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Rutgers OC John McNulty discusses new role and future of offense

Photo: Isaiah J. Downing/USA Today Sports
Photo: Isaiah J. Downing/USA Today Sports

Rutgers has a new offensive coordinator in place as John McNulty has taken over the reins to becomethe ninth coach to fill the position in as many years. McNulty was the former Rutgers offensive coordinator from 2006-08 and left for the NFL where he had coaching stints with the Arizona Cardinals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans and Los Angeles Chargers.

“I am excited to be back,” McNulty said on a conference call this afternoon. “I have followed the program extensively in the years since I left. I feel somewhat invested in it. When I were here it was kind of a smart time, we were able to get it over the top and I have always followed it with great passion and I really thought the progress here between year one and year two [of Chris Ash’s tenure] was definitely more than trending in the right direction.”

When the coaching search began, McNulty and Ash had never crossed paths.

“The more I got to know Coach Ash, the more impressed I was with the vision for the program and the direction it is heading,” McNulty said. “Everybody wants to get to the finish line yesterday, but I think Coach Ash is pushing and pulling the program in the right direction along with [Athletic Director] Pat Hobbs and everybody here at Rutgers.”

McNulty ran a pro-style offense during his last stint at Rutgers and mentioned what kind of offensive philosophy he will bring this time around.

“The overall thing is protect the football, protect the quarterback, run the football. Whatever we get into scheme wise, those are the No.1 principles we have to live by.”

McNulty also pointed out the growing similarities between the pro and college game.

“Football has changed. For instance, at the Chargers in ’16, the charge was get [quarterback] Phillip [Rivers] under center more because he was in the gun the whole game. People have the misconception that pro and college football are really far off. Other than the quarterback running the ball however many times is best for your personnel and running sort of the RPOs [Run-Pass-Option] rather than just calling the play action, it is really the same thing. People are spreading you out tip to tip, making you defend the whole field, trying to create matchup problems on the outside and trying to create space to run the ball. Packing everybody in anymore is not working at any level.”

So what will the Rutgers offensive look like in 2018?

“I think it will be a good mix of what we did with the Chargers, a version of that and some things I did in Tennessee with Marcus Mariota as a rookie,” McNulty said. “I got to study that system extensively out in Oregon and it will also lean towards accentuating the positives of our personnel.”

Rutgers has four different quarterbacks who will be vying for the starting job this year, each with a slightly different skillset.

McNulty has extensive experience at the pro level coaching the quarterbacks and will assume that role at Rutgers.

“The general theme is developing the quarterback, sooner than later, that we feel good about and developing more of a vertical threat passing game and pushing the ball down the field,” McNulty said. “That is always what I believed in. I believe it all comes off the run game first. But I think the year of 14,15,16 play drives, you might have two of them in a game, but you are not going to score enough. The ball has to go down the field.”

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