8/30/2022 football Edit

Rutgers' Johnny Langan, Mike Ciaffoni heading back to BC for season opener

Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport

Beat Writer

When Rutgers Football makes the trip to Boston College on Saturday for the 2022 season opener at noon, it’ll be a homecoming of sorts for a few Scarlet Knights.

Starting tight end Johnny Langan, starting center Ireland Brown, and potential starting guard Mike Ciaffoni all started out their college careers with the Eagles.

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Brown played in nine games at defensive tackle in 2019 for Boston College while Langan redshirted as a quarterback in 2018. Ciaffoni saw action in three games in 2019 on defense but did not play in 2020. He then followed then-head coach Steve Addazio to Colorado State before coming to Rutgers prior to this season.

“Yeah, I’m excited. I have a lot of relationships with people at BC and had a good time at BC, but I want to be 1-0 after next week,” Ciaffoni said.

“I’m excited. I definitely have a few friends up there at Chestnut Hill,” Langan added. “We’re just focused on one goal. I’m not going to create this game as something different than any other game. I’m going to approach it the same way, but I am excited to get back there and play again. It is going to be a surreal feeling. I’ll be playing against some old teammates. There’s a few guys still there. It’ll be a great game.”

“It’s going to be fun going back up,” Brown also said last week, “But I’m loving Rutgers now.”

Rutgers TE Johnny Langan (21) (Winston Delk -- Rutgers.Rivals.com)

Ciaffoni has lived in various parts of the country including Georgia, New York, New Jersey (Morristown), Ohio, and his family currently lives in Boston about 10 minutes away from campus. He moved up to Massachusetts for his high school years where he went to Lincoln-Sudbury.

“It’s going to be great,” Ciaffoni said. “I live in Boston so my family is going to go and my high school coach will be there. It should be a fun time. The house is 10 minutes down the road. They might just show up at game time and tailgate at the house.”

Ciaffoni’s roommate while with the Eagles was receiver Zay Flowers, one of the top players on the team, has 1,979 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns entering his senior season.

“I had a great time at Boston College,” Ciaffoni said. “I have a lot of relationships with guys on the team, but they are all off to the side this week. My roommate was Zay Flowers. He’s probably one of my best friends. I haven’t texted or talked to anybody this week though. Just focused on here.”

This is Ciaffoni’s first year at Rutgers and it is also the first full year he’s spending as an offensive lineman. He moved from defensive tackle to o-line with the Rams a year ago, but he got to go through spring practice and training camp as a guard with the Scarlet Knights.

“I was a d-lineman last year, so this is my first training camp as an offensive lineman. The coaches have stepped up and helped me with my development. It’s pretty different. You have to be controlled while flying off the ball. On defense you can kind of just go. I’m definitely more controlled now. That’s the biggest difference.”

Hollin Pierce, Willie Tyler, JD DiRenzo, and Brown are the set starters per the latest depth chart. Ciaffoni is battling with Curtis Dunlap, another transfer. Building chemistry on the line is critical for success.

“I feel like we’re progressing great. We’re moving the ball better, we’re blocking better, and we’re protecting better. I think we’ll have a great week one. Together as a unit, we’re probably one of the closer units on the team. We’re closer than we ever have been.”

Langan shifted to a full-time tight end last summer and although he did see spot duty behind center at quarterback during the season, he’s mainly been at tight end ever since. Langan recorded 18 catches for 177 yards, ran for 109 yards and three touchdowns, and passed for 68 yards and a score.

“Last camp, the first day was my first day that I found out that I was going to an exclusive tight end,” he said. “This is technically my second year. Spring ball was a huge time for me where I focused on nuances of playing tight end. Last season it was all happening on the fly. I kind of just got thrown in there and made it work. I got to really focus on the finer points and details of the position.”

If Rutgers is going to win some games, it’ll need improvements especially on the offensive line and from the offense in general. Langan believes the offense will be better in 2022.

“This team, there’s one thing we know how to do and that’s work hard,” Langan said. “We give so much effort day in and day out. We made great improvements in camp on our o-line, at quarterback, receivers, tight ends, and running backs. All the work will come to fruition on Saturday.”