Greg Schiano Press Conference Quotes
Feb 07 | Football
Greg Schiano Press Conference Quotes
Feb. 7, 2007 ' 2007 Recruiting Class
Opening statement: "Thanks for coming out. Another big day for the upward movement of our program. We're very, very excited as a staff and as a university with the young men that have signed National Letters of Intent to come to Rutgers. There are so many people to thank, but I really want to thank Joe Susan, our Recruiting Coordinator and Tight Ends coach, and Jason Mitchell who is our Director of External Operations. They are truly the guys who drive this recruiting machine year round because that's what it is'a year round commitment. And to everybody on our staff that's been incredible all over the East Coast and all over the country where we had to go to find the right young men for Rutgers and again, that's the number one thing I can emphasize in our recruitment. I've said it many times, our whole philosophy is to recruit and develop. The recruitment and the development of our young men is the key. One person that has been with us along is our Athletic Director, Mr. Bob Mulcahy. He stands by us in the recruitment of our players and he works very hard and I want to thank both he and his staff because it's an all-encompassing thing when you recruit young men to your university. Carl Kirshner, our dean of Rutgers College, and the chairman of the academic oversight committee. Both he and his group, every Friday, meet with the recruits on Friday afternoon before the holidays and in January and it is certainly valuable time and for their sacrifice I say thank you. Now, on to the young men who make up the recruiting class."
On Manny Abreu: "Manny is really a dynamic player. He is fast, tough player who played many positions in high school and is a superb athlete. He's a guy who fits very well into our plans."
On Robinson Alexis: "Robinson is another guy who can really run fast. He is a guy we've met in our camps. He's been to both of our camps down in South Florida and our camps here in New Jersey. He's an exceptional player."
On Jourdan Brooks: "Jourdan is a big back that can really fly. He is a guy that can do things both catching the ball, running the ball and blocking. He is a multi-dimensional running back that I think really comes in at the position where we have a couple of guys but not great depth. I think he's going to provide some of that much-needed playing time at that position."
On Anthony Davis: "Anthony is obviously a well-known guy in these parts. He is a tremendous football player and an equally tremendous young man. I've gotten to know him probably better than most of the recruits mostly because of his proximity. He's a great player, all the physical attributes, bright guy, loves the game, and I think that's the key with this class and that's one of the things we try to identify'young men that love football. I think there's a difference between 'love it' and 'really like it a lot,' and Anthony is one of those guys who love the game."
On Jamiel Farrington: "Jamiel is from the same high school as Eric Foster, and a guy who reminds you a lot of Eric coming out of high school. He is a high motor, very intense guy. A guy that I think will really be able to put some good weight on and where he ends we'll see. When I say where he winds up, I mean inside, outside, wherever that is I'm not sure, but I do know one thing'he plays with a great motor and will make plays on our defense."
On Justin Francis: "Justin is another guy who's been to our camps and a guy that we know very well and that fits very well with what we do defensively. He is another guy who's passionate about the game and plays with a high motor."
On Jonathan Freeny: "Jonathan played a lot of different positions in high school and will probably end up being a defensive end or outside linebacker here at Rutgers. He is a natural. A guy that has so much ability. He's a great wrestler in high school. He is another fine defensive addition."
On Al-Majid Hutchins: "Al-Majid is really a fine cornerback prospect and played dime a league where there wasn't as much throwing as he's going to face at this level, but he's very, very talented. The one thing you worry about sometimes with cornerbacks is their physicality, but playing in the league he played in, he had no choice but to be physical. He's a hitter and a guy that I know can cover and that is going to help give us added depth in the secondary."
On Al-Ghaffaar Lane: "I think Al-Ghaffaar is just going to be a very, very good pass-rusher. He's a lean kid right now but he's going to get into our weight program and put weight on and I think his first-step quickness may be one of the fastest I've seen in a long time. He is really a bright young guy who, again, when you watch his high school football career, he plays with an incredible motor."
On Joe LeFeged: "Joe is a tremendous, versatile athlete. I think basically, other than offensive line, I don't know if there's a position he didn't play on his high school teams. We're going to project him as a safety here at Rutgers but there's no doubt in my mind he can play corner. He can play a lot of things. He's that kind of athlete, someone who is a great addition to our program because he can do so many things."
On Joe Martinek: "Joe is probably one of the more publicized players in the state of New Jersey. He was the Gatorade Player of the Year. Joe broke the all-time rushing record in the state and now you're going to see my genius'we're going to try him on defense. I think he's that kind of athlete. He can really do so many things and a great addition to the program and another guy who's passionate not only about football, but about athletics and competing. He's a great competitor."
On Richard Muldrow: "Richard is a tremendous offensive line prospect. When you see him, he's a 'wow.' He's a tremendously large human being who has great feet for a guy his size. The upside is incredible. Having watched him go through some things in different practice sessions, he really is a guy who the sky is the limit for and again, a passionate guy about the game. He comes from a football family."
On Keith Newell: "Keith is another guy that you're going to strain your neck looking up at. One of the things we're really pleased about is that we have some great height in this class. We have some great linemen prospects period that all these big guys provide. Keith could play defensive or offensive line, depending on where he fits in best. He will be a work in progress but he's a guy who is a big man with, again, incredible foot quickness and is a very good athlete."
On Mason Robinson: "Mason is a guy that we've been familiar with and recruiting for a long time, since he was a freshman and a guy that we just think is a tremendous fit for what we offensively. Multi-dimensional, he's going to be able to play the running back position, be able to motion out and become a wide receiver, all of the things that give you flexibility offensively and just an electric player with the ball in his hands and a very exciting guy."
On Caleb Ruch: "Caleb is really an inside offensive lineman that we think is just a very, very physical, hardnosed player that's going to bring something to the line that we need and that's an attitude that he plays the game with. He is a great young man, very strong guy for his stage in development, and someone that I think is going to come in here and really battle for playing time."
On Fabian Ruiz: "Fabian is a very athletic guy that we had in our camps and we know a lot about him. He is really a special individual that's going to bring both the ability to block and catch the ball down the field at the tight end position which, as you know, we use and have had a great history with here at Rutgers."
On Alex Silvestro: "Alex is a tremendous athlete, whether it is in football as a tight end, defensive end or linebacker. He is a tremendous wrestler as well'215 pounder who is in the top-four or five each year in the state and possibly a state champion in wrestling. He is also a tremendous baseball player. Alex really does it all and we're excited. Where I think he'll end up playing is probably outside linebacker or defensive end. A guy that, again, is a great player and keeps our pipe line to South Jersey open which is very important. Three years ago we stood up here and I felt had a very good recruiting class but that there was a void in that we still had not been able to crack that South Jersey high school market, and now we have in the last two years. We're really getting some great, great players."
On Desmond Stapleton: "Obviously a familiar name, Darnell's little brother, except 'little' is not the word. Desmond is again a guy that's 6-5, a very big guy and, again, a very good footed athlete that as he gets into our weight program, the sky's the limit. One of the things that's always nice about recruiting people that you've coached somebody in their family already, you know what the background is better than you do any other recruit and what a great family Desmond comes from and there's not a lot of guesswork there."
On San San Te: "Our specialist, our place-kicker is very important. He is a guy that is a tremendous athlete. He received several Player of the Year awards as a junior as a soccer player to show you his athleticism. He is going to come in and, in a perfect situation, be able to work with Jeremy Ito for a year before Jeremy moves on, and hopefully gather some of his wisdom and knowledge in the kicking department and then have a guy that can take over. He may be forced into action in other areas as a specialist early on, but I think it's a great opportunity for him and a great opportunity for Rutgers."
On Wayne Thomas: "Again, Wayne is 6-5 and if he walked in here today, you'd be pretty impressed. He looks like the way they're supposed to look. I think he's a tremendous defensive player who is going to fit into our plans and the way we play defense. He plays with a high motor, passion for the game, and those are recurring words I'm using about the guys because that's why we recruited them; that's what's important to us."
On Desmond Wynn: "Desmond is 6-6, 250 pounds. I think another guy, same thing, very tall, rangy, athletic guy who can run very well for a man his size. Passionate about the game."
On Matthew Hardison and Antonio Lowery who enrolled at Rutgers this past January: "There's a note there [in the press release] on Matthew Hardison and Antonio Lowery, both signees. Both started classes in January. They were signees from last year and are now involved in our winter program and are in class and doing well."
On whether this class is the kind of class capable of winning a championship: "I believe it is. I believe that we've had a couple of those classes, too, in the past. I think two years ago I said people are going to want to ask us if that class was the best class, and I think the growth and the incremental increase in pure talent is going to be smaller and smaller every year because we're getting and attracting top-level athletes. But I think what they do is they add to what I think is already a very good base and I think they will make us better."
On what signing Manny Abreu and Anthony Davis says about the Rutgers football program in comparison to other "big football programs": "I think it says that we're a big school. I go around the country and some people talk about big programs, but Rutgers is a big school. We were 12th in the country this year at the end of the season, we're 26,000 some-odd undergrad students in what I think is the best state in the country, so we're a big school, we just haven't been real successful on the big football stage yet and we started that process. Now we have to continue it but it does say a lot about the "traditional" football powerhouses. But as we said from the beginning, the only thing holding us back when we got here was us. If we get out of our own way and let things happen and develop our program and get support from our administration and get young men in here that believe in what we were doing, we would move this thing forward and we still have to do that. Our ultimate goal isn't 11th, our ultimate goal is to be the best in the country and we just need to keep attracting young men like these guys to add to the guys we already have and then we have to develop them."
On the impact the success of the 2006 season had on getting the recruits: "I think it definitely has an impact. I think I'd be na????ve to think winning doesn't beget winning and beget better players. Top-level players want to go to a place where they can legitimately compete to be the best and I think that's what you're seeing. The guys who made a choice to come here, I hope they're coming here to be national champions and that that's what about our football program drew them here. The people that are running the football program and the academic situation and the fact that they can get a degree that means something, that's what you hope attracted them."
On whether any recruits could see playing time in 2007: "I don't get into the who's going to play and who's not going to play. If it was only football, I think I could predict playing time based on performance and physical attributes, but what's unique to college football is that it's such a change from high school football. The game itself is a huge change, their lives get flipped all over the place; they're no longer living at home, they're no longer eating mom's cooking, they're no longer able to talk to or see their girlfriends every day unless she goes to school here, and so much changes in their life that has an affect on their performance. Athletically, there are certainly guys here who can help us right away; how they all deal with the pressures of being a freshman in college, that's usually the ticket."
On whether there are specific players he's looking to step right in: "There's always guys you look at and say, 'that guy could really help us,' but what I don't do is I don't sit there and bank on it, and I don't think our coaches do, either. I don't think that's wise and you need to just let those things unfold. I do know there are guys on this list who believe in their hearts they're coming here to play as a freshman and you hope every guy on this list believes that; it won't happen with everyone, but you hope they're good enough to do that."
On whether there's a way to measure the impact the win over Louisville had on the recruiting process: "Probably not, but I think it was important. I think every bit of success was important and when you go up against the number three team in the country and you win, certainly that adds to your credibility. That win was as important a win as we've had around here. I can't quantify it, but I'm sure it had a big impact."
On the process of signing Anthony Davis and when he felt confident Davis would choose Rutgers: "I think once he publicly announced he was coming to Rutgers, something can always change, but he's a unique guy'when he tells you something, you can put it down. We're very close to him, obviously; he lives right here in town and Coach Susan did a tremendous job. I remember meeting Anthony Davis for the first time, I think we he was a freshman and that's the benefit of recruiting the same areas over and over'developing relationships in the communities and the towns and the high schools and Anthony Davis gave Rutgers a chance throughout his high school career to show that we were going to be a legitimate player in big time college football and as he saw that opportunity, and I don't want to speak for him, I read a quote he had that's what I've been thinking all along: 'Let the so-and-so kids go there, and let the Jersey kids come here.' When I say Jersey kids I mean Rutgers kids because the state of Rutgers'there is no New York Division-I university; we're it. New York City, Long Island, Staten Island, Westchester'we're it. We really have been successful in eastern Pennsylvania of late and we're trying to annex that into New Jersey. Maryland being such a productive area for us, that's exciting to me."
On the importance of recruiting rankings in terms of other people's perceptions of Rutgers: "I think our administration is educated on that and doesn't concern themselves with recruiting rankings. I think our coaching staff knows that if we had to rely on our recruiting rankings, twelve (in national rankings) doesn't jive with our recruiting rankings. I think that's why the recruitment and the development are equally important. The only group that may be affected positively by the recruiting rankings is this next incoming group of recruits that obviously we're well into recruiting. Other than that I don't know. I think the whole business of the recruiting rankings, the recruiting websites, the shows'?I guess ESPN has had all-day coverage of recruiting and it's become a big thing, so I guess it is important in that perception area. It's great for the fans. It's a pain in the rear for us, quite frankly, but it's great for the fans because it gives them more college football they can be involved with. I think any time the fans can be involve din this game it's great."
On whether recruits pay attention to the rankings in addition to the wins and losses: "It (the rankings) might have an impact and it probably will have more of an effect on the next group of recruits or even this group because they start ranking classes long before today. Some kids are into that and say 'I'm the number 12 cornerback in the nation.' I think it's important tin years where you're kind of battling to show you can with'with recruits, I'm talking about. This year's class, quite frankly, the guys that we really locked in on, we felt very good in as people, as players, as human beings. Those are the guys we hung with the whole time and they hung with us. Not that they decided right away, but I didn't feel at any time that rankings had anything to do with it. I thought it was all about our relationships that have been established over time and us being a fit at Rutgers for those particular athletes. So in this particular instance, no. I think in a 5-7 year or a 7-5 year it might have more of an effect."
On the offensive and defensive linemen's size in relation to past years: "The only thing I would say about the defensive line is they are high-motor guys but they're not the small guys. We have big defensive linemen in this class. Huge for high school defensive linemen. We will never sacrifice speed or motor, though. What excited me is that they're only big but they have speed and they have a high motor. Anthony Davis plays with a high motor and he will try and knock you off your feet on every play. One of the things you want is you want to be balanced in your recruiting class. You want to make sure you feel good about balance'nine offensive players, 11 defensive players, one specialist'that's good balance on a team I didn't think had gaping holes anywhere. The thing we needed to do for future depth was build an offensive and a defensive line; we had to get enough people and you weren't going to take people just to say you took people at the position. We're thrilled with the way the class came together and the way the staff attacked the thing. We got the linemen on both sides of the ball I do think we need for the future."
On whether the number of recruits (21) is final: "It's never finished. That's been proven. I look at a guy like (RU player) George Johnson who was a July signee and what a player he is. I never get into those (scholarship) numbers; they fluctuate."
On the new challenges he faces compared to several years ago: "I think it is all relative. I think there are different challenges in that there were several more battles with the 'traditional power schools' over these kinds of young men, but I can promise you the battles we were in the 'non-traditional power schools' were just as fierce because we all want to get the best people we can. It's just when you're battling the traditional powers, there's different hurdles you have to overcome, that's the difference."
On whether he has noticed an increased interest from fans: "The entire state is very excited about what's going on, including New York City. I think wherever we go now, I know personally there's a lot of excitement. It's not as easy to get around now as it used to be. I have to kind of plan that into my day that if I'm going somewhere, it's going to take a little longer if you're going to do what I like to do and that' s give people the time that they want. There are big changes and all you have to do is look at the season tickets since November to now; there's a waiting list. Even a year ago, we would have said that's what we suspected would have been the case on Feb. 7, 2007. All of those are signs people are excited and I know, and I've said it many times, here is our opportunity. We were 7-5, went a bowl game last year, and I stood here and said we have to jump through that window. I think we're about halfway through, but we can't let that window slam on our legs; we have to get our whole body through this thing and these are important years we're approaching in the future of Rutgers' football and I think in the future of New Jersey. The excitement level now and the way people are walking around with their chest out about 'their' university, that's neat stuff to me. That's a dream when we started here."
On whether there are any needs he didn't fulfill with this class (specifically no quarterbacks or running backs) and on the needs for next year's class: "I think Mason (Robinson) is a true tailback; I think you can hand him the ball and he'll get it done. I see that the quarterback situation'?really, Dominic Natale was the quarterback for this class. He transferred in (from Michigan State). Dominic came in and is now eligible to play. The thing is I think we have people at every position and the thing that's going better than ever is our walk-on recruiting right now. We have a tremendous group of walk-ons and I'm not allowed to comment on names because they're still prospective student-athletes, but they've already told us they're coming. They're great students that I think are going to be great for our football program and we're still dealing with a number of others. The history of our walk-on program speaks for itself. Almost every year one of our captains has been a walk-on. Turn the Super Bowl on and there's (former RU player) Gary Brackett, defensive captains for the Colts who was a walk-on here. Turn the Giant game on and there's Shaun O'Hara, a walk-on. There's plenty of history there that we consider as much a part of our recruitment as signing day and scholarship players."
On recruits' academic eligibility: "Without getting into specifics, I expect that to be the case (that every player will be eligible). You never do know, that's why you have a senior year of high school, but I'm encouraged that's where we're headed. Like every school in the country you wait to get their final grades and add it all up."
On the impact the success of the 2006 offensive line had in attracting offensive recruits: "I think it all has an effect. When you're number one in the country in sacks allowed, which is something the offensive line really prides themselves on and when you rush the ball well and we have really fun running back here, it's fun to block for a guy that if you give him a crease, will make something happen. I think we have four or five of them on our team and for an offensive lineman, that's the kind of environment you want to be in. I think our coaches and Coach Flood do a great job with the offensive line and those are the ingredients that I think attract an offensive lineman because as you know, it's a tough job where you don't get a lot of recognition."
