Despite the COVID-19 pandemic that has seen over one million confirmed cases globally, the Rutgers football team has secured 11 commitments thus far for the class of 2021, including nine since the calendar flipped to March.
Those 11 commitments also make up the No. 11-ranked class in the entire nation as of this writing on Monday afternoon and fourth among Big Ten teams. Sure, there's a long way until the two signing periods, but it's a complete 180 from the previous regimes.
In an interview last week with BTN's Dave Revsine, Scarlet Knights' head coach Greg Schiano was asked about his pitch to the players that have pledged to play college ball in Piscataway.
"I really wouldn’t say that there is a pitch. We are just trying to be who we are," Schiano said. "The key to it is and I said it the first go around, we just nee to make sure that we get the right players, the guys that fit Rutgers. Certainly a lot of those guys will be New Jersey, New York kids that are within an hour or two drive within our campus. There’s a lot of reasons for that and it’s not just proximity.
"I think we have a really tough, hard working, group of people in this area and it trickles down into the football players. You get those kids, they are dedicated and they want to represent New Jersey and the tri-state area and good things can happen."
One of the biggest reasons for the high number of quality commits is the all-star staff that Schiano has put together. Recruits all the time mention the likes of defensive backs coach Fran Brown, wide receivers coach Tiquan Underwood, defensive line coach Jim Panagos, and running backs coach Augie Hoffmann.
Many of his staff on the front lines and behind the scenes have connections to Rutgers and New Jersey.
"I really have enjoyed getting to know them. A lot of these guys I knew, some of them I just knew as acquaintances. It’s been a lot of fun getting to know them and they guys I would want coaching my sons," Schiano said.
"They are all really smart people too. I think when you get smart people and good people together, great things can happen. We are excited, excited to work with each other. Even in this remote situation, guys are up early, cranking at it and it’s exciting."
Schiano's arrival back at Rutgers has people excited across the state. Recruits are coming on board and so are staff members who were asked to come to Rutgers previously.
This past winter, Schiano made a halftime speech at a Rutgers basketball game that injected more Scarlet Knights football buzz than ever as he boldly exclaimed that Rutgers would get to No. 1.
Schiano expanded on how he is going to get that done and reach the level of success (six bowl game appearances including five wins in his last seven years in his first go-around) that he found when he was at Rutgers from 2001-2011.
"It’s the same formula always," Schiano said. "You get great coaches and they go get great players. You put them together and give them some time, and they just get better and better. I know where Rutgers sits now, people say why would he make a statement like that. Anything I’ve ever done with my life, if you’re not doing it to be the best, then I’m not sure why you’re doing it.
"My question to everybody is why not Rutgers, not why, but why not? It’s got everything you look for when you’re building a program. Does it have a recruiting base? Yes. Does it have a large alumni base? Yes. Is it a top flight institution? Yes. So I guess my question is why not?
Schiano has coached at Rutgers for. He's also coached in the Big Ten as a graduate assistant and defensive backs at Penn State in the 1990s and as Ohio State's defensive coordinator from 2016-2018, but he doesn't exactly how different the challenge will be in the Big Ten versus the Big East in building the program back up.
"I’ll let you know," Schiano said. "I know what it was like when I was coaching at Ohio State. We’ll see. I’m sure there will be differences. I think it’s a great league and if you look back to 2002, I started the movement to get Rutgers into the Big Ten. I thought that’s exactly where Rutgers belonged academically, athletically and that’s the institution that we are. I’m really proud that we’ve finally made it and even more proud to be the head coach of the football team in the Big Ten Conference."
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisWasky.
