PISCATAWAY, N.J.—As Rutgers football ends its season several weeks before it has in the last five years, Scarlet Knights fans are looking for answers after a 4–8 record.
Mainly what changes, if any, will be made in the offensive coaching ranks and will the former freshman All-American quarterback Tom Savage return or transfer.
The fans will have to wait a bit longer, and based on what head coach Greg Schiano said in his season wrap-up news conference on Sunday, cleaning house is not the answer.
Schiano plans to do an in-depth evaluation of the program—talking with every assistant coach and player—which he started early Sunday morning. He will also begin replenishing the roster through recruiting starting Monday.
One of the coaches under the microscope is offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator Kyle Flood.
The anemic offense was due to an offensive line whose lack of protection was tabbed an epidemic during the season.
The 61 sacks allowed are the most in the nation. This result coming under an offensive line coach who had an offensive line that gave up eight sacks in 2006 and 11 in 2007, good enough for No.1 and No. 2 in the country respectively.
“I think we have a great offensive line coach. He’s the finest teacher I’ve ever been around at the position,” Schiano said. “I don’t think he forgot how to coach. Maybe we had a little gap in the guys that are ready to play at the level we expect.”
With nowhere to go but up, Schiano expects a major improvement come next year.
“The position we’re talking about is the slowest to develop in football,” Schiano said.
And Schiano hopes to have sped up that development this season by getting several young linemen valuable playing time this season.
One would think co-offensive coordinator and primary play-caller Kirk Ciarrocca would be the one to go, but Schiano would not tip his hand to whether or not Ciarrocca would be back. However, Ciarrocca didn’t seem to get the same vote of confidence Flood received.
“I’ll tell you one thing, when I ask Kirk Ciarrocca that question [why we called this play], he always had a reason,” Schiano said. “Whether I agree with him all the time or not, well that’s human nature.”
Schiano also understands how the poor offensive line play limited the play calling. Regardless, the head coach identified what he wants his offense to look like.
“I know what we want to be. We want to be a physical offense that scores points,” Schiano said. “We’ve been that in the past, and we will be that again.”
The question is, will Savage even be around to lead that offense?
“Tom [Savage] knows everything we’re about. Tom’s a very talented quarterback and a great young man,” Schiano said. “Is he in or is he out? I can’t answer that for you. Only Tom can answer that for you.”
Like every other player in the program, Savage—once deemed the savior of Rutgers football—will have to compete for his starting job.
“I hope he stays. I want him to stay. Everyone in our program wants him to stay,” Schiano said. “But at the end of the day that’s Tom’s decision as it was his decision to come here or not to.”
A promising young running back, freshman Casey Turner, is also contemplating a transfer. Turner had surgery on his groin in September and never saw the field due to complications.
As for the Eric LeGrand tragedy, Schiano wouldn’t blame the team’s downward spiral on the loss of the defensive tackle against Army on Oct.16.
Still, the 10th year head coach knows it had an impact on the team losing six straight games.
“Of course it had an effect,” Schiano said. “That’s life. That’s where we find ourselves. Did it have an impact on our team? Absolutely. We needed to do a better job working through those adversities. Maybe you couldn’t. I don’t know. I’m not sure about that.”
And fans are left unsure what shake-ups with possible player transfers and coaching changes will occur.
Follow Matt on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MattSugam and tune in every Friday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. EST on WRSU-FM as he cohost’s Scarlet Football Fever discussing Rutgers football as well as the N.Y. Jets and Giants.
Mainly what changes, if any, will be made in the offensive coaching ranks and will the former freshman All-American quarterback Tom Savage return or transfer.
The fans will have to wait a bit longer, and based on what head coach Greg Schiano said in his season wrap-up news conference on Sunday, cleaning house is not the answer.
Schiano plans to do an in-depth evaluation of the program—talking with every assistant coach and player—which he started early Sunday morning. He will also begin replenishing the roster through recruiting starting Monday.
One of the coaches under the microscope is offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator Kyle Flood.
The anemic offense was due to an offensive line whose lack of protection was tabbed an epidemic during the season.
The 61 sacks allowed are the most in the nation. This result coming under an offensive line coach who had an offensive line that gave up eight sacks in 2006 and 11 in 2007, good enough for No.1 and No. 2 in the country respectively.
“I think we have a great offensive line coach. He’s the finest teacher I’ve ever been around at the position,” Schiano said. “I don’t think he forgot how to coach. Maybe we had a little gap in the guys that are ready to play at the level we expect.”
With nowhere to go but up, Schiano expects a major improvement come next year.
“The position we’re talking about is the slowest to develop in football,” Schiano said.
And Schiano hopes to have sped up that development this season by getting several young linemen valuable playing time this season.
One would think co-offensive coordinator and primary play-caller Kirk Ciarrocca would be the one to go, but Schiano would not tip his hand to whether or not Ciarrocca would be back. However, Ciarrocca didn’t seem to get the same vote of confidence Flood received.
“I’ll tell you one thing, when I ask Kirk Ciarrocca that question [why we called this play], he always had a reason,” Schiano said. “Whether I agree with him all the time or not, well that’s human nature.”
Schiano also understands how the poor offensive line play limited the play calling. Regardless, the head coach identified what he wants his offense to look like.
“I know what we want to be. We want to be a physical offense that scores points,” Schiano said. “We’ve been that in the past, and we will be that again.”
The question is, will Savage even be around to lead that offense?
“Tom [Savage] knows everything we’re about. Tom’s a very talented quarterback and a great young man,” Schiano said. “Is he in or is he out? I can’t answer that for you. Only Tom can answer that for you.”
Like every other player in the program, Savage—once deemed the savior of Rutgers football—will have to compete for his starting job.
“I hope he stays. I want him to stay. Everyone in our program wants him to stay,” Schiano said. “But at the end of the day that’s Tom’s decision as it was his decision to come here or not to.”
A promising young running back, freshman Casey Turner, is also contemplating a transfer. Turner had surgery on his groin in September and never saw the field due to complications.
As for the Eric LeGrand tragedy, Schiano wouldn’t blame the team’s downward spiral on the loss of the defensive tackle against Army on Oct.16.
Still, the 10th year head coach knows it had an impact on the team losing six straight games.
“Of course it had an effect,” Schiano said. “That’s life. That’s where we find ourselves. Did it have an impact on our team? Absolutely. We needed to do a better job working through those adversities. Maybe you couldn’t. I don’t know. I’m not sure about that.”
And fans are left unsure what shake-ups with possible player transfers and coaching changes will occur.
Follow Matt on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MattSugam and tune in every Friday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. EST on WRSU-FM as he cohost’s Scarlet Football Fever discussing Rutgers football as well as the N.Y. Jets and Giants.
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