Rutgers stays hot on the recruiting trail for the 2025 class, as the Scarlet Knights secured a commitment from four-star in-state offensive tackle Jaelyne Matthews.
Matthews announced his pledge at a ceremony at his high school, Toms River North, on Tuesday.
The strong relationships he's built with head coach Greg Schiano and special assistant to the head coach Joe Susan played pivotal roles in his decision to choose Rutgers.
"Definitely the relationship I've built with Coach Schiano since seventh or eighth grade helped make this decision," Matthews told Rivals about his commitment. "Coach Schiano, he's definitely like a father figure to me. Coach Susan, he started my recruitment in seventh or eighth grade year — he was the first one to offer me. Then sophomore, junior year, when I was going through some personal things, Coach Schiano jumped in and took over recruiting me.
"(Schiano) told me, 'I got you.' And with the NIL stuff going on, you don't know if 'I got you' means, 'I got you with a million dollars,' or 'I got you just as a person.' And I was willing to to take the risk and I was like, I trust your 'I got you.' He explained to me on the official visit what he meant by 'I got you' and I was like, you know what, this is it — I want his 'I got you.'
"He told me that he's never told a player 'I got you' (in that way before) and he's never had this (kind of) relationship with a player. I'm definitely excited to build the relationship even more with Coach Shiano and Coach Susan."
Matthews kept his decision close to the vest, ultimately choosing Rutgers over previously-announced finalists Georgia, Miami and Tennessee.
He also believes offensive line coach Pat Flaherty — who is a two-time Super Bowl champion and has both longtime NFL and collegiate experience — is the right position coach to develop him.
"Me and Coach Flaherty's relationship is amazing," Matthews said. "He's a great coach and he's a great person. He's a lot more on the serious side, which is a good thing as an offensive line coach. He's good as a recruiter, and he wants to win a national championship and he wants to teach everybody how to be an NFL offensive lineman. That's what I want to be around, and that's what all the other offensive linemen that have committed to Rutgers want to be around. So, I'm excited!"
The desire to stay in his home state and be a "hometown hero" also was a big reason why Matthews wanted to play his college football in the Garden State.
"I'm ready to play for the home state and be a hometown hero," Matthews said. "A lot of people weren't expecting this, but I'm ready to go out there and compete for not just a bowl game, but a national championship, and make Rutgers great again."
Matthews took an official visit to Rutgers during the weekend of May 31 through June 2. This is the only official visit he has taken and he will not be taking any trips elsewhere after pledging to the Scarlet Knights.
He was hosted on the trip by sophomore offensive lineman John Stone. Matthews had his prom on the Friday night of the official visit and missed the trip to New York City, which wasn't a huge deal to him as he lives close and can still visit any time.
It was during the official visit that he knew he wanted to join Schiano and company at Rutgers.
"We went to the beach, that was fun," Matthews said about the official visit. "We hung out with the team and the players, and that's definitely a part of the thing where I was like, 'Oh shoot, this is it, this is where I want to be.'"
The 6-foot-8, 320-pound Matthews currently ranks as the No. 13 player in the state of New Jersey and the No. 39 offensive tackle in the 2025 class. He had more than 25 scholarship offers in total.
Despite his size, Matthews is an athletic tackle who moves well and has run a 4.9-second 40-yard dash. He also thrives on physicality and wants to punish his opponents between the whistles.
"I'm very aggressive — I play what I would say is 'secretly dirty,'" Matthews said about his game. "When I'm blocking you, I'm gonna put you down to the ground, but I'm gonna keep you there and watch you struggle to get up. I'm going to keep hitting you ... and try to break your chest pad with my quick hands and heavy hands. I just want you to be on your back and basically have your mom and your girlfriend kind of cry for you a little bit while you're playing the game. I'm kind of a killer on the football field."
Matthews also plays defensive tackle and defensive end for Toms River North.
He was previously committed to Penn State from January 2023 until September of 2023.
With Matthews, Rutgers has secured its 14th commitment in the month of June and 22nd overall in the 2025 recruiting class. The Scarlet Knights currently rank eighth overall and third in the Big Ten in the national team rankings.
Matthews is excited to play alongside fellow 2025 New Jersey offensive tackle and Rutgers commit Jayden Elijah, along with the other offensive line commits in the class: Joshua Blackston, Gerrick Gordon, Chris Vigna (also out of New Jersey) and N-Kye Wynn.
He will now be turning his attention to helping the Scarlet Knights recruit his peers, including four-star New Jersey running back John Forster and others.
"Rutgers has top three-recruiting class in the Big Ten right now, and I'm excited to see what else we do and who else we bring in," Matthews said. "There's some kids out there that we want ... we're looking for you. If you're a dog, why aren't you coming to Rutgers? Be a hometown hero or come to New Jersey and play some serious football."
