Adam Scheier: Smart and Aggressive Special Teams
Jun 16 | Football
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Impacting a game on special teams has been a hallmark of Greg Schiano over the years. In the first 11 seasons leading the Scarlet Knights, the units combined to score 25 touchdowns, including 11 off blocked punts, nine kickoff returns, three punt returns, one off a blocked field goal and one coming from a faked field goal. Overall, RU established itself among the national leaders with 60 blocked kicks, including a high of nine in the 2010 and 2011 seasons.
The aggressive nature is a shared viewpoint for Schiano and his new special teams coordinator Adam Scheier.
"During his first tenure here I was coaching locally in eastern Pennsylvania (at Lehigh), so I'm well aware of what his philosophy is and what the tradition of special teams under coach Schiano at Rutgers has been," Scheier said in a recent WebEx with the media. "We're very much in sync in that regard. It's always been my approach and my philosophy to be smart but definitely to be aggressive. We understand that special teams can be a game-changing factor not only in creating huge momentum swings with blocked kicks, huge returns, touchdowns, but also just controlling the field position and how that positively impacts the success of your offense and defense."
A native of The Bronx, New York, with an Ivy League degree from Dartmouth, Scheier brings 24 years of collegiate coaching experience into 2020, including the last 20 working specifically with special teams. He has spent time in four Power Five conferences with previous stops at Mississippi State (SEC), Texas Tech (Big 12), Ohio State (Big Ten) and Wake Forest (ACC).
"Adam is an accomplished, veteran special teams coach who will be a great asset to our coaching staff," Schiano said. "In our time working together, I saw how passionate Adam is about teaching and mentoring young men."
While at Wake Forest, Scheier overlapped with Schiano, who had visited as a consultant, to discuss the art of special teams. Then in 2017, the two were on the same Ohio State staff that won the Big Ten and claimed the Cotton Bowl.
"He served as a resource and a mentor to me that year when I was heavily involved with special teams with coach (Urban) Meyer and coach Schiano and coach (Bob) Fraser and the rest of the staff at Ohio State," Scheier recalled. "I think we just developed a little bit of a connection. He was really great to me and my family when they came up to visit in Columbus and I guess that is how the process started."
While building the staff at Rutgers, Schiano has heavily drawn on past connections. That led to Scheier being hired.
"When you look at his staff, it is either guys that have worked for him or played for him or guys that he has developed some kind of working or personal connection with, and I think the relationship aspect of what we are doing as coaches is really critical," Scheier said. "And I think he saw something in me, even with the role I was in at Ohio State as a quality control coach, just saw the way I connected with the players and how I engaged the players and felt that would be valuable with this staff as he moved forward here at Rutgers."
As Scheier works to build relationships with the players on the current roster, he has a core of specialists with multiple seasons of game experience in kicker Justin Davidovicz, punter Adam Korsak and long snapper Billy Taylor.
"I think it's a bonus coming into a program with upperclass returnees at the specialist positions, kicker, punter and long snapper," Scheier said. "Those guys have been great. They've got experience. It's my job to build a relationship with them, continue to develop trust and trust will lead to confidence and to get them to play at a higher level."
Korsak was a 2019 national semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award and selected All-Big Ten by the coaches (second team) and media (third team). The Aussie led the Big Ten, ranked 15th nationally and reset the Rutgers school record for the second-straight year with a net punt of 41.5 yards. That included 33 fair catches with no return on 56-of-76 attempts. In addition, Korsak downed 31 inside the 20, 18 inside the 10 and nine inside the 5 with only two touchbacks.
"I think he's outstanding," Scheier said. "He's got a multitude of kicks that he can execute. Great with ball placement, great with operation time, he's got a great feel and I know he's going to be a weapon. It's that team mentality, that complimentary football of what can the punt team do to help the defense out? Number one, we want to flip the field and number two, we want to limit return opportunities. And then the last thing, and he's pretty proficient at it, if we happen to stall near midfield, our ability to execute and pooch punt will allow our defense to defend 90-plus yards.
"I think he's tremendous in that phase of the punt game and that's going to be critical as we create that domino effect of great play on special teams. It leads to better field position for that side of the ball, leads to the next possession being a positive one for Rutgers. He's outstanding and I'm excited to work with him. I know he's going to help our team."
Along the same lines with Davidovicz, who is 20-for-26 in his career on field goal attempts with a long of 52, and Taylor, a veteran of 36 consecutive games, Scheier is focused on building trust and confidence.
"Billy Taylor is a great leader on our team," Scheier said. "He gets after it in the weight room. He's obviously good at what he does, he's confident. And Justin is a really talented kicker. Over time, the relationship I build with him, which I think is one of things I hang my hat on in 20-plus years as a special teams coordinator working with kickers, is developing the mental side of it. That's starts with developing a strong relationship with him. That leads to trust. And when he walks onto the field knowing that I trust him, it's a different sense of confidence he approaches that kick with. I'm fired up to work with those three guys. They're battle-tested in the Big Ten, and I think they'll be real leaders in our special teams phase."
The impact of special teams, however, does spread across the roster. With each unit from kickoff return to punt coverage having specific responsibilities and goals, it is the coaches' jobs to position the best players to each role. That could mean playing starters or walk-ons depending on the needs, all with a shared belief and understanding of how special teams can affect a game, a staple of Rutgers football.
"I know it's a philosophy of coach Schiano's and one that I'm very much aligned with to have our best players out there," Scheier said. "I also know it's the philosophy of coach Schiano to play a lot of players, which I think serves a lot of purposes. It allows you to play all the talent on the roster on special teams. It allows more guys to have a role and to get involved and feel like they're contributing not only during the practice week but on game day. There will be starters on all the special teams and there will also be backups and walk-ons on all the special teams. Guys that embrace that role, buy in and provide meaningful snaps for us in the special teams game."
The aggressive nature is a shared viewpoint for Schiano and his new special teams coordinator Adam Scheier.
"During his first tenure here I was coaching locally in eastern Pennsylvania (at Lehigh), so I'm well aware of what his philosophy is and what the tradition of special teams under coach Schiano at Rutgers has been," Scheier said in a recent WebEx with the media. "We're very much in sync in that regard. It's always been my approach and my philosophy to be smart but definitely to be aggressive. We understand that special teams can be a game-changing factor not only in creating huge momentum swings with blocked kicks, huge returns, touchdowns, but also just controlling the field position and how that positively impacts the success of your offense and defense."
A native of The Bronx, New York, with an Ivy League degree from Dartmouth, Scheier brings 24 years of collegiate coaching experience into 2020, including the last 20 working specifically with special teams. He has spent time in four Power Five conferences with previous stops at Mississippi State (SEC), Texas Tech (Big 12), Ohio State (Big Ten) and Wake Forest (ACC).
"Adam is an accomplished, veteran special teams coach who will be a great asset to our coaching staff," Schiano said. "In our time working together, I saw how passionate Adam is about teaching and mentoring young men."
While at Wake Forest, Scheier overlapped with Schiano, who had visited as a consultant, to discuss the art of special teams. Then in 2017, the two were on the same Ohio State staff that won the Big Ten and claimed the Cotton Bowl.
"He served as a resource and a mentor to me that year when I was heavily involved with special teams with coach (Urban) Meyer and coach Schiano and coach (Bob) Fraser and the rest of the staff at Ohio State," Scheier recalled. "I think we just developed a little bit of a connection. He was really great to me and my family when they came up to visit in Columbus and I guess that is how the process started."
While building the staff at Rutgers, Schiano has heavily drawn on past connections. That led to Scheier being hired.
"When you look at his staff, it is either guys that have worked for him or played for him or guys that he has developed some kind of working or personal connection with, and I think the relationship aspect of what we are doing as coaches is really critical," Scheier said. "And I think he saw something in me, even with the role I was in at Ohio State as a quality control coach, just saw the way I connected with the players and how I engaged the players and felt that would be valuable with this staff as he moved forward here at Rutgers."
As Scheier works to build relationships with the players on the current roster, he has a core of specialists with multiple seasons of game experience in kicker Justin Davidovicz, punter Adam Korsak and long snapper Billy Taylor.
"I think it's a bonus coming into a program with upperclass returnees at the specialist positions, kicker, punter and long snapper," Scheier said. "Those guys have been great. They've got experience. It's my job to build a relationship with them, continue to develop trust and trust will lead to confidence and to get them to play at a higher level."
Korsak was a 2019 national semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award and selected All-Big Ten by the coaches (second team) and media (third team). The Aussie led the Big Ten, ranked 15th nationally and reset the Rutgers school record for the second-straight year with a net punt of 41.5 yards. That included 33 fair catches with no return on 56-of-76 attempts. In addition, Korsak downed 31 inside the 20, 18 inside the 10 and nine inside the 5 with only two touchbacks.
"I think he's outstanding," Scheier said. "He's got a multitude of kicks that he can execute. Great with ball placement, great with operation time, he's got a great feel and I know he's going to be a weapon. It's that team mentality, that complimentary football of what can the punt team do to help the defense out? Number one, we want to flip the field and number two, we want to limit return opportunities. And then the last thing, and he's pretty proficient at it, if we happen to stall near midfield, our ability to execute and pooch punt will allow our defense to defend 90-plus yards.
"I think he's tremendous in that phase of the punt game and that's going to be critical as we create that domino effect of great play on special teams. It leads to better field position for that side of the ball, leads to the next possession being a positive one for Rutgers. He's outstanding and I'm excited to work with him. I know he's going to help our team."
Along the same lines with Davidovicz, who is 20-for-26 in his career on field goal attempts with a long of 52, and Taylor, a veteran of 36 consecutive games, Scheier is focused on building trust and confidence.
"Billy Taylor is a great leader on our team," Scheier said. "He gets after it in the weight room. He's obviously good at what he does, he's confident. And Justin is a really talented kicker. Over time, the relationship I build with him, which I think is one of things I hang my hat on in 20-plus years as a special teams coordinator working with kickers, is developing the mental side of it. That's starts with developing a strong relationship with him. That leads to trust. And when he walks onto the field knowing that I trust him, it's a different sense of confidence he approaches that kick with. I'm fired up to work with those three guys. They're battle-tested in the Big Ten, and I think they'll be real leaders in our special teams phase."
The impact of special teams, however, does spread across the roster. With each unit from kickoff return to punt coverage having specific responsibilities and goals, it is the coaches' jobs to position the best players to each role. That could mean playing starters or walk-ons depending on the needs, all with a shared belief and understanding of how special teams can affect a game, a staple of Rutgers football.
"I know it's a philosophy of coach Schiano's and one that I'm very much aligned with to have our best players out there," Scheier said. "I also know it's the philosophy of coach Schiano to play a lot of players, which I think serves a lot of purposes. It allows you to play all the talent on the roster on special teams. It allows more guys to have a role and to get involved and feel like they're contributing not only during the practice week but on game day. There will be starters on all the special teams and there will also be backups and walk-ons on all the special teams. Guys that embrace that role, buy in and provide meaningful snaps for us in the special teams game."
- June 8: Sean Gleeson: Fast, Physical, The Ball
- May 26: Robb Smith: Stop the Run, Eliminate Big Plays, Create Takeaways
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