Rutgers Football Head Coach Greg Schiano speaks with the media following the 2024 Rate Bowl versus Kansas State on Thursday afternoon.
JOIN TODAY AND GET 30 DAYS FREE! | THE ROUND TABLE FORUM | RUTGERS FOOTBALL 2025 RECRUITING CLASS | RUTGERS HOOPS RECRUITING
GREG SCHIANO PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT....
Well, thank you for covering the game. You guys that came all the way out here from the East Coast, appreciate that. Certainly disappointed, but not discouraged. We have a really good core in our program right now. We have a huge debt of gratitude to the guys that played their last game today, the seniors. They came into Rutgers when there was nothing to believe in other than us. We had no record to show for it.
And unfortunately, today we just came up a little short. It was a heck of a football game. Two really good teams that played really hard. And I would like to acknowledge just the hard work that our guys put into this preparation. I mean, everybody in the program -- the coaches, the players, the support staff, our administration. Everybody really, really stepped up.
I wish we could have give them a victory. But as I tell the players, in life, if you do everything you can to be the best you can be, you can be disappointed but you have peace. I know that this team did everything they could and just came up a little short. I feel bad. I feel bad for them, but that's the way life goes. So we'll shake off the dirt and get back to work in a couple weeks and continue building this program.
Q. Greg, what were they able to do against your defense that allowed them to connect on kind of the big plays they needed to make, especially in the second half?
They did a heck of a job. They did some things in the run game that certainly gave us trouble. They're a very talented group. The skill they have is very good. When the quarterback can be a runner like he is, it changes all the math. It's very hard. I wish I could have done a better job. I wish we all could have done a better job. But, again, we did everything we could. Just came up a little short.
When you look back, are there things you would do differently? Sure. But that's a real luxury to be able to make those decisions. You have to make decisions in life as you do it. It would be nice if you could make them as you look backward. That's not the way it works.I really feel good about our program. I feel good about our team. And I feel bad for them, but I feel really good about them.
Q. 82 yards in the second half offensively, one score in the last six drives. You guys were so productive offensively in the first half. What changed in the second half, and why do you think there was such a stark difference?
Well, as I said in life, things get rocky, right? There's a couple of things. They played better. We had some issues. Some of them were technical issues. Some of them were coaching issues that we had to get Coach [Kirk] Ciarrocca down from the box because our headsets weren't working correctly. I felt bad. Certainly one of his secrets is to call the game from up there and see it so well.
I tip my hat to Kansas State. They did a heck of a job. They controlled the game in the second half with their offense and their defense.
Q. Coach, how much of a difference did it make not having a distinct defensive coordinator prepping for the game and calling the game today?
Well, losing Joe Harasymiak certainly wasn't a great thing for us. But, look, everybody worked very hard to try to make it work. I'm not going to rush to hire somebody to do it just for the bowl game. We're going to get the right guy for the future here. And we will. We'll get the guy that fits our program, fits our culture, and is an excellent defensive coordinator.
I wish that I could have done a better job for them. I know the coaches feel the same. But as I said, you make the best decisions you can. You work as hard as you can. You put everything you have into it, and let the chips fall where they do.
Q. The crowd was overwhelmingly K-State, but you guys were having a commanding lead through the first three quarters, for the most part. How much pride did you take seeing that, being that you basically were fighting for yourselves and that small group of people that came from the East Coast, like you mentioned?
Well, those of you who don't know our team, we won the first four, we lost the next four. I lost count of the number of season-ending surgeries. In this day of college football, most teams would have folded up the tent and said we'll worry about it next year.
This group of guys fought back, literally ripped themselves off the canvas and fought back and found a way to win seven games, and found a way to do that in the Big Ten conference.
Again, they play for each other. That's the secret. When you do that, there's an extra strength that they can tap into. It's very important that we continue to build upon that; that guys are unselfish in this day, in this modern college football, that you can have an unselfish group of guys who play for each other.
That's why I say I feel really bad for them, because they're great people, but it's life. You're going to win some. I told them, this is the way life goes. If you want it to be all rosy, you're living a dream. It's not going to happen. That's why this game and this sport, I think, are the greatest teachers for life.
Q. Greg, you alluded to the feeling about the program right now, 7-6 for the second straight year. Do you feel like you guys made progress this season?
Without a doubt. If you don't see that, then you're really struggling. Think about, this is a football team that could have won nine, ten games if we were to stay moderately healthy. Not healthy, just moderately healthy. To say that we had some injuries would be an understatement.
I didn't talk about it all year. I never used it as an excuse. I know at the break when we were 4-4, most people thought we were done. We didn't have any players. Guys in this day and age, guys like this guy sitting next to me, he's hurting every single week. Tyreem Powell, every week. Flip Dixon, every week. I told you the times they played this year, most college football players would not play, especially guys that have an NFL future. And that's how much they cared about each other.
And I told them in that locker room: You have something very, very special. Don't ever let go of that. Most people in this world don't have that. Maybe they have it with family -- maybe. But with people that are not in their family, to have that, that's special.
Q. What did Athan [Kaliakmanis] say happened on that interception?
I haven't even talked to him about it. Yeah, I had a lot going on today. This was a very busy day out there. And then the headsets go down and we can't communicate. There was a lot going on.
But it's great, that's the challenges. When you get into this business, that's what you look forward to, all those different things that you as a competitor have to figure out. And, again, my hat is off to Kansas State because they played a heck of a ball game. And the job that they do is very impressive.
Q. Robert, just what do you think the issues were for you guys? It seemed like Kansas State had a few drives where they just kind of moved the ball at will.
ROBERT LONGERBEAM: In certain situations, we didn't tackle well. That's me included. There were more plays that we had to make to win the game, and we weren't able to make them today.
Q. Robert, obviously not the outcome you guys wanted; but you did come down with that huge interception. As a senior, your last game, what did that mean to you?
ROBERT LONGERBEAM: Really nothing now because of the result. But it was an honor just taking the field with my teammates one last time. This is a group, we're really close. So it hurts that we went out that way, but I just loved every moment of playing with them.
--------------------------------------------------------------
• Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
