of the worst defenses statistically in its long history, the focus turns to spring, with an overhauled defensive coaching staff led by new hire and former South Dakota head coach Tavis Johansen. It’s the offensive side of the ball where all eyes are focused, though, as a new quarterback will be calling the signals after the graduation of Athan Kaliakmanis.
While the defense struggled last season, the offense, under offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca, had little trouble putting points on the board in the rugged Big Ten conference, averaging nearly 29 points per game.
This spring, AJ Surace will have every opportunity to win the job. The 6’2 205-pound rising junior from Pennington, NJ, will battle it out against incoming Boston College transfer Dylan Lonergan, a 6’2 210-pound senior from Snellville, GA. For Surace, this is his first true crack at the starting job after sitting on the bench behind Kaliakmanis the past two seasons.
Here's the first pass of Rutgers Football RS-Fr. Quarterback AJ Surace’s (@aj_surace12) career as a Scarlet Knight.
— Rutgers Scarlet Knights | The Knight Report (@RutgersOn3) September 13, 2025
**Defensive Pass Interference**
➡️ https://t.co/jttGitcciy pic.twitter.com/4oRdO3YgCQ
OC Ciarrocca Speaks After First Spring Practice
OC Ciarrocca spoke to the media in his opening presser after the first spring practice this past Friday.
“AJ’s had a really good winter,” said Ciarroca. “He’s a really hard worker, very conscientious young man, but he’s had a really good winter. Just like Dylan and Sean Ashenfelder. He needs repetitions out there to learn and grow from. He needs those experiences that we need to have so we can put them away back in our memory and be able to draw on them as the season approaches."
Surace is attempting to win a job with minimal reps in actual games. He’s completed four passes on nine completions for 58 yards and two touchdowns. Lonergan, on the other hand, was the starter last season at Boston College for the Eagles, throwing for over two thousand yards, with 12 touchdowns and five interceptions.
The one advantage - and it’s a big one - is that Surace is in his third season under Ciarrocca, who runs a complex system that historically has taken quarterbacks multiple seasons to master. Kaliakmanis showed growth from his first to second season under Ciarroca, putting up gaudy passing numbers for Rutgers last season, a team that has historically struggled to move the ball down the field vertically in the Big Ten. The senior threw for over 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns.
For Surace and Lonergan, two former four-star recruits, the ceiling appears higher, and with a talented receiver room led by future NFL receiver KJ Duff and a bruising running game, expectations for a potent offense will be high this fall in Piscataway.
Both Quarterbacks Embrace the Competiton
“There’s always competition within the room,” said Surace. “Between everybody, I think as a whole room, we’re constantly competing with each other. So, I mean, it really didn’t change much for me. It’s just still about getting a little bit better and trying to be the best I can be,” he told the press.
Boston College transfer Lonergan has the advantage with real game reps, but will need to catch up on Ciarrocca’s complex playbook. The former Eagle, who also spent two years with Alabama, also welcomes the competition.
“I think nowadays nobody really knows what to expect with the portal,” Lonergan said. “The decision to come here was a no-brainer. I think competition is competition. I went through it last year, and I’m not afraid of it. It’s not like I’m against another person; we’re all working together to be the best as a team.”
— Rutgers Scarlet Knights | The Knight Report (@RutgersOn3) January 6, 2026
To Lonergan’s point, competition is healthy, and with the rugged nature of the Big Ten, it’s essential that Rutgers has two competent signal-callers ready to play on a moment’s notice. Who ultimately wins the job remains to be seen, but for someone with as many years on the sidelines as OC Ciarrocca, making the decision isn’t rocket science.
“It’s going to be based on their performance out there on the practice field,” said Ciarrocca. “Doing this as long as I have, it becomes apparent at some point. You certainly hope that it’s the case, that it becomes apparent. When that time comes, Coach [Schiano] and I will sit down and talk about it, and ultimately he’ll make that decision. He’ll want my input, but he’ll make that decision with it. It’ll play itself out. I’m not in any hurry or anything like that.”
There will be no spring game this year, with head coach Schiano no longer willing to take the risk of losing impact players, like receiver Famah Toure, who suffered a season-ending injury during last season's spring game. Instead, fans will rely on the coaching staff to give insight on which quarterback leads the competition heading into summer.
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John Catapano graduated from Rutgers in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism, covering the women’s field hockey and soccer teams for the campus paper, The Daily Targum. After college, he moved to Los Angeles, got a job at Walt Disney Television, and has worked in media ever since. John currently works with the Wasserman Media Group in their Brooklyn, NY office, collaborating with brands, influencers, and athletes across the globe. When the pandemic struck in 2020 and Catapano began working remotely, he resumed writing by contributing to a Rutgers fan blog. He covered various sports, highlighted human interest stories, and focused on topics that Scarlet Nation wanted to discuss. It’s never easy being a Rutgers fan, but with over 500,000 alumni living worldwide and a passionate fanbase, covering the Scarlet Knights is always engaging.