PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Originally from Minnesota,
Andrew Aurich has spent more than a decade in New Jersey as a player and a coach. In fact, he reduced his commute in returning to Rutgers this offseason. As the Scarlet Knights' offensive line coach, this marks his third stint with head coach
Greg Schiano.
"I might be the only Power 5 coach in the country who shortened his drive to work by getting this job," Aurich said in a recent WebEx with the media. "I have a 10-minute drive to work now. Location-wise, it's been great. Being around these guys and energy that everyone has, starting from coach Schiano all the way down, it's been a lot of fun."
Aurich played at Princeton, moving into the starting lineup on the offensive line as a junior to help the Tigers improve by three wins before finishing 7-3 in 2005, the most wins by the program in a decade. He graduated with a degree in politics in 2006.
Aurich immediately moved into coaching the next fall as an assistant at Concordia Academy in Minnesota. Coming back east to Albright College for the 2007 and 2008 seasons, that led him to meeting
Sean Gleeson.
"My first college job at Albright College, I was recruiting Morris County and one of my buddies from college lived in the faculty housing at Delbarton School," Aurich recalled. "Sean was teaching there. I became friends with him a long time ago."
The two would eventually land on the same staff at Princeton in 2013 and had a successful six-season run together with the Tigers. Both continued to ascend the ranks of the offensive staff, with Gleeson taking over as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach and Aurich as associate head coach and offensive line coach.
Then during a perfect 10-0 championship season in 2018, Princeton boasted the top rushing offense in the Ivy League with 295.5 yards per game and the second-best passing offense at 241.3 passing yards. The offensive line tied for second in the conference for the fewest sacks allowed that season. The Tigers led the FCS in scoring offense with 47.0 points per game and finished second in total offense and sixth in rushing offense. Overall, Aurich helped 12 linemen to All-Ivy League honors during his tenure.
"Obviously, our relationship grew as we started working together," Aurich said. "We have a really good understanding of how the offensive line and the quarterbacks work together, and what each of us are thinking. It makes it so it's a really easy relationship to work together on an offense."
Gleeson would move on to become the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State in 2019, which led to Aurich being promoted to Princeton's offensive coordinator. As the play caller, Aurich guided the Tigers to a second-ranked rushing offense in the league with 164.7 yards per game and ranked third in scoring offense, total offense and passing offense. The team finished 8-2. Seven players on the Tigers' offense earned All-Ivy League accolades.
As Schiano built the Rutgers staff, he prioritized New Jersey ties, which led to Gleeson, a Glen Ridge native, being hired as offensive coordinator on Jan. 4 and Aurich shortly after as offensive line coach on Jan. 6.
"I know Andy Aurich is one of the best coaches that I've ever been around," Gleeson said. "So if there's any guy that's responsible for taking the group to the next level I think he's going to be the guy to do it.
"At Princeton last year as a coordinator himself, he had some things that he brought to the table and kind of made recommendations to me as well. Andy from day one, his ability to get everyone up to speed and us speaking the same language, that's of great value to me. I can't say that enough."
For Aurich, it was an opportunity to return to Rutgers, where he was on the player development staff in 2009 and worked as a defensive assistant in 2010. Schiano would later hire Aurich as a defensive assistant with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012.
"Andrew and I have worked together both on the college and professional level," Schiano said upon the hire. "I admire his passion and dedication to coaching and developing players. He also spent several seasons with coach Gleeson and that relationship will be important in creating alignment on the offense. Andrew comes in with a unique perspective having coached several positions on offense, including as a play caller. We are excited to have him and his family rejoin the Rutgers staff."
As Aurich, who also has prior experience coaching tight ends, running backs and special teams, builds the Rutgers offensive line, playing fast in an up-tempo system will be an adjustment for the returning players. However, Aurich's knowledge of the system and history working with Gleeson as a play caller is a benefit in teaching the group.
"I'm excited about the entire group," Aurich said. "Every one of them is full of energy and thirsting for knowledge. The most important thing I'm looking for is guys who work extremely hard, want to be challenged, and guys who will play fast, will operate fast, and will process information fast. The last part is my job is to put the system in place in their head so they can process information fast."
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