Everything Rutgers Football HC Greg Schiano said ahead of Washington game week
Rutgers Football head coach Greg Schiano met with the media again today as the Scarlet Knights prep for the upcoming game against the Washington Huskies this upcoming Friday night inside of Husky Stadium.
Full Press Conference Transcript
Thanks for adjusting here on the fly with the Friday game. So I’ll try to just get right to any questions you guys may have.
What’s this week like obviously on a short week, long travel? I guess, what are the challenges that come with it and how do you prepare for it?
GREG SCHIANO: “It’s not really a short week for us because we’re coming off a bye, so we could adjust it any way we wanted. The travel is significant though, yeah, it’s every bit of five and a half, six hour flight out there. But we have a plan, we’ve spent a lot of time doing this at every level. And to me, it’s rather than going to Bridgewater, we’re going to Seattle.
It’s just a plane in between the bus rides. Other than obviously getting healthy this week, what was the staff’s primary focus throughout the bye? Fundamental development for the first part, just incremental improvement, small incremental improvement. And then as you get into game plan work at the end of the week and the beginning of this week, now it’s about getting ready for a football game against a really good team.
Washington has proven they have really good personnel, they’re well coached. And certainly gonna be a huge challenge, they don’t lose much out there in their home stadium. So it’s got a big, huge challenge.”
Did you come out of the bye week making any major changes defensively, play calling, who plays, any thoughts.
GREG SCHIANO: “Yeah, no, there’s no major changes other than we tried to really work on fundamentals, get better at doing the things that we haven’t done as well as we need to, and enhancing the things that we have done well, yeah. DeMond Williams, a sophomore, hasn’t had that much game film on him. But in the film that you’ve seen, what have you seen that makes him a dynamic player? He’s incredibly talented.
He can run, he can throw, he can do everything. He’s one of the most dynamic quarterbacks that I’ve seen in a long time. Reminds me a little bit of the kid from Kansas State.
But literally, a younger version, but one that is performing at a very high level. You just look at how he takes care of the football. Most young quarterbacks can’t do that.
He’s, Coach Fisch is an excellent quarterback coach, and an excellent offensive background. So I’m sure that’s a huge part of his progress. He’s got a good staff, and they seem to really be cooking on offense right now.
The bye week is a chance to rest up, but also mentally, not just physically.”
Jai Patel, was this a good week for him to kind of get back to fundamentals and kind of work through some things?
GREG SCHIANO: “I really think he got back to it after the one that got blocked at Minnesota. I think, literally, he and I just had a little meeting on the field.
And I told him what I thought he needed to do, and I thought he did it. And from that point forward, he’s kicked the ball like the old Jai. So in that game, the rest of that game, he did, and then in practice, he has.
So I think Jai’s fine.”
One of the players that came in after the spring game was Mo Giwa. What did you see from him on tape, and what’s his development been like?
GREG SCHIANO: “He’s had really good development. He’s a very, very talented big man. Now he’d been playing at a lower level, and hadn’t played a lot of football, period. So his upside is tremendous.
I’ve seen him get better and better each week here. He’s such a beautiful kid to be around, happy, smiling all the time. He’s really a fun guy to have in the program. Coach mentioned a huge athlete, yeah.”
Coach, last week, you talked about getting a lot of Rutgers on Rutgers work. In the bye, has there been any young players that have really stood out to you?
GREG SCHIANO: “I think the young linebackers. When you look at Kamar Archie, he’s done some really good things. DJ’s (McClary) done some good things. Some of the young defensive backs have done some good things.
The young wideouts, I think Cup (Sah’nye Degraffenreidt) has done a really good job, had a really good time. AJ, Sean Ashenfelder. There’s been a lot of guys that have done things that I’ve been impressed with.
Some young old linemen, Kenny Jones is coming on. Yeah, there’s some really promising young players. Chris Vigna, some young defensive linemen that I think are really promising. Obviously, Wydeek and RJ, but there’s more than just them. Definitely, guys that as we progress into this back half of the season, may even actually get to see some time. So, yeah, I’m encouraged, very.
When you watch Washington come back from 20 down in the fourth quarter against Maryland, what do you take away from that? And what do you tell the team when you see a team be able to be as explosive as they were towards the end of the game there? Well, I think more than even the explosive, Brian, is the fact that they kept fighting, right? You’re down 20 nothing. It was just as easy six hours away from home to say, it’s not our day. And they just kept fighting, and Maryland’s got a very good football team.
So what it tells me is Washington’s got a really good football team. And like I said, explosive at the running back position, one of the best running backs in the country. And his backup is a really good player too.
You’re talking about Jonah Coleman is really an explosive back. We saw him last year. He’s only gotten better. He is tough. He’s 220 pounds. I mean, we’re gonna have to bring every bit of our tackling to get this guy on the ground. And then his backup, I think his name’s Muhammad 24, he too is a huge son of a gun. And they use those guys like they’re the returner and off returner on kickoff. Jonah is one of the shields in their pun team.
They’re getting their maximum value out of those guys. But it’s just a really good football team. They’re well coached. Same things I probably said last year about them. They’re just a little bit better now. But really a talented football team.
And I have the utmost respect for how they run their program. They really do. They work at it.
You can see situational football. They’re a smart football team. They’re a talented football team.
So definitely a big challenge, but one that we’re thrilled and excited to be undertaking. It’s a bit staggered with the bye weekend Oregon coming here, but four road games in the span of five games, essentially, between Minnesota this weekend and the two after. Is that a challenge for you guys to having to constantly be on the road and not really having?
GREG SCHIANO: “Don’t even think about it.All that stuff’s done in the off season. We make all the plans. And now it’s executing the plan.
The reality is nobody cares, doesn’t matter. What we need to do is either get on a bus and go to Bridgewater, or get on a bus, go to the airport, get on another bus and go to some other hotel. Other than that, football’s football.
Now, playing at home, definitely a home field advantage, absolutely. But that’s part of playing, right? Half or maybe just a little less than half your games are always gonna be on the road. And when you play in a league like the Big Ten, I haven’t been out to University of Washington since the year 2000.
But I remember how loud it gets. I remember it is a great place to play. One of the really beautiful, unique settings in all of college football with Lake, I think it’s Lake Rainier or whatever it is there, really a great setting.
And they have some crazy fans, man. They’re all about their dogs. So we gotta get ready.”
You talked last week about the need to consistently execute more. I guess after the bye week, what’s your confidence level that the players understand the message and what it’s gonna take to get to that point?
GREG SCHIANO: “Well, I think they understand. There’s that knowing and doing, right? That’s the greatest gap in life. Is knowing and then being able to do it, right? And when you have a group that’s come together, that’s kind of been put together with some guys from here, some guys from here. Look, it takes a little while to get that.
I’m hopeful that we’ve improved enough to go play good defense. We’ll know it when we see it, though. Again, as I tell the team, right? You have to just keep chopping because some of the greatest achievements are never achieved because people stop chopping.
They lay the ax down and say, it’s just not gonna happen. That’s not me. I know that if we just keep doing it, we will get better incrementally and eventually it’ll be good enough.
People hate to hear that. They go, that’s not what I wanna hear. Well, sorry, that’s who I am and that’s the way we run this program, so.
And literally, if that’s the way you live your life, you’re gonna have a pretty good life. Thanks, guys.”
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