Rest assured that in the months since the end of the 2005 Rutgers football season there has been some talk among the ScarletNation staff about how the first winning season since '92 would help recruiting. In the weeks since RU's outstanding showing in the Insight Bowl the discussions intensified. The consensus answer to the question "how much will this help recruiting" was typically something along the lines of, "a little… not much, but…"

The real meaning of "but" was that the slight bump expected in the quality of the 2006 recruiting class wasn't the real issue among those in the know. More important was the notion that the '06 kids would be a stepping stone to what would happen next year, in 2007, should Greg Schiano manage to scrape together another winning season. The importance of next season's performance on the field was, in the house's opinion, greater than that of the season that saw the Scarlet Knights' first legitimate post-season appearance.

The lesson that one shouldn't underestimate Greg Schiano's recruiting ability is apparently a hard one to learn. The class of 2006, which will be formally introduced today, is nothing less than spectacular. The quality of the athletes that will be signing their National Letters of Intent to play football for Rutgers exceeds every expectation.

If some thought that Rutgers would have to be three years deep into the creation of a dynasty in order to land the hot New Jersey seniors it was for good reason. Through a succession of coaching regimes, the knock on the Scarlet Knights has always been that they can't recruit their home state. Anyone who knows that a football field is 100 yards long has probably hummed the Rutgers Mantra: If only they could get the Jersey kids to stay home…

Getting the Jersey kids to stay home has never been thought a simple task. The very best players that the state produces on a yearly basis wind up at big name, successful programs. They expect to wind up at such places. They expect big things from their choice of schools because they're the top players in one of the most talent-rich football breeding grounds in the country. No prior coach at Rutgers had ever been able to skim the cream off of the top of the vat of New Jersey high school seniors. Dick Anderson had a couple winning seasons and couldn't do it. Likewise Doug Graber. Terry Shea couldn't do it after being named Big East Coach of the Year (albeit for going 5-6 on the season, which gives some idea of what folks thought about Rutgers back then).

When Schiano took the reigns his goal to recruit New Jersey successfully was clearly stated. But in having learned the lessons of those who preceded him he came in with a plan. The plan was how to stabilize the program and keep it going in the years that it would take to build Rutgers football to a level that warranted serious consideration from the New Jersey elite. By capitalizing on his wealth of connections in the Florida recruiting scene Schiano loaded the Scarlet Knights with a battery of quality football players who brought to the Banks of the Raritan their skills and their ceaseless work ethic. With the class of 2006 Schiano adds to that list. No fewer than seven high school seniors from southern Florida will sign on the dotted line today and fax their commitment letters to the Hale Center.

Among those seven players are some genuine standouts. Four of them are rated 3 stars by Rivals and one of those four, lightning fast athlete/wide receiver Tim Brown, could easily be a 4 star. Linebacker Antonio Lowery, one of four from Miami, could see action next season and his choice of Rutgers over such schools as NC State and Auburn says a lot for the message that Schiano has been sending in the Sunshine State.

The roughly half dozen Florida kids in this class are about par for Schiano's annual recruiting conquests. The big story this year, of course, is his success in the state of New Jersey. In the aftermath of a 7-4 season Schiano was somehow able to turn up the heat on some of the top Jersey recruits and it has paid off handsomely. With the late additions of running back Kordell Young and wide receiver Kenny Britt, both 4 star recruits, Rutgers can boast four of the top 20 New Jersey recruits this year. It's not a huge number considering that 16 of the top 20 elected to go elsewhere, but it's a terrific start and a tremendous accomplishment on the heels of Schiano's first winning season.

With the inclusion of a couple probable signing day surprises, the 2006 Rutgers recruiting class may well crack the Rivals Top 40. That would make official what most already believe – that in the growing history of Greg Schiano's recruiting efforts, each one better than the last, this is the best yet.