New OC McDaniels Eager to Get Started
Feb 10 | Football
By Tom Luicci
ScarletKnights.com
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - One year of being around Ben McDaniels and watching him work was all it took for Rutgers coach Kyle Flood to come to the realization that his newest assistant was headed for bigger and better things.
What few expected is that it would happen this quickly.
McDaniels, 34, was introduced today as the Scarlet Knights' new offensive coordinator, replacing Ralph Friedgen, who decided to step down from the role after one season, saying "it's time for me to smell the roses."
Friedgen, who has served in various coaching capacities at the college level and in the NFL since 1969, will remain on staff, Flood said, as a special assistant to the head coach.
For McDaniels, the promotion from wide receivers coach to his new role is a natural progression in Flood's view. He will also serve as the quarterbacks coach.
"I've got tremendous, tremendous confidence in Ben," Flood said. "I had the opportunity to sit in on a lot of the offensive meetings, (to) be on the headset on game day, and listen to him, watch him teach, watch him go through the game planning portion with the rest of the offensive coaches, and I have complete confidence in him that he'll do a great job going forward as our coordinator."
The new roles for McDaniels and Friedgen were part of a staff transition that also included Anthony Campanile moving from tight ends coach to wide receivers coach, with recruiting coordinator Phil Galiano moving back onto the field as special teams coordinator. Bob Fraser, who oversaw special teams while coaching linebackers last season, will focus solely on linebackers now.
Friedgen, coaxed out of a three-year retirement following a successful 10-year run as Maryland's head coach, "did a tremendous job for us," Flood said.
"He's been very valuable to us over the last year, and there's no doubt that he'll be valuable to the program going forward," he added.
The specifics of Friedgen's new position have yet to be worked out, but his presence provides a sounding board for McDaniels as he takes over running the Scarlet Knights' offense.
"Ben and I worked very closely," Friedgen said. "Ben did third downs for me, and in the passing game we were talking all the time. One thing that has impressed me about Ben and really what I look for in a coordinator is how in tune is that guy to every aspect of the offense. Does he know the running game? Does he know the passing game? Does he know protections? Ben is well-versed on all of that.
`When we're in staff meetings, I look for guys who are invested in the whole game plan, not just their individual position, and Ben was a tremendous contributor in all phases of the offensive game plan, and he and I were in direct communication during game day. So he was me on the sidelines (with Friedgen in the booth upstairs)."
McDaniels' quick rise through the coaching ranks is no surprise to those who know his family. His father, Thom, is in the Ohio Football Coaches Hall of Fame following a successful 40-year career as a high school coach. His brother, Josh, just earned a Super Bowl ring as the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots.
"To me I always kind of just doing my job that I currently have as best I can while I have it, and then as opportunities come, you think about them and take them on as they come," said McDaniels, who has four years of NFL coaching experience. "But as far as when this played out and all that stuff, I guess I'm always prepared for a great opportunity, and when coach (Flood) and I had some discussions, I was obviously really excited about it."
McDaniels said he "jokes with people and tells people I've been coaching probably for, I don't know, 26, 28 years of my 34 years of life because I've been around the game since I was just a little boy."
Friedgen, meanwhile, said it was simply the coaching grind that finally got to him, nothing else.
"What got hard for me was getting up at 4:30 every morning and working 18 hours a day for 15 weeks of the year and saying, while I do have my health, `can I go on and enjoy two homes that I own that I never get to visit?' '' he said. "I have just become a grandfather for the first time. And really when I had my sabbatical, so to speak, I got to see that there are other things other than coaching.
"So yeah, will I miss the players? You bet. Will I miss the coaches and the game planning? Yes, very much. Will I miss game day? Very, very much.
"But there are a lot of things I won't miss, either. I think it's time for me to smell the roses, and what Coach Flood has given me is an opportunity to do -- which I think is very unique -- is still be in a support role and be able to contribute to Rutgers football, which has been unbelievably good to me, and still be able to do the things that I want to do, and I feel very fortunate that I have that opportunity."
McDaniels' first challenge when spring practice starts on March 30 is finding a replacement for quarterback Gary Nova, but Friedgen has no doubts his successor -- a former quarterback at Kent State -- will be up to the task.
"Ben is very, very capable of being an outstanding offensive coordinator," he said. "He's one of the bright young minds that I've come across, and I have no hesitation in knowing that he'll carry on and do a great job."
Flood, meanwhile, said he intends to fill Galiano's old spot as recruiting coordinator "as soon as possible." He also announced that former Rutgers defensive line standout Scott Vallone will join the staff as a graduate assistant this spring, filling Charlie Noonan's former position.
Noonan served two seasons as a graduate assistant before recently being named defensive line coach at Holy Cross.
