Rutgers Football Officially Announces Hiring Of John McNulty As Offensive Coordinator

Rutgers football formally announced John McNulty as offensive coordinator in a press release distributed by the program on Tuesday.

It was first reported by Ryan Dunleavy of NJ Advance Media last Thursday and you can read my initial take here. In our poll asking readers what they thought of the hire, 83% of the 698 voters said they liked the addition of McNulty. BTN analyst J Leman praised the hire over the weekend as well. Finding the right fit for offensive coordinator is critical for the success of Ash’s tenure at Rutgers. He ultimately chose to bring back the most successful OC for the program in the last decade. McNulty replaces Jerry Kill, who retired last month due to health issues. James Kratch of NJ Advance Media has the full contract details for McNulty here, which is a three-year deal worth 1.875 million dollars.

From the Press Release:

Rutgers head football coach Chris Ash named John McNulty offensive coordinator, it was announced today. McNulty, who has over 25 years experience as an offensive coach, previously spent five seasons on the Scarlet Knights’ sideline, including three as offensive coordinator.

“I’m excited to welcome John back to the Rutgers football family,” said Ash. “He has a wealth of football knowledge and experience, and I look forward to him helping develop our quarterbacks. John is a great leader, man and coach, and I’m excited to see him shape the identity of our offense.”

McNulty piloted one of the most prolific offenses in Rutgers history in 2007 with the Scarlet Knights becoming the first program in the FBS to have a 3,000-yard passer (Mike Teel), 2,000-yard rusher (Ray Rice) and a pair of 1,000-yard receivers (Kenny Britt and Tiquan Underwood) in the same season. At the time, the 2007 squad was one of just eight teams in the 138 seasons of football at Rutgers to score 300 points in a season. The Scarlet Knights set school records for scoring (426), first downs (294) and total offense (5,841) in 2007.

During the 2007 season, Britt and Underwood became the 26th pair of teammates in the NCAA and the first in Big East history to each have at least 1,000 yards receiving in the same season. Britt led the conference with 1,232 yards and Underwood added 1,100 yards.

McNulty was part of four bowl teams during his five-year tenure at Rutgers, including three-straight wins at the Texas, International and PapaJohns.com Bowls.

Following his final season at Rutgers, McNulty spent three seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, coaching wide receivers from 2009-11, including All-Pro receiver Larry Fitzgerald, and quarterbacks in 2012. He later joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers staff for the 2013 season, coaching rookie quarterback Mike Glennon, who earned All-Rookie honors.

McNulty served as quarterbacks coach for two seasons with the Tennessee Titans from 2014-15 under his former Arizona Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt. While with the Titans, he mentored second overall pick Marcus Mariota for the 2015 season. Mariota went on to earn All-Rookie honors after finishing the season with the highest passer rating among rookies (91.5). He posted four games with at least three touchdown passes in 2015, tying Peyton Manning (1998) for the most ever by an NFL rookie despite missing four games. Mariota also broke the franchise record for most passing touchdowns (19), completions (230) and passing yards (2,818) by a rookie.

Most recently, McNulty has spent the previous two seasons (2016-17) on the Los Angeles Chargers staff as tight ends coach.

Prior to his first stint with the Scarlet Knights, McNulty spent six seasons as an NFL assistant coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars from 1998-2002 under head coach Tom Coughlin and the Dallas Cowboys in 2003 with Hall of Fame head coach Bill Parcells. During his six-year stint, McNulty helped his teams advance to three playoff berths. While in Jacksonville, he coached two of the NFL’s top receiving duos in Jimmy Smith and Keenan McCardell. In 2000 and 2001, the pair combined for 390 receptions and 4,903 yards, while Smith earned All-Pro honors both seasons.

McNulty began his coaching career as a graduate assistant coach at Michigan from 1991-94. He then spent three seasons as wide receivers coach at Connecticut from 1995-97 before joining the NFL. McNulty played safety at Penn State from 1988-90, where he was a member of two Nittany Lion bowl teams.

A native of Scranton, Pa., McNulty and his wife Kim have four daughters: Abigail, Allison, Megan and Kaitlyn.

For more on McNulty, including what he had to say in yesterday’s call with the media, click here.