Six Big Ten head coaches made an appearance at the Big Ten media day on July 23 in Indianapolis. Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano was the second head coach to take the stand after Illinois’s Brett Bielema. Schiano has developed himself over the years as someone who is very skilled at communicating with the media and did not disappoint this time around. He brought with him to media day three of Rutgers’ most notable talents in running back Kyle Monangai, linebacker Tyreem Powell, and linebacker Mohammed Toure.
Media Day: Coach’s Open Media Availability
During Schiano’s open media availability at the Big Ten media day, he made a point to note so many of the things that he has tried to build his program on. He talked about not letting the past or future affect the present and to chop the moment. He talked about how the university and the football team are on the same page encouraging the success of their student athletes.
When it came down to the questions on Rutgers recruiting, he made it clear that he is happy to start recruiting better in their backyard of New Jersey. However, he also stressed getting the right guys who buy into the program and are on board with how the culture is set up. He said that he does not care for what sort of rankings a player is given and that they do their own analysis, something he has said on a few occasions before but also something it seems he was trying to emphasize.
He talked about how the improvement of his coordinators on both offense and defense is responsible for the program’s turnaround, highlighting the job Joe Harasymiak has done. The Rutgers defense will be returning six senior starters and multiple key contributors looking to not skip a beat from their on-field dominance last season.
The one player who was talked about at length by name in the one-on-one coaching interviews was Kyle Monangai who was praised by the Rutgers head coach for his patient running, violent running, and how he always seemed to fall forward.
Greg Schiano Media Day interview: second round
During his second appearance at media day, this time doing a one-on-three interview with the BTN staff Schiano shared some important insights on where his team is at as of right now. The first and arguably the most important is the status of Tyreem Powell and his injury. The good news is that Schiano said Powell is right on track for him to be ready by the start of the season.
During this round of interviews, Schiano also commented about how last season’s success is leading to more people buying into them as a program now. He said that most human beings need success in order to buy into something and since Rutgers started to achieve that more people are buying in. That leads right into something else Schiano was asked about which was how has Rutgers done so well on the 2025 recruiting trail. He explained that this is a product of the visible success Rutgers had last season along with the improvements made to the facilities since the beginning of his second tenure.
The two areas he made comments on that need improvement are the passing game and the four-man pass rush. He talked about how grabbing Kaliakmanis in the offseason and making him the starter early in training camp is a boost to the quarterback room because now they have a better-developed starter with time to properly take the reigns of the offense before the start of the season. Schiano also commented on where the wide receiver position was last year and how the acquisitions in the wide receiver room will make the passing game better this year.
He also made it known that he is looking for improvement from the four-man pass rush this season so they can become much more dynamic on defense. However, he also expressed confidence in Harasymiak to be the guy who can make the improvements in this area.
Media Day: Player interviews: Tyreem Powell, Kyle Monangai, Mohammed Toure
During their interview, the trio of Rutgers embodied exactly what coach Schiano explained the program is. They gave each other a lot of credit. They showed how they are lifting each other up, especially with how Powell is recovering from injury. They spoke with an eager tone when asked about the games on the West Coast and the newcomers to the conference. They even reaffirmed what coach Schiano said about the player-led program.
Monangai even gave special shout-outs to his offensive line and his backups Sam Brown and Ja’Shon Benjamin after being asked how he achieved so many yards after contact (866).
These three made it sound like they were just interviewing Schiano again with how much it sounded like they bought into his culture.