Who is Zach Sparber? Rutgers' new coaching staff target for 2025 season

James Madison linebackers coach Zach Sparber has become a target for Greg Schiano and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. He would become the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in New Jersey, CBS Sports and 247 Sports reported on Monday.

The hire would end a months-long search for a defensive coordinator in Piscataway. Previous defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak left the team in early December to become the head coach of UMass.

Sparber is a Norwood, New Jersey native who played defensive lineman at Brown University in the mid-2010s. Sparber was named All-Ivy League after his senior season.

Sparber started his coaching career at Stonehill before joining his high school alma mater, Bergen Catholic, as an offensive line coach in 2017. There, he coached current Rutgers' starting left guard Bryan Felter.

A year later, Sparber joined Virginia Tech as a graduate assistant and assistant defensive line coach before going to Duke in 2021 to serve as a defensive analyst and assistant defensive line coach under Mike Elko.

He left Duke for the James Madison Dukes before the 2024 season. He followed former Blue Devils defensive backs coach Lyle Hemphill to Harrisonburg, where James Madison has become one of the premier Group of Five programs.

With Sparber as part of the staff, the Dukes finished the 2024 season ranked 21st in total defense and 22nd in points allowed. That is despite surrendering 50 points in a wild 70-50 win over North Carolina. The Scarlet Knights had the 91st total defense in 2024.

It is still undetermined if Zach Sparber would call plays or who would serve as the other co-defensive coordinator.

When do Zach Sparber and Rutgers hold their spring game?

The Scarlet-White game, Rutgers' annual spring game, will be held on April 26 at SHI Stadium, and the Big Ten Network will televise it. The game serves as a first look at the incoming talent and, in this case, to see what Zach Sparber can do on defense.

These free exhibitions usually attract a lot of fans who want to get ahead and look at what the team has to offer for the upcoming season.

After the spring game, players take a break to finish the academic spring semester before reporting back in early June for the team's conditioning program and training camp.

The Scarlet Knights are coming off a 7-6 season and a heartbreaking 44-41 Rate Bowl loss against Kansas State. They will open the 2025 season at home versus the Ohio Bobcats on Aug. 30.