Rutgers football: How a 'crazy' 11 recruiting days helped shape bowl-bound Scarlet Knights
PISCATAWAY – Eleven days.
Eleven hectic, chaotic days.
That was all the time that Greg Schiano had to assemble his first recruiting class upon returning as Rutgers football’s head coach in December, 2019, a condensed timeline between his hiring and the early signing period to find the right prospects to establish the foundation for not just the team’s performance on the field, but the culture off of it.
“It was crazy,” Schiano recalled following a Scarlet Knights practice this week.
But now, that crazy sprint has helped fuel Rutgers’ resurgence.
The Scarlet Knights entered their bye week with a 6-2 record and traditional bowl eligibility for the first time since 2014. Multiple players from that 2020 recruiting class, many of whom were under-the-radar, under-recruited prospects, have driven the success of this season’s team, once again proving that rankings and the number of stars attached to a recruit’s name don’t always tell the full story.
Running back Kyle Monangai, whose Rutgers offer represented only one of two Power 5 offers, is the Big Ten’s leading rusher with 744 yards.
Cornerbacks Robert Longerbeam and Max Melton have developed into consistent playmakers in the secondary.
Linebacker Tyreem Powell, who suffered a hand injury in Saturday’s win over Indiana that will likely cost him the rest of the season, was one of the defense’s best players and leads the team with 53 tackles (eighth in the Big Ten).
Defensive end Wesley Bailey has three sacks through eight games and led the team with 3½ last season.
And those are only a few members of that 2020 class (offensive lineman Bryan Felter, defensive lineman Rene Konga, tight end Victor Konopka and quarterback Evan Simon are others) that came together in a matter of days, a frenetic stretch of time that included visits, offers and a flurry of commitments – not to mention flips.
How Greg Schiano quickly assembled Rutgers football's 2020 recruiting class
At the time Schiano was hired, he didn’t have a full staff to help him. Eric Josephs, director of player personnel who worked for previous coach Chris Ash but Schiano kept on, was “the key.” Nunzio Campanile, the interim coach following Ash’s firing and who Schiano also kept on the coaching staff, was also a part of the chaotic process.
“That was it,” Schiano said. “That was our army.”
Schiano soon hired Fran Brown as his defensive backs coach to bolster that army. Still, the workload was immense.
“Literally we’d be in a home visit and we’d get out and (Eric would) be like, ‘Hey I got you in if you can there by 9:45, they said they’d see you,’” Schiano said. “So we’d roll over there. And then when Fran joined he was a big help. It was a crazy time. An 11-day sprint.”
Longerbeam also recalled the experience, albeit from the opposite perspective. He, along with wide receiver Chris Long, had been committed to Temple. Once Long de-committed, Longerbeam a few days later.
Once he talked to Schiano, Longerbeam made up his mind.
“When I talked to Coach Schiano and heard his vision and how he was, I knew I wanted to play for him,” Longerbeam said. “And then all the guys – I was just on Twitter, scrolling, seeing all the guys flip. Like Max, Tyreem. It was like, ‘Oh snap, we’re putting something together.’ It was a nice class coming together.”
Powell had been committed to Virginia Tech, while Melton initially pledged to Purdue before flipping to Rutgers.
Recruits bought into Schiano's vision
Longerbeam said all the recruits who became a part of that 2020 class bought into Schiano’s vision. Now they’re a part of the turnaround they believed could happen.
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“It's exciting to see because when we first got here, we all saw the vision and we all wanted to be part of it,” Longerbeam said. “Seeing it come to fruition, it’s a blessing. All our guys are so close in that class, so you see your brother making plays it just makes you happy. And then you start making some plays, now you’re whole class is feeding off each other and eating together on the field.”
Schiano often talks about Rutgers being a “developmental program,” bringing in players who might not be highly recruited or highly ranked prospects but can be developed into impactful contributors through work in the weight room and on the field.
The Scarlet Knights’ 2020 recruiting class reinforces that notion.
“It goes to show you the whole recruiting/evaluation is more of an art than a science,” Schiano said. “Everybody wants to make it a science with analytics and I get why we do all that. I’m into that. I’m into the length and speed. But at the end of the day you have to factor all those inputs, and then that one that you can’t put a measure on is (heart) and (head). We’ve got some good ones, for sure.”
For Longerbeam and his fellow commits, pledging to Schiano and ultimately signing letters of intent provided an opportunity to be a part of changing a program. They bought into a bigger idea and accepted a challenge.
The expectations might’ve been high, but that’s just what they wanted.
“We’re his first class, so there’s going to be expectations once you get older,” Longerbeam said. “I think we kind of embrace that. We wanted those pressures and those added expectations because that’s going to make us play even harder and get the best out of us.”
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rutgers football recruiting: 11 days helped shape 2023 bowl team
