Orphey, Lascari excited to show what their defensive backs can do in 2022
This offseason, Rutgers Football had to replace secondary coach Fran Brown as he left the program to become the new secondary coach of the defending National Champion Georgia Bulldogs.
Now as the saying goes, two sets of eyes are better than one and that’s exactly what Rutgers did in replacing Brown as they hired separate coaches for the cornerbacks and safeties in Mark Orphey and Drew Lascari.
Both coaches spoke with the media on Tuesday to talk about their new roles in the program.
“It’s been good, it was a little rough when I first got here,” Orphey said following practice. “One thing about this place that you guys already know is that there is good people around here, good staff, personnel and the kids are good so the transition has been a lot smoother than I thought it would be.”
“When I first talked to coach (Greg) Schiano, I just felt how passionate he was about the program,” said Orphey. “The things he was talking about as far as the vision of where he wanted to take this place and I believe in him. When we started talking, we had a lot of similarities in terms of a thought process, coaching the game and I enjoyed that. Once he offered me the job, I was excited to accept the offer.”
Orphey didn’t have many connections to Rutgers or New Jersey, but he does have a close relationship with former Rutgers quarterback and current strength & conditioning coach Chas Dodd.
“Man Chas Dodd’s dad is actually a mentor of mine, Bobby Bentley,” “Chas and I worked together for a couple of months down at the University of South Carolina and when this job opened, coach Bentley reached out to me if I was interested and I said absolutely. Once I spoke to coach Schiano, then the rest is was history. They are a great family, great people and I love them.”
Now for Lascari, the journey was a little shorter as he was already working with Rutgers in a quality control role.
“It’s been absolutely great,” said Lascari. “The safety room has really embraced me kind of taking over. They are an amazing group of guys. It’s a really tremendous defensive staff that coach (Schiano) has put together, it’s been an absolute pleasure for me.”
However the journey to full time defensive backs coach was a little bit different for Lascari, as he originally worked with quarterbacks and then the wide receivers, before switching over to defense under HC Greg Schiano.
“I think that me having a background that I have on offense gives me a unique perspective for our defensive backs room,” “For many years, I kind of saw things through the quarterback's eyes and now I’m kind of looking at it through the quarterback of the defense’s eyes. So I think that it has been a huge help for me and it helps to teach my DBs with that offensive background.”
Both guys are very excited to be in Piscataway for the upcoming season and think their rooms as a whole have the potential to make some noise.
“The thing that stood out when I was here for three days of interviews was the way that these guys have worked,” said Orphey. “Not just the defense, but the whole team, they worked and they competed. Everything that was being talked about, they paid attention to what they were doing and that stood out to me the most. That was something that I wanted to make sure I was apart of and
“Like I said before when coach (Schiano) and I talked, I could see what he was trying to do,” said Orphey. “Then when I was here, I saw the type of talent that we had here and knew that this was going to be a special place and I wanted to be a part of it any way I could.”
“In terms of this group, the one thing I can say is that they come ready to work and ready to improve every single day,” Lascari said. “There’s a camaraderie within this group and this staff that is really special right now. I’m really excited to see how both of us continue to develop as a team.”
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