Rutgers saw a massive commitment wave over the weekend for football, landing four recruits on Saturday, five on Sunday and one on Monday. This high volume of recruitment news in such a short amount of time is something that has not been seen by the Rutgers faithful for a very long time, or perhaps ever. This shows us a lot about the culture shift that Rutgers is experiencing. For the first time in a while, Rutgers has a culture that recruits are buying into, and buying into in huge droves.
A Big Weekend: The Result of a Culture Change
Since coach Schiano returned on the banks, Rutgers has slowly climbed the ranks in the Big Ten scratching and clawing their way into a more competitive role. Rutgers won its first bowl game in nine years last season proving to the public that Rutgers can compete in the Big Ten and have meaningful seasons under its new head coaching regime. The eyes of the nation have started to turn, at least in a minor way, to Piscataway, New Jersey.
So how do we know that all of these recruits committing to Rutgers is because of the changing attitudes about the school? How much credit does Greg Schiano really deserve for the changes that have been done here so far?
Lets analyze what Schiano inherited. He got a program that went 2-10 with zero wins in the Big Ten, being outright dominated in most games that they played. He was brought into a just ousted their head coach and was operating under an interim head coach during the process of finding a permanent new one, and was told to clean up the mess. The team that he inherited was outright pathetic and the culture was non-existent.
Under Schiano that team went to a bowl game just four years later. This was aided by Schiano’s reputation for rebuilding programs as he had done with Rutgers during his first stint at Rutgers. However, he had to recruit at a much higher level to pull it off. It was the natural culture change that Schiano brought to the program that began to attract these better recruits.
So what about the Rutgers from this weekend? The best way to describe them is by calling them “Schiano’s Guys.” This means that they are not just talented but that they also buy in to what Schiano is turning Rutgers into and his process of doing it. They have the talent and the character that the coaching staff is looking for. The difference now is that the recruits are seeing that his process works in front of their eyes.
How do we know that the recruits feel this way though? Just listen to what some of them had to say during their commitment processes.
The unity of the whole program, everyone is unified and serious about playing their part to build the best team possible – whether it be players or staff,” said Rutgers cornerback commit Micheal Clayton.
He was not the only one to say something like this either.
“I really like what coach Schiano is building over there with the coaches that he’s brought in, with the players that he’s brought in and just his knowledge of the game…Coach Schiano is different from the rest of the head coaches – his knowledge of the game is amazing and that’s somebody I can trust,” said three star interior defensive line commit Jyon Simon.
These were not the only comments about Rutgers Culture change either but they are effective in explaining that the culture is changing and Greg Schiano is at the head of that change. The big difference here compared to previous classes is now the current players are passing that culture down to those who come next. Defensive End recruit Raedyn Bruens credits Aaron Lewis as a major part of his commitment. This means that the players are buying into the culture so much that they are convincing others to buy in as well. This class is the true culmination of a culture that has changed and a program that is on the right path.
