Rutgers Head Coach Greg Schiano midway through Spring Practice: Press Conference

Rutgers Football spring ball is fully underway, and the Scarlet Knights completed their ninth practice of the session. Shortly after, head coach Greg Schiano spoke to the media for his spring football press conference.

Hear Schiano’s complete comments to the media embedded in this article, or on live replay on the The Knight Report YouTube Channel. Schiano spoke for roughly 8 minutes and addressed a range of questions, including how the program has responded to the new coaches, quarterback battle thoughts, other positional battles, and much more.

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Full Greg Schiano Presser Transcript

GS: Alright, well thanks for coming out. I want to start with this. This is pretty cool stuff. I don’t know if you guys got this release, but we led the nation in the Hampshire Honor Society. I think that’s a great testament to the way our guys work at things, both on and off the field. So I’m really proud of our players. I think that’s a tremendous accomplishment to be doing that at this level in the Big Ten Conference. So hats off to them. Good practice today, a long one. We’ve really been very efficient, but today we did a little more, we call it “play it,” where it’s play the game a little bit and it’s just 22 guys working at a time and everybody else watching, so it takes a little longer, but it’s worth it because they start getting a feel of playing without us in the huddle and out on the field telling them they’ve got to kind of figure it out themselves. So that was a good work day today and a really good tape to look at on Monday. So I’ll try to answer your questions. 

I wanted to ask about Zahmir Dawud, local guy, one of the first transfers you guys got at a position you said is very competitive. What did you like about him when you were recruiting him, and how do you expect him to make the jump from FCS to the Big Ten? 

GS: You know, he’s done a really good job since he’s arrived. He’s been very attentive to details, working real hard to learn our defense and to learn the way we do things. He’s a bright guy, a good football player, and again, that competition is going to go well into training camp. They’re all competing very hard. I would tell you there’s any number of guys that can see playing time this year. 

At this point in the spring, how do you feel like the defense is adjusting to the new coaching staff and how do you feel like, I know it’s the early stages of the installation of the scheme, but how do you feel like that’s going? 

GS: It’s going well, yeah.Travis has done a great job not only with the players introducing it but getting the staff together. They’re working really hard to become a unit, and I think that’s going to be critical. They’re enjoying each other’s company.It’s fun to watch. The chemistry is building every day, and that’s what it’s about. When you have good units, they have great chemistry. When you have a great team, the whole team has that chemistry. That’s a step-by-step process that we’re very, very persistent in working at that, but I think that’ll happen. 

Have you seen anybody in the wide receiver room stand out above the rest so far? 

GS: Well, KJ [Duff]. KJ’s had a real good spring. I think the rest of them have all done well. There’s not a valley on any of them. They’re all performing at a high level. They’re all working really hard. We’re making some mistakes because we’re not experienced at some of the spots, but once they get corrected, then they don’t happen again, which is, eventually you run out of mistakes.But they’re talented, and that’s the key. I’m encouraged by the room. 

To go off on that wide receiver room, there’s the quartet of second-year guys. They dealt with some injuries down the stretch last year, but where are they in terms of their development as they start to get back healthy and on the field? 

GS: Like I said, they’re all doing well. I would be remiss if I said this guy and not that guy because they’re all doing well. They’re all practicing well.The quarterbacks are getting them the football, so they’re having opportunities to make the plays. Competition is really fierce. With the exception of KJ, Ben [Black]‘s got some experience but not a ton. It’s a young group, but a talented group, so we’ve got to just keep accelerating. Coach Brock’s doing a great job of doing just that. 

Just piggybacking on Chris’s question about the defense, when you brought in Travis and some members of the staff, how were you able to vet whether they’re developmental coaches and kind of fit in with what you guys want to do? How do you figure out if they’re a fit? 

GS: I think a lot of it is leadership. When you hire the leader, which is Travis, and he and I, I told you 60 whatever it was, 62 days to figure it out. But he and I, we’re aligned as far as the way we want to coach a defense, the way we want to develop our players. There’s some of the guys that he came that he worked with that he knew very well, which is always good because they hit the ground running.Then there were some pieces that were here, and then there were some pieces that came from third, neither party. That to me is a good mix, but I think they’ve all really gelled well. That’s a testament to Travis and the way he’s building that camaraderie both on the staff and with the players.

When we talked with Coach Ciarrocca a couple weeks ago, he mentioned talking about a quarterback competition. Once you kind of know that someone has an edge, you can kind of tell and you kind of know, where are you and him in part of that process? 

GS: Yeah, I think it’s way too early. Maybe it wouldn’t be way too early if somebody did poorly and somebody did well, but they’ve both done well.I have total confidence in Coach Ciarrocca. Certainly he and I discuss it all the time. Like he said and like I’ve said, you’ll know it when you know it, and you can’t rush it. You can’t make it happen. I mean, you can make it happen, but that’s not a good thing to do. The best way to do that is just over time it plays itself out and it becomes evident. That has not happened yet. They’re both working hard. They’re both doing a good job. They both made some mistakes, which you’re going to make when you haven’t been in that role. But again, kind of like I was saying earlier, you run out of mistakes to make if you just keep playing through them and understanding and learning, and that’s what they’re doing right now. So I’m encouraged by both of them. I think Sean Ashenfelder has done a good job as well, so it’s been fun to watch. 

Another question about the coaching staff, but Jim Turner, what have you seen from him, the energy that he kind of brings in settling in, especially a unit that has a lot of experience? 

GS: Yeah, Jim’s done a great job. He goes way back with a lot of our guys on the offensive staff, so I think that part of it was seamless, just kind of they’ve worked together before, several of the guys.But with the players, the players didn’t know him, and he’s done a great job of bringing them in, bringing them together, coaching them, making them better. So I think it’s been really good. 

Wydeek Collier-Johnson has been here a year now.What have you seen about his development, and do you see a role for him this fall? 

GS: I do, yeah, I do. I think he’s a tremendous athlete. He’s a big athlete. Certainly two years from now he’s going to be a much bigger athlete, but even now, he’s put on probably 25, 30 pounds and is a really physical, violent player. He’s really strong hands and can knock things back, and then as he just gets more LBs behind him, that knock-back will even get more significant. But he’s an incredible athlete for a man his size, and, yeah, he can help us.

A couple weeks ago you spoke highly about Kevin Levy and what you’ve seen from him. Can you kind of expand on that, what you’ve seen with his development that kind of leads to those expectations that you have for him? 

GS: Yeah, I think Kevin’s just made up his mind. It’s time. The way he prepared all offseason, in the winter program, came out in spring and just kept it up. He’s performing with confidence, attention to detail, taking care of his body, all the things that a big-time player does he’s doing, and he’s got the God-given ability. So if he can just continue on that trajectory, he’s going to be a really good corner.

Greg, Jim Turner’s had some controversy in his past before arriving here. Did you address that with him in the process before you hired him, and do you have any concern on your end of anything like that could repeat itself here?

GS: No. We certainly addressed it. We vetted. Jim was fully vetted, and like I said, relationships. A lot of guys on our staff have relationships, have worked with Jim, and could stand on the table for him in that manner. I’ve known Jim for a long time as well. I’ve never worked with him, but excellent football coach, excellent line coach, and I’m very confident that he’s going to be a great member of our staff going forward. 

Guys, appreciate it as always that you cover us, and what is it, practice nine now? Yeah, so we’re getting there. We’re getting better. Thanks.