Rutgers Football Fires Longtime Director of Sports Performance

Rutgers Football Parts Ways with Longtime Director of Sports Performance Jay Butler

After 17 seasons with the Rutgers football program, including six as the Director of Sports Performance, Jay Butler has been dismissed. He will be replaced by Spencer Brown, who was recently hired from Dartmouth, where he served as the Director of Strength and Conditioning for the past nine years.

Head Coach Greg Schiano made the announcement during his annual Charity Golf Classic at Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club in Bedminster. The decision marks a significant staff change, one that Schiano said was not easy, given his close working relationship with Butler, who he had been with for 18 years—16 at Rutgers and two with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL.

“This was something I felt was necessary, but it was incredibly difficult. Jay has made huge contributions to this program, both at Rutgers and when we were together in Tampa,” Schiano said. “We’ve worked together for 18 years, and it was tough to make this decision, but it was one I felt we had to make.”

Butler originally served as the Strength and Conditioning Coordinator for the Scarlet Knights from 2001-2004 before being promoted to Head Football Strength and Conditioning Coach, a position he held until 2011. Schiano and Butler had a long history, as they both played at Bucknell—Schiano as a linebacker and Butler as an offensive tackle—before moving to Tampa together when Schiano became head coach of the Buccaneers in 2012.

Spencer Brown Takes Over the Role
Brown, a former linebacker at Lafayette from 2006-2009, has a diverse coaching background. After graduating, he served as the Assistant Director of Sports Performance at Lafayette from 2010-2012, then went on to Moravian College as the Director of Strength and Conditioning from 2012-2014. For the past nine years, Brown led the strength and conditioning program at Dartmouth.

A native of New Port Richey, Florida, Brown earned second-team honors twice in football at J.W. Mitchell High School and was also a two-time state qualifier in weightlifting.

As he steps into his new role, Brown shared his philosophy: “No one should ever dread Mondays. It should be the best day of the week.”