Rutgers Football running back Kyle Monangai and defensive tackle Mayan Ahanotu recap the 2023 season, talk about the team and preview the upcoming Pinstripe Bowl matchup against Miami.
RB KYLE MONANGAI....
Q. Hey, Kyle. Just wondering for a kid from North Jersey, what's the excitement like playing in an iconic venue like Yankee Stadium for you and your teammates?
KYLE MONANGAI: It's exciting. It's right across the water. It's an historic stadium, historic venue. Nothing but excitement to have an opportunity to play there.
Q. Kyle, you have all these guys coming back now. What's it like to have all these guys for the bowl game? You see all these other teams have guys going in the portal, announcing for the draft, and you have so many coming back. What's your take on that?
KYLE MONANGAI: I think it's great for us. Like you said, a lot of teams are losing guys to whether it be draft or portal, and I think we've had a good turnout and being able to retain some of the core guys. I think it's momentum. It's a good feeling to have going into this bowl game.
Q. A quick question for you is piggybacking off the last question. You're coming back next year for your senior year. Also Coach getting an extension. Can you just talk about the importance of kind of building this program and seeing guys come back and, of course, Coach coming back for an extended period of time?
KYLE MONANGAI: When I was asked about this, I just kind of spoke on it. To have this many guys coming back, I think it just speaks to the culture here. It just says that we're doing things right. Guys want to come back. We want to see this program win. Made some strides this year in getting six wins, but it's obviously not the end goal for us. We think coming back for another year is going to give us another opportunity to make even more progress next year and see how many wins can get, closer to that end goal.
Q. You were saying recently how you felt like there was still more for you to accomplish in terms of production. How do you kind of -- I mean, obviously you had a huge season this year. How do you feel like you can continue to build on this and what you expect for yourself in 2024?
KYLE MONANGAI: For myself, I think it's just continuing doing what I'm doing, but with even more intensity, even more focus, and even more intentionality. The major gains aren't really made in the obvious things. At this level, Big Ten college football, a lot of guys are doing the same things. A lot of guys are talented. Where you make the strides and separate yourself from others I think is just in the small details. That's probably the one thing I can say for myself in terms of production.
Q. I just wanted to generally ask you where you think the success, both individually and as a team, came from this year?
KYLE MONANGAI: I think the success came from just a full programmatic buy-in. Not to say we weren't before, but there may have been a lot of guys that whether they didn't believe or they weren't all-in to what we were doing as a program. Probably may have held us back in a sense. I think this season and the offseason from January leading up all the way throughout the season we just had guys that -- we didn't put anything above winning. The process was to be 1-0 at the end of every week, and everyone was committed to that. That mindset and that thinking was what was able to get us six wins and give us a chance in a lot of these games.
Q. Aaron Young entered the transfer portal, but before he did he stayed and hosted a player, a transfer player, this weekend. Can you just speak to what kind of player he is, what kind of teammate he was, and how he has helped you at the running back position?
KYLE MONANGAI: Yeah. As you guys saw, Aaron entered the transfer portal, but him as a person, he's one of the better guys on the team. Stand-up person. I can speak on his character. Great character and just a great overall person. A great football player too, but overall and most importantly he's a great person. It's unfortunate and sad to see him go, but I understand why. Aaron is just always -- he was one of the first people I met when I came to the school as a 17-year-old kid coming out of high school, and he's been the same guy ever since I've met him. I wish him the best.
Q. My next question is, what's the vibe, the impression you're getting from friends, family, even friends on the campus about you guys playing at Yankee Stadium, and what kind of turnout do you think you're going to have? Because it is kind of like a home game for you guys at Yankee Stadium next week.
KYLE MONANGAI: Absolutely. I think it's just overall excitement. I think it's going to be a big and great turnout for a lot of Rutgers Nation to come out, and it's going to be like a home game. It's real close for us, and hopefully -- I think we're the away team, but it's going to feel like a home game for us, definitely.
Q. I missed the beginning, so sorry if you were asked already, but Coach Ciarrocca signed an extension, and he is going to be here long-term. As far as having a year under his belt here, working with a lot of you guys, how much do you think that could benefit you guys, having another offseason to work with him knowing a lot of his system? Just how much will that help the offense take another step next year?
KYLE MONANGAI: I think it's going to be greatly important to taking the next step. A lot of people say when you put in a new offense, the biggest strides you make are in year two of the offense. So just another year under his belt and another year of work in the offseason. Everybody getting comfortable returning guys. It will be the same guys doing it over, great reps, and just doing it over and over is going to get people a better understanding, a better feel for the offense, and overall it's just going to allow us to play better.
Q. I know we've talked many times about the way people -- you've been overlooked throughout your career going back to high school, maybe even in college a little bit. I'm just curious if you could just talk about the motivation that that's provided you to get to this point.
KYLE MONANGAI: It motivates me, but it's not my sole fuel and how I play and everything. I think the motivation comes really just from my support system, my family. I've been playing football since I was in third grade. Watched my brother grow up playing football. I've always thought of myself as one of the better players, and I've always bet on myself to show that, to prove that people on every level of football I've been at. Through Pop Warner to middle school, high school, and even now in college, that hasn't changed for me. I just kind of carry that mindset, the attitude to everything I do.
Q. Kyle, just if you could touch on the development of your O-line this year and how you saw them take another step.
KYLE MONANGAI: They took major strides from last year to this year and then even just week to week. They're a very tight-knit group, and they work harder than a lot of guys that I know. They're just committed to seeing this offense succeed. With that mindset, they've made great strides, and I'm excited to see how they perform in this bowl game.
Q. Just mentally you are part of such a grind there at the end of the year. Just your feeling and your excitement to play a bowl game at Yankee Stadium.
MAYAN AHANOTU: This postseason has been a grind. It's been a blessing as well. We're really excited just to be able to be blessed enough to get another season. We take everything 1-0 season, and we're just happy and blessed that we're on the right side of things and being able to get a chance to play another down.
Q. You came here as a transfer and had a lot of success. You've seen some other defensive tackles have equal success with Freddie and Isaiah this last year. What do you think has been key to guys being able to come in and be successful on the defensive line as transfers?
MAYAN AHANOTU: I really credit it to the coaches and all the recruiting that they do. It's really just based on if they're a fit in this culture, and I really think that we do a great job of finding guys that love to play football and love this team and live what this culture is all about.
Q. Coach Harasymiak signed an extension last week. He'll be here long-term. How important has he been to how good this defense has played last year and how much they developed over the last few years?
MAYAN AHANOTU: We've always had great players, but we needed that guy that can bring the catalyst to connect all those players together, and I think that's Coach Harasymiak. He does a great, elite job of getting all the guys to execute their job at a very high level and building relationships with them as well to be able to run through a wall for a guy like that. He's a great coach, a great man.
Q. Just talk about Miami's offense. They have a good running game. They have -- they don't know who is going to be at quarterback in the bowl game, but what are you going to do to stop that running game?
MAYAN AHANOTU: Really just chopping your job, having great eyes and great discipline and firing off the ball and getting on those guys so that way we can dictate daily on those running backs. Q. Was it cool to be basically local going to Yankee Stadium to play a bowl game? You don't have to go far. MAYAN AHANOTU: That's awesome. It's definitely going to be a thrill just being able to be there around Christmastime and all the New York lights and everything like that. It's going to be a really fun time.
Q. All the guys coming back from -- deciding to come back for another year, did you have any part in that? Did you talk to any of those guys? Did they question you? What was that like?
MAYAN AHANOTU: They definitely asked me a couple of questions, and it was great talks. It was great talks to speak with those guys. As you can see, every guy is coming back because they love this program, and they love where we're headed and they love each other. That's the most important part.
Q. Did you give them any advice on it? What was kind of your role in that? I know you're captain. You're an older guy, you've been there for a long time.
MAYAN AHANOTU: It's a real decision. It's a really life-changing decision. So I told them the real side. I told them anything they really wanted to hear or hear from my side of things because I came back this season. I really just told them both sides of the thing and what you have to think about when you are either going to go off to the NFL or come back for another year and what you can expect.
Q. Just a quick question for you. The experience of playing up against the Big Ten and you guys have been one of the best defenses in the nation this year, 19th, I believe, total defense nationally. Just tell me more about that experience going up against the Big Ten. How does that help you guys going into a matchup against a team like Miami? What can you take from that experience going into this bowl game?
MAYAN AHANOTU: I think this conference is built off of big lines, and we've done a great job this year of just being able to play violently and creating some knock-back on those guys. Every O-line is a group of their own, so you really have to watch the film and see how they operate because some people will be position blockers. Some try to knock you off the ball. You really have to pay attention to what the offensive lines are trying to do and be able to execute your job within that.
Q. As a captain, I'm curious if there was ever a moment in the season that you had a conversation with your teammates that really stood out to you about what you guys could achieve this year or any kind of conversation that really stood out to you.
MAYAN AHANOTU: One thing I will say is as a team in the summertime there was pretty much a breaking point where we were just, like, who do we want to be? What kind of team do we want to be? I really think that was like -- that was the breaking point for us to go over to the next side of, like, just being able to push over to the next couple of wins to get us to the bowl game. It was just making sure that everybody loved the game, loved their teammates and executed their job to the entire level. Nothing was above winning. Everybody had a great mindset. We're 1-0 every season. 1-0 every season, and take each week at a time so you don't get overwhelmed with all the games and all the practices. Just take each week as its own.
Q. You've obviously known Coach Schiano for a long time, going back to your high school days. What has it meant to you to transfer into Rutgers and help this program show the type of improvement it did this year and for you to play a pivotal role in that personally?
MAYAN AHANOTU: It means everything to me. It's really a full-circle moment. Meeting Coach Schiano when I was a high schooler and now being able to help lift this program up and just leaving this place better than when I came in, that's a great feeling. I'm happy for all the guys and really excited for all the guys that's coming back. They're going to raise the level next year.
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