Football
- Title:
- Special Teams Coordinator
- Seasons At RU:
- Fourth Season
- Alma Mater:
- Culver-Stockton, 1977
Vince Okruch is in his third year as special teams coordinator and tight ends coach for Rutgers. Prior to joining RU, Okruch spent two seasons (2014-15) at Ohio State as quality control coach for the kicking game and defense.
With more than 35 years of coaching experience, Okruch has worked with some of the legendary names in college football, including Lou Holtz, Bill McCartney, Gary Barnett and Urban Meyer.
Okruch spent three seasons at the University of Akron before joining the Buckeyes. While at Akron from 2009-11, he coached on the defensive side of the ball, overseeing the defensive tackles, safeties and linebackers at different times during his stint. He also served as special teams coordinator.
Okruch has over 15 years of experience coaching in the Big Ten with stops at Minnesota, where he coached under Holtz and John Gutekunst, Northwestern (Barnett) and Illinois (Ron Zook). Okruch coached alongside Barnett for a total of 12 years, including five seasons as the defensive coordinator at the University of Colorado.
In 2009 while at Akron, Okruch tutored Zips linebacker Brian Wagner who was named consensus Freshman All-America, including first-team honors by Sporting News.
Prior to coming to Akron, Okruch served as defensive coordinator at Illinois for one season. Under his guidance, the 2006 Illini defense made the jump to the upper half of the Big Ten. Nationally, the unit ranked 33rd in total defense (310.17 ypg), 31st in pass defense (182.25 ypg) and 31st in pass efficiency defense (115.20 rating).
Okruch came to Illinois after one season as linebackers coach at Louisiana-Monroe and one year as defensive coordinator at Western Illinois. ULM posted a 5-2 conference record and were Sun Belt co-champions.
He spent five seasons as the defensive coordinator at Colorado (1999-2003). During his time at CU, the Buffs’ defense held opponents to under 100 yards rushing 18 times and limited their foes to below 300 yards total offense on 12 occasions.
Before heading to Colorado, Okruch was part of Barnett’s staff at Northwestern (1992-98), which won two Big Ten titles and made a trip to the 1996 Rose Bowl and 1997 Citrus Bowl. At NU, he served as defensive line coach for five years (1992-96) and two seasons as defensive coordinator (1997-98).
A native of Buffalo, N.Y., and a graduate of Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Mo., Okruch earned four letters playing both quarterback and tight end at Culver-Stockton. He also was a member of its baseball team. After completing his bachelor’s degree in physical education, he went on to earn his master’s degree at Northeast Missouri State in 1980. He and his wife, Janet, have two children; a daughter, Taylor, and a son, Jordan.
The Okruch File
Hometown: Buffalo, N.Y.
Alma Mater: Culver-Stockton, 1977
Master's Degree: Northeast Missouri State, 1980
Wife: Janet
Children: Taylor and Jordan
Coaching History
| Rutgers 2019-Present: Special Teams Coordinator/Outside Linebackers 2016-2018: Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends |
| Ohio State 2014-15: Quality Control - Kicking Game/Defense |
| Akron 2010-11: Special Teams Coordinator/Safeties 2009: Linebackers |
| Illinois 2006: Defensive Coordinator |
| Louisiana-Monroe 2005: Linebackers |
| Western Illinois 2004: Defensive Coordinator |
| Colorado 1999-2003: Defensive Coordinator 1983-84: Graduate Assistant |
| Northwestern 1997-98: Defensive Coordinator 1992-96: Defensive Line |
| Minnesota 1988-91: Linebackers 1986-87: Running Backs 1985: Graduate Assistant |
| Culver-Stockton 1980-82: Head Coach 1977: Defensive Backs |
| Northeast Missouri State 1978-79: Graduate Assistant |
| Culver-Stockton 1977: Defensive Backs |
