Greg Schiano is bringing a familiar face back to Rutgers to run his defense.
Robb Smith, a veteran defensive coordinator in college football, is expected to join the Knights staff as their new co-defensive coordinator and play caller, Pete Thamel and ESPN share.
He will work alongside James Sparber, a new addition to the staff from James Madison, as the other co-defensive coordinator, as we shared yesterday.
For Smith, this marks his third time at Rutgers with the defensive coordinator title.
His first stint came in 2012 under Schiano, after three seasons coordinating the Knights special teams and working with outside linebackers, then corners, and then linebackers before earning the promotion to defensive coordinator in Schiano's last season (2012) with the program before leaving to become the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
After a year with Schiano in the NFL, Smith returned to college football as the defensive coordinator at Arkansas for a few seasons, then Minnesota before spending the 2019 season at Texas A&M as an analyst.
He'd return for his second stint as Rutgers defensive coordinator in 2020-21 before leaving to be the defensive coordinator at Duke in 2022.
The 49-year old Smith returns to Piscataway after two seasons on staff at Penn State, where he was an analyst for the Nittany Lions.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.