OTish: Athletic Article polls New Jersey HS coaches regarding Rutgers' recruiting approach
Interesting article on The Athletic where a handful of New Jersey high school coaches were asked anonymously to comment on Schiano's recruiting approach in state the second time around. I won't post any direct quotes because it is paywalled, but a good read for those that subscribe. A lot of other takes in there about other B1G programs, and college football in general as well.
General feedback from the coaches: Rutgers is spending time recruiting the entire state, rather than specific programs. They are doing a good job being visible with, and staying in front of the kids they are going after. The level of intrigue from the DI prospects in the state is rising in relation to Rutgers. General consensus from the coaches seems to be that the Rutgers' staff is very thorough with their evaluations and communication with their prospects. Many believe Rutgers will start to improve their in-state recruiting profile with higher regarded prospects because of the way they are approaching the state.
I only post this because there was some chatter last week on the board related to Rutgers being still an undermanned, but ascending program, to which I agree. New Jersey HS football coaches would appear to agree with that assessment as well. All the tea leaves would suggest Rutgers is going to become a more potent opponent in the B1G than they have been since they joined the league (hell, they already are apparently for Michigan right now) with obviously better coaching and likely a better recruiting profile as well.
The SEC West is going to be a beast of a division, especially once Texas and Oklahoma join.. but the B1G East will not be far behind.
September 27th, 2021 at 1:28 PM ^
Is Rutgers trying to put a fence around the Garden State?
September 27th, 2021 at 1:29 PM ^
Didn't read the article (no subscription) so I can't comment on Rutgers recruiting. But they are already a much better team.
But do we know that both Texas and Oklahoma will be in the SEC West? Geographically it makes sense, but it's not guaranteed because Missouri is in the East. And if they are both in the West, what current teams in the western division will move to the East? You'd think that, if only for parity purposes, they'd want to move at least one of the tougher teams to the East.
September 27th, 2021 at 1:34 PM ^
Texas or A&M to the East so they only have to play once every 6 years?
September 27th, 2021 at 1:45 PM ^
Meh. B1G is a declining conference. The SEC-ESPN marriage basically put a stake in it. The geographic advantages and shift in recruiting hotbeds is another factor. The south went full on NFL lite (not pretending to play any school) and really only OSU (greatly aided Meyer's tenure) was able or chose to keep up.
SEC is the NFL development league.
September 27th, 2021 at 1:47 PM ^
From a geographic/rivalry perspective, the most sensible move would be Arkansas. The West would then have all of the SEC teams from OK, TX, LA, MS, & AL. One heck of a division to be sure.
September 27th, 2021 at 1:52 PM ^
Seems like moving Missouri to the west and Bama and Auburn to the east solves both problems. But, at 16 teams, I wouldn't be surprised if they break it into 4 divisions and add semi-finals to the conference championship.
September 27th, 2021 at 3:47 PM ^
4 pods seem likely but is hard to divvy up. Seems like you would want the old Big12/SWC members together, but you’re left with 5 (UT, OU, A&M, Ark and Mizzou). It would make sense to have a pod be the 4 Mississippi and Alabama schools. Georgia, Tennessee, Vandy and Kentucky seems like a good fit together. Then you’re left with LSU, Florida, the left over from the Big12/SWC ex’s, and South Carolina.
Hard to do 4 pods and have competitive balance IMO. Seems like two divisions makes the most sense:
SEC West:
Oklahoma
Missouri
Texas
Texas A&M
LSU
Ole Miss
Miss State
Arkansas
SEC East:
Alabama
Auburn
Vanderbilt
Tennessee
Kentucky
Georgia
Florida
South Carolina
This makes the East more top heavy, but I think the depth of the west makes up for it. It also make geographical sense!
October 25th, 2021 at 12:14 PM ^
It's not really that hard. Texas, TAMU, Oklahoma, and one of the other two. Mizzou joined more recently, so that could make sense, but Arkansas is closer to Texas, so that could also make sense. Both are relatively close to Kentucky and Tennessee, so pair one with those 3. Then, move Georgia into the last one.
September 27th, 2021 at 1:42 PM ^
Rutgers will beat a top 20 team this year
In fact they will do it on October 9th vs MSU.
September 27th, 2021 at 5:25 PM ^
Well I hope you are wrong and MSU isn't ranked...lol.
Go Blue!!
September 27th, 2021 at 1:46 PM ^
Among Saturday’s surprises was that Rutgers wasn’t a joke anymore, not even a “Rutger.”
September 27th, 2021 at 10:02 PM ^
As a native New Yorker, the State University of New Jersey will always be Rutger to me. Rutger is into spray tans, too much hair gel, and will sexually harass your girlfriend, your mom, your cat, whomever. He can go fuck himself.
September 27th, 2021 at 1:51 PM ^
I'm just going to leave this article from 5 years ago here. I will believe it when I see it. Recruits still want to win, play in the NFL, and make NIL money. Until Rutgers starts winning meaningful games, recruits with other major options will not go there IMO. I do think the transfer portal is going to help mid-tier programs like Rutgers even the playing field a little bit though, but I don't see them being a recruiting power any time soon. Man, a lot of people are making same large leaps based on one half of OK football where Rutgers scored 10 points.
September 27th, 2021 at 7:00 PM ^
There's always new energy with a new coach. Let's see how they are in year 3/4.
September 27th, 2021 at 9:53 PM ^
OP, you neglected the best part:
"Coach 7: Jim Harbaugh. He just isn’t personable. He doesn’t make eye contact. He is just an odd guy. That’s just his personality. That’s not his fault, but you don’t get an easy feeling with him."
September 27th, 2021 at 10:04 PM ^
Dammit, Vlad. I was in a good mood till that.
September 27th, 2021 at 10:27 PM ^
Has he been eating too much chicken?
September 28th, 2021 at 2:23 AM ^
Rutgers never has, nor will they in the future, land the top players from NJ. In the old days, those players were picked up by PSU and ND. Now, all the top national programs outside the West Coast go after those guys.
Where they have opportunity is with the players a rank down (think high 3 star; low 4 star guys). Rutgers has been losing those players to mid-level ACC and B10 teams (think BC and Iowa type programs). The pandemic actually gives them an advantage because these players may want to stay closer to home, and they can't freely travel to visit other schools like they used to. Schiano was able to turn a number of under the radar guys into NFL prospects his first go around, and he will need to do that again to convince these types of players to stay. It's doable, though. Very similar dynamic at Maryland.
September 28th, 2021 at 3:55 AM ^
Rutgers will definitely recruit better. That's not great for us because we get kids from NJ that Rutgers may now get. But the team that will be hurt the most is Penn State. And if Maryland is ascendant as well, it really cuts into their recruiting areas.