2/4/2021 football Edit

Schiano talks transfer additions DL Maijeh, OL Nwaogwugwu, and CB Rene

Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport

Beat Writer

The Rutgers football team announced three incoming transfers from other FBS teams on Wednesday.

Temple defensive lineman Ifeanyi Maijeh, Temple offensive lineman David Nwaogwugwu, and North Carolina cornerback Patrice Rene have all joined the fold.

The trio have already combined for 82 career games and 45 collegiate starts.

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Maijeh, who was born in Brooklyn and is from Far Rockaway, N.Y. by way of Poly Prep, is a 6-foot-2, 285-pounder who is expected to come in and potentially hold down a starting spot and fill the shoes of Michael Dwumfour, a Michigan grad transfer, from a year ago.

Nwaogwugwu has the potential and will battle for a starting job, likely at right tackle. The 6-foot-5, 310-pounder from the Bronx, N.Y. by way of DeWitt Clinton High School has three years of eligibility left.

The Big Ten Conference is a big boy league, and the successful teams control the trenches. These two additions show the importance of adding quality depth on both sides of the line.

“That's a good question, Chris. You're talking about Ifeanyi and David and David plays O-line and Ifeanyi plays D-line. I think it's critical because we need to develop more depth on both of those units,” head coach Greg Schiano told TKR on Wednesday. “In my 32 years I never promised a player if you come here you're going to start. I don't do that, because a guy may lay around and eat bon-bons for six months and show up and think he's going to start. You've got to do the things that have made you a great player.”

Maijeh has played in 27 games with 19 starts and has tallied 74 tackles with 11.5 for loss and 6.5 sacks. He’s also forced two fumbles.

In 2019, was a wrecking machine. He started all 12 games and had 52 tackles with 10 for loss, 6.5 sacks, earning First Team All-American Athletic Conference, All-ECAC honors.

In 2020, Maijeh started all seven games and had 15 tackles and was named to Bednarik Award, Nagurski Trophy, and Outland Trophy watch lists.

Nwaogwugwu, pronounced “NO-goo-goo”, who is from Nigeria, appeared in four games this past fall with two starts at right tackle. Two seasons ago, he made his debut and played in six games. Prior to his redshirt freshman campaign, he added 65 pounds.

“We evaluated these guys when they went into the portal and we think they can really help our football team,” Schiano added. “In David's case, he has three years remaining so that that's kind of promising as well. Same thing with (Kansas State transfer) Josh (Youngblood). Josh has some time on his clock which you like. That's a way to have a guy in your program for a while.”

Rene is very familiar with Rutgers as he originally committed to the Scarlet Knights coming out of Episcopal in Alexandria, Va., although he decommitted once everything with former head coach Kyle Flood went down.

But now he gets a chance to come in and finally play for Rutgers, and linebackers coach Bob Fraser, who recruited Rene the first time around, played a big role in him coming here years later.

Rene, who is 6-foot-3, and 205-pounds, is projected to come in and start at cornerback.

“First and foremost, Patrice is a long athletic corner, which you guys know I really like,” Schiano said of Rene, who is from Canada. “But more importantly, or as importantly, that alone would not have been the reason. But coach Fraser had recruited Patrice when he was here at Rutgers before when I wasn't here, and has a tremendous relationship with him. When he became available, Bob got on the table and said, 'Look, I stand by this kid. Forget what you see on tape, this kid is a special kid and he's a cultural fit’.”

As a freshman in 2016 with the Tar Heels, Rene made five starts and saw action in 11 games, totaling 16 tackles and two pass breakups. The next year, he had three starts in his 11 games, making 22 tackles with two for loss. As a junior in 2018, that’s when he started making noise as he started all 11 games with 31 tackles, two interceptions, five pass deflections, and a fumble recovery.

He was injured in 2019 in the second game of the year and came back in 2020 appearing in 10 games with six starts, recording 28 stops with two for loss, four pass breakups, and a forced fumble.

Rene adds another veteran presence to the secondary,

“I think he's gonna be a great addition to our room. We have a lot of young corners, a lot of young secondary players that want to play. I mean they're going to get the opportunity to play, but to have Patrice in there, another elder statesman in there, is really going to help us,” Schiano said. “It's going to be great.”

Schiano and the Scarlet Knights have brought in their share of transfers since he was re-hired, and they will continue to do so as long as they are a fit.

“The portal is going to be something that I think we really have to utilize to help fill in gaps in our program,” Schiano said. “You have to be smart about it because they have to be able to be a cultural fit. If they're not and they're a good player, just as I said as the head coach you love when your best player is your hardest worker, you know what you don't love? When your best players are not your hardest workers. We haven't had many of them, but if you do, it's a bad precedent to send. We were very careful. Most of the guys that you bring in from the portal have some experience.”