Rutgers football is heading into the 2024 season on an upward trajectory coming off of its first winning season since 2014, where the Scarlet Knights finished with a 7-6 record and a Pinstripe Bowl win over Miami.
The Scarlet Knights have the benefit of continuity this season, as most of last year's starters with the option to leave chose to return to the program in 2024.
During his press conference at Big Ten Media Day in Indianapolis this morning, Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano told reporters why he feels this year's team is a culmination of the Scarlet Knights' player development since his return in 2019.
"We've been filling the pipeline since we've got there with quality young men [and] quality football players, and I believe now the pipeline is close to being full - although some of it is young still, we have an experienced group at the end of the pipeline," Schiano said. "We're going to have a lot of NFL players that come out of this season, and to me anytime we've had great teams come out of Rutgers, they've been made of NFL players."
One of those returnees is running back Kyle Monangai, who enters his fifth season at Rutgers as the reigning Big Ten rushing leader with 242 carries for 1,262 yards and eight touchdowns in 2023.
"What Kyle does best is he has an incredible patience to view, to watch, to wait - but when he makes the decision to go, he's a violent runner," Schiano said. "He's violent in the way he plays, he's violent with his feet and his legs, he doesn't stop."
Schiano believes Monangai's running style represents the Scarlet Knights' identity.
"The one thing that I love is to watch him run. I'd say 98 percent of the time he's falling forward - he's falling in the right direction. That's a little bit of what our identity of our football team is," Schiano said. "We're going to get knocked down, but let's make sure we're falling in the right direction and we get up quickly and get back at it."
Rutgers also returns most of its starters from a defense that had the No. 16-ranked total defense in FBS last season. Schiano highlighted the defense's returning experience, which includes starters such as cornerback Robert Longerbeam, linebackers Tyreem Powell and Mohamed Toure and edge rusher Aaron Lewis.
"I love our defense - these guys have been in the program now for four or five years," Schiano said. "We're a developmental program - and I know people say that, that's what we are. We take guys and we work really hard over a period of time and they get to be really good players."
Schiano also highlighted the continuity in Rutgers' coaching staff, as defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak enters his third season while offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca enters his second year with the program.
"Coach Joe Harasymiak, who is our defensive coordinator, has done a phenomenal job since he arrived. I think we have a great chemistry with the coaches and players - not only on the defensive side of the ball, but coach Ciarroccca and the offensive side of the ball as well," Schiano said. "I as a head coach have not ever been in a position where I feel this comfortable where our two coordinators lead those units. It allows me to do my job as the head coach."
For the first time, Rutgers will play in a new-look Big Ten conference following the addition of four former Pac-12 schools in Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington.
Schiano believes Rutgers is in a position to make an impact as the conference enters a new era.
"I don't try to hide from who we are or what we are. We've been playing football longer than anybody else on the planet, yet we haven't been playing at this level very long," Schiano said. "You go back to the mid-80s, where we really made the jump to major college football. [We're] relatively young, but it's time. It's time to get going, it's time to make a mark."
With the milestone of a winning season and a bowl victory having been accomplished last season, Schiano has his sights set on the next step.
"I didn't come out of retirement to go to a bowl game. I came out of retirement to win a championship at Rutgers," Schiano said. "Hopefully we'll do that."
