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PISCATAWAY – Long before Sean Ashenfelder officially joined Rutgers football, he had a decision to make.
Ashenfelder was a standout baseball player at Creekside High School in Florida. He was also a standout football player. Offers came in for both sports. Ashenfelder had options. But Ashenfelder had to pick one of them.
“Probably all the way up until my sophomore year, I was thinking baseball, and then I just started to get football offers,” Ashenfelder said following a recent training camp practice. “I was like, it's just better for me, it's better for my situation.”
Ashenfelder settled on football.
Greg Schiano and Rutgers are glad he did.
While Ashenfelder, entering his second season with the program, is still early in his development, the 6-foot-1, 205-pound signal-caller has shown his coaches steady improvement since the time he arrived.
In the short term, Ashenfelder’s not a candidate for the starting job – a training camp battle between AJ Surace and Boston College transfer Dylan Lonergan will determine Athan Kaliakmanis’ successor.
But Ashenfelder’s making an impression.
Multiple times over the last few months when asked about the QB battle, Schiano unprompted has mentioned the growth Ashenfelder has shown.
“I’m really excited about Sean Ashenfelder,” Schiano said in June said. “I think Sean has made drastic improvement and put himself in a position where he looks like a real potential quarterback of the future.”
That’s high praise coming from a coach who’s deliberate about what he says publicly.
Being able to fully train year-round on football has made the difference for Ashenfelder, a native of St. John’s, Florida, which is near Jacksonville.
That wasn’t the case his first two years of high school.
“Six months of the year, I wouldn’t touch a football,” Ashenfelder. “When football season would come, I would fight just to get back to where I was.”
Ashenfelder held a strong list of offers for football. In addition to Rutgers, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Central Florida, West Virginia all recruited Ashenfelder.
Early in his junior year, Ashenfelder committed to Rutgers − he was actually the first member of the program's 2025 recruiting class.
“So once I kind of committed here, I kind of just shut everyone else down for baseball,” Ashenfelder said. “Because I just didn't want to deal with that.”
Ashenfelder said working with Ciarrocca on his throwing mechanics has been a major piece of his development and improvement as a QB – they were never as refined as they are now.
But so has soaking up all the knowledge he can from the other quarterbacks, including Kaliakmanis, who was drafted in the seventh round of this year’s draft by the Washington Commanders.
“He was never under-prepared,” Ashenfelder said. “Every single week, he would be leaving here at 8, 9 at night, just always watching film. He was always prepared. He knew everything that they were going to do. He really carried himself like a professional.”
Ashenfelder said learning from Surace has been valuable, especially since he’s been in Ciarrocca’s system for a while. And being able to pick the brain of Lonergan, who was at Alabama before Boston College and has experienced different systems, has given him a different perspective to draw from.
The work Ashenfelder’s putting in now will determine whether Schiano’s correct in his belief Ashenfelder could be the QB of the future.
Ashenfelder’s still growing and developing. He’s preparing to take the next step in that process.
“I definitely want to feel like I want to master the offense this year,” Ashenfelder said. “Just really, really master it and master my preparation process. And be able to go into every game knowing this is exactly what they can do, this is what they’re going to do, and really master my preparation and my knowledge of the offense.”
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rutgers football QB emerging as intriguing option for the future
Continue reading...
Ashenfelder was a standout baseball player at Creekside High School in Florida. He was also a standout football player. Offers came in for both sports. Ashenfelder had options. But Ashenfelder had to pick one of them.
“Probably all the way up until my sophomore year, I was thinking baseball, and then I just started to get football offers,” Ashenfelder said following a recent training camp practice. “I was like, it's just better for me, it's better for my situation.”
Ashenfelder settled on football.
Greg Schiano and Rutgers are glad he did.
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While Ashenfelder, entering his second season with the program, is still early in his development, the 6-foot-1, 205-pound signal-caller has shown his coaches steady improvement since the time he arrived.
In the short term, Ashenfelder’s not a candidate for the starting job – a training camp battle between AJ Surace and Boston College transfer Dylan Lonergan will determine Athan Kaliakmanis’ successor.
But Ashenfelder’s making an impression.
Multiple times over the last few months when asked about the QB battle, Schiano unprompted has mentioned the growth Ashenfelder has shown.
“I’m really excited about Sean Ashenfelder,” Schiano said in June said. “I think Sean has made drastic improvement and put himself in a position where he looks like a real potential quarterback of the future.”
That’s high praise coming from a coach who’s deliberate about what he says publicly.
Being able to fully train year-round on football has made the difference for Ashenfelder, a native of St. John’s, Florida, which is near Jacksonville.
That wasn’t the case his first two years of high school.
“Six months of the year, I wouldn’t touch a football,” Ashenfelder. “When football season would come, I would fight just to get back to where I was.”
Ashenfelder held a strong list of offers for football. In addition to Rutgers, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Central Florida, West Virginia all recruited Ashenfelder.
Early in his junior year, Ashenfelder committed to Rutgers − he was actually the first member of the program's 2025 recruiting class.
“So once I kind of committed here, I kind of just shut everyone else down for baseball,” Ashenfelder said. “Because I just didn't want to deal with that.”
Ashenfelder said working with Ciarrocca on his throwing mechanics has been a major piece of his development and improvement as a QB – they were never as refined as they are now.
But so has soaking up all the knowledge he can from the other quarterbacks, including Kaliakmanis, who was drafted in the seventh round of this year’s draft by the Washington Commanders.
“He was never under-prepared,” Ashenfelder said. “Every single week, he would be leaving here at 8, 9 at night, just always watching film. He was always prepared. He knew everything that they were going to do. He really carried himself like a professional.”
Ashenfelder said learning from Surace has been valuable, especially since he’s been in Ciarrocca’s system for a while. And being able to pick the brain of Lonergan, who was at Alabama before Boston College and has experienced different systems, has given him a different perspective to draw from.
The work Ashenfelder’s putting in now will determine whether Schiano’s correct in his belief Ashenfelder could be the QB of the future.
Ashenfelder’s still growing and developing. He’s preparing to take the next step in that process.
“I definitely want to feel like I want to master the offense this year,” Ashenfelder said. “Just really, really master it and master my preparation process. And be able to go into every game knowing this is exactly what they can do, this is what they’re going to do, and really master my preparation and my knowledge of the offense.”
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rutgers football QB emerging as intriguing option for the future
Continue reading...
