Top 2015 recruit transfers out of Rutgers football

The highest-rated recruit in the 2015 Rutgers football recruiting class is transferring out of the program without ever playing a snap.

Four-star defensive end Marques Ford, who redshirted as a true freshman while trying to bulk up, said he no longer felt that Rutgers was the best place for him.

"I just didn't feel comfortable there," Ford told Gannett New Jersey on Sunday night. "All the drama that happened earlier and then the coaching change."

Ford was a big story in college football circles last January, when he was forced to decommit from Tennessee because the SEC program over-extended its scholarship offers.

Rutgers defensive line coach Jim Panagos quickly swooped in and landed the Riverview, Fla. native for then-head coach Kyle Flood.

Flood was fired Nov. 29 after a 4-8 season, while Panagos is one of two assistants who remain on new head coach Chris Ash's staff for now.

"Coach Panagos was what I expected. Great coach," Ford said. "Everything else, the lump sum, didn't make me feel comfortable to be at that school, especially with how far away from home I am."

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Ford, who finished the academic semester, said he has "no idea" where he wants to transfer as he sifts through possibilities.

"I knew I was going to redshirt," Ford said. "It was nothing about playing time."

Ford is the first player to transfer since the coaching change. Transfers are common in college football when staffs are overhauled.

"It's been (decided) a few weeks," Ford said. "It didn't just happen."

Ford was one of just two four-star prospects that Rutgers landed over three recruiting classes, from 2013-15. The other, Piscataway's Nadir Barnwell, was one of seven players arrested and six dismissed from the program in September.

Defensive back Patrice Rene is the lone four-star commit in the 2016 recruiting class.

ScarletReport.com first reported Ford's transfer.

Staff Writer Ryan Dunleavy: rdunleavy@gannettnj.com