Athan Kaliakmanis to be Rutgers football’s starting QB, Gavin Wimsatt to transfer

Rutgers football’s quarterback situation has clarity.

Athan Kaliakmanis is expected to be the Scarlet Knights’ starting QB in 2024, and Gavin Wimsatt has begun the process of entering the transfer portal, sources confirmed.

The timing of Greg Schiano’s decision allowed Wimsatt to pursue new opportunities before the portal window closed.

Wimsatt will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Rutgers in January brought in Kaliakmanis from Minnesota, where he originally worked with Scarlet Knights offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel was first to report the news of Rutgers' quarterback situation Wednesday.

Gavin Wimsatt's journey at Rutgers comes to end

Wimsatt's decision to transfer ends an up-and-down journey at Rutgers.

He joined the program early in the 2021 season from Owensboro High School in Kentucky after deciding to skip his final high school season.

Wimsatt's debut came on the road against Illinois, where he hit Bo Melton for a 13-yard pass to convert a fourth down and extend Rutgers' go-ahead scoring drive.

Wimsatt played in eight games in 2022, including six starts.

Schiano named Wimsatt the starter before the beginning of training camp last July.

In 13 games last season, Wimsatt went 138-of-289 passing (47.8 percent) for 1,735 yards with nine touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Wimsatt's accuracy was inconsistent, but his running ability (he rushed 131 times for 497 yards and 11 TDs in 2023) was a strength.

Still, the offense needed to get better.

Rutgers averaged 23.2 points per game last season, which ranked 94th in the country.

Athan Kaliakmanis has 'blended very well' so far

So Rutgers added Kaliakmanis to add competition to the quarterback room, which also includes second-year QB Ajani Sheppard and true freshman early enrollee AJ Surace.

Schiano following Rutgers' spring game on Saturday said Kaliakmanis had "blended very well" so far.

"Now he has a head start with the fact he knows our system," Schiano said. "There’s some vocabulary and things that were different, but not extremely. That can be achieved in a month, a couple weeks really. But what he needed to do was get back on the same page with Kirk and learning exactly what Kirk wants done.

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"You can call a play the same thing and you can draw it the same on paper, but coaching is those finer points, those anticipatory points, those things that get you ready to make the play. I think Kirk is the best I’ve been around at teaching that. So to have Athan back in the room with the other quarterbacks was great, and he’s made progress this spring."

Enough progress to where he's getting a big opportunity.

Kaliakmanis during Saturday's spring game went 10-of-17 passing for 147 yards and two touchdowns.

Ciarrocca recruited Kaliakmanis to Minnesota and tutored him in 2022 as the Golden Gophers' OC before leaving for Rutgers.

In 2022, Kaliakmanis played in 11 games, making five starts. He went 60-of-111 passing for 946 yards and three touchdowns.

Kaliakmanis started 12 games last season, going 156-of-294 (53.1) for 1,838 yards and 14 touchdowns, while also rushing for two scores.

"I think the process of bringing him in was, Coach is always looking for an opportunity to strength the roster," Ciarrocca said in March. "It doesn't matter what position it is, that's college football that we live in today. It gave us an opportunity to strengthen that position and strengthen our roster, which can only make us more competitive at the position and can only make us better. It's pretty simple."

Schiano said during a Big Ten Network interview on Tuesday that he felt Rutgers' quarterback room was as "strong as it's ever been" throughout his time as the Scarlet Knights coach.

One of the biggest questions facing Rutgers heading into the 2024 season has now been answered.

The offense belongs to Kaliakmanis. Wimsatt's time in a Scarlet Knights uniform is over.

Kaliakmanis will have some weapons around him, including receivers Dymere Miller, Naseim Brantley and Christian Dremel, as well as younger receivers Ben Black and KJ Duff. Rutgers also returns 1,000-yard rusher Kyle Monangai at running back.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rutgers football: Gavin Wimsatt set to enter transfer portal