Rutgers Football HC Greg Schiano talks 2026 NFL Pro Day
Rutgers Football head coach Greg Schiano met with the media on Wednesday afternoon, to discuss the program’s annual NFL Pro Day and discuss some of the former Scarlet Knights chances at making the National Football League.
Full Press Conference Transcript
Guys, thanks for coming out and covering this big day for a lot of these players. They grow up dreaming of making it to the National Football League. So this is a very big job interview day for them and really, really excited for them and it’s been a good group their whole time here.
And now it’s the culmination of it all. So I’m anxious to get over there and see what they’re doing and how they’re doing. But so far, the reports I’ve been getting on my phone, it looks pretty good.
I’ll open up to any questions.
I know you probably don’t have the official numbers yet, but DT Sheffield’s testing really well. Where does he kind of rank among athletes that you’ve coached?
GREG SCHIANO: “Yeah, he’s a super athlete. I mean, I’ve been doing this for a long time, Richie. So there’s a lot of super athletes, but he’s definitely, he’s fast, he’s explosive, great hand-eye coordination. And most of all, he’s a good person, a really good kid.”
There have been a few guys the last few years who have come out of here kind of under the radar and then developed and built nice NFL careers for themselves. What do you think these guys can take away from the habits that they developed here?
GREG SCHIANO: “Yeah, I think one of the things we talk to our guys about when we’re recruiting them is we’re gonna get them ready for a lot of things. And the National Football League is one of those things.
So to do that, you have to have mental toughness. It’s the ultimate in a competitive situation. As I tell the players all the time, there’s over 8 billion people in the world.
And there’s 1,696 players on active rosters once the regular season starts. You do the math, that’s pretty slim pickings, right? So they understand how difficult it is, what a challenge it is. And we try to help them in every way they can to be able to make that a career, but it’s also real important they know they gotta get their education.
Because with those drastic odds, right? Most of them are gonna end up working for a living like all the rest of us. And that’s what we worked at that balance. But these are really fine young men, so they’re gonna do well whatever they do in life.
Coach, of course, your quarterback, Athan Kalikmanis is seen at the Hula Bowl working with John Gruden. What traits does he have that you think NFL teams would like?
GREG SCHIANO: “Well, Athan has a lot of traits, I think, that NFL teams will like. He has physical traits that are certainly really appealing, right? He’s got great arm strength.
He has great anticipation, very good football IQ. But again, like so many of these guys, I’m gonna say it. And the greatest thing is the human being he is, right? He’s a tremendous human being, tremendous young man. And I fully expect him to have a career in the National Football League.”
Greg, when you see the turnout from the scouts, I mean, what does that say about maybe some of the guys they found at this Pro Day last couple of years?
GREG SCHIANO: “Yeah, it’s starting to get back to what we’re used to, right? I mean, it should be every team, every year. You’ll know when it’s really cooking with gas, when you see more head coaches and GMs here, right? Then you really know it’s a Pro Day to behold.
But we are making all the steps, we just gotta keep making them.”
Athan’s talked about coming here, kind of reclaiming his career, the U-turn. What was the biggest part of what you’ve seen when he stepped foot on campus two years ago, and his growth, in particular, under Kirk?
GREG SCHIANO: “Yeah, I’ve told a lot of NFL personnel people this. When he came here from Minnesota, he did exactly what I think a competitor should do. He didn’t try to campaign for the starting job. You remember now, the incumbent starter was still here, was playing here. And he had to come in and take the job, and he did just that. He came in, he competed, he worked his tail off. And what he didn’t do is he didn’t try to campaign for the job.
And he did a spring, he won the job clearly, and the rest is history. So I’m really happy that Athan decided to come here and to get back with Kirk. I think he and Kirk have a special bond, and I think whoever he ends up going with in the National Football League, they’re gonna find out they’re gonna have that same bond. Because he worked so darn hard, the guy put so much of himself into it that you can’t help but root for people like that.”
Big picture question, a lot of the guys here are transfers. How’s it been NFL development wise between the one to two year guys versus a four year guy at Rutgers?
GREG SCHIANO: “Well, there’s certainly a difference, right? I mean, any time any of us can do something over a four year period, that’s twice the repetitions, right? Some of these guys who had one year, I promised them though when they come in that we will try to feed it to them through a fire hose, right? Like just let them get as much of it as they can.
Because it is known in the league, Rutgers players are guys that you want on your football team. They’re tough, they’re smart, they’re competitive, and you can count on them. So I try to help them, and our staff tries to help them get Rutgers ready for the league, but I’d be lying if I said it’s the same in one year as it is in four.”
How do you think Cam Miller’s skills can translate to the next level?
GREG SCHIANO: “I think they can translate very well. I’ve been getting my reports. I had meetings and some players I had to see, our players.
But I’ve been getting, peeking at my phone, and I saw some of the numbers, the guys they’re testing. So Cam’s immensely, my only wish again is that I had four years with him. We only got one year with him, and we were investigating, could we maybe get another, but it just didn’t work out.
But man, I would have loved to coach him for four years. Cuz the improvement he made in just whatever it was, ten months, man alive. If he could have had four years, that would have been fun.”
Now, what characteristics and attributes does Eric O’Neill have that would make him a good fit for the next level?
GREG SCHIANO: “Well, Eric is, first off, first and foremost, Eric is a football player. He loves the game, everything about him is about the game. I really enjoyed coaching Eric O’Neill.
Now, on top of that, he’s twitchy, he’s explosive, plays the game with great effort, physically, just unafraid, lets it rip. He’s a guy that, and he has position flexibility. I think he can play in a four down scheme, he can also play in a three down scheme.
He can be an outside backer, he can be a defensive end. There’s a lot of positives with Eric O’Neill. And he’s another guy that I fully expect to be playing on Sundays.”
Kenny Fletcher, when he came here as a four star defensive player, then made the switch, what exactly led to that? And how does that skill set potentially translate to this next step?
GREG SCHIANO: “Yeah, believe it or not, Kenny came in, he was frustrated, he wasn’t getting enough playing time at defensive end. And we were discussing, maybe I’ll transfer.
And I said, Kenny, I don’t want you to transfer. I said, you belong here. And it was right before the pinstripe bowl preparation. I said, look, you played wide out in high school. I said, why don’t you give, we didn’t have a deep tight end room. I said, why don’t you give tight end a try? I got a funny feeling you’re gonna be pretty good at this.
And in whatever it was, 15 practices, he got himself ready, he learned the position, he got a few reps in the game. But I think more than anything, he realized that I can do this, I can be good at tight end. And I don’t think we’ve even scratched the surface, right? Like this first year playing, he was leading the team in receptions when he got injured after, I think it was game six. And he missed so much time, he missed that whole off season, basically. He was ready to go when we got to training camp, then had a great year. So I mean, I think literally, we’ve just scratched the surface as Kenny is a tight end and he’s another guy that I expect to see in that league. And he’s talented enough to do it for a while.”
Greg, I think you had nine guys from last year make it into training camp. I don’t know how many you expect this year, but what kind of satisfaction is that to you knowing that maybe they don’t go to the combine, but after this pro day, they got a shot?
GREG SCHIANO: “Yeah, like I said, I started the little meeting here with the fact that since a lot of these guys were this big, this was their dream, right? To go play in the National Football League. It was my dream to go, and it wasn’t good enough, right? Like a lot of us. But these guys actually have a chance to go play in the National Football League.
And what they did all the time in their preparation leading up to today, and today is a culmination of that, right? So you’re not gonna change the tape you’ve put out there, that’s all done. But what you can do is go out here and really put on a show, do the very best you can in the testing. And then a lot of these guys will have opportunity to visit with some of the people from the clubs and share a little bit about themselves.
So I think it’s an important opportunity for them, and then they have to kind of sit and wait, right, which is a tough deal. But I know they’ve put a lot of hard work. I’ve been getting texts and calls and stuff.
They’ve been training all over and I’m anxious to see some. I haven’t seen some of them since they left at Christmas time. Guys, again, thank you, appreciate you covering us.”
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