Rutgers Head Coach Greg Schiano opens Spring Practice: Press Conference

Rutgers Football spring ball kicked off on Thursday afternoon, with the team’s first practice of the 2026 season. Shortly after, Head Coach Greg Schiano spoke to the media for his spring football press conference opener.

Hear Schiano’s complete comments to the media embedded in this article, or on live replay on the The Knight Report YouTube Channel. Schiano spoke for roughly 15 minutes and addressed a range of questions, including how the program has responded to the new coaches, early quarterback battle thoughts and much more.

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Full Greg Schiano Presser Transcript

GREG SCHIANO: “Spring football is always an exciting time, right? You’ve got guys that maybe were in a background position the season before, and now are in the hunt for repetitions and in the hunt for a job.

It’s fun to see how they come out of the winter program. It’s a little different than it was in the past. Really, it’s been trending that way in that you get more time with your players, which is a good thing.

In the offseason, you can do more things with your players. And same thing in the summertime. Although spring football is hugely important, it’s not quite the level that it used to be.

We did something earlier on Tuesday. We have 53 newcomers on players. I think I’m right on that number. And we have a bunch of new coaches. So we kind of had a mock practice, so to speak. It counts as a practice, but we just wanted to make sure everybody got into the flow of how we do it. I thought today was excellent. It took a lot of things that we learned from the other day. It was good.

It was really good. So today is really like the first real practice, but they got a little taste of it earlier in the week and responded well. So I was very pleased with that. With so many new moving pieces, I thought it went really smoothly. So that’s good. Now we’ll have a great opportunity to get on the tape, and then tomorrow we’ll get right back at it.

So we get two back-to-back days, what I like, to start off. Kind of like a mini-camp of sorts to kind of immerse ourselves in it. And then we’ll get into a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday routine, so you guys know that.”

So what have you seen from the way that Dylan and AJ have kind of started to approach this competition with the starting quarterback job?

GREG SCHIANO: “Yeah, I think the whole quarterback room has been really good. You know, Kirk, you guys will get a chance to talk to Kirk. He’ll be able to give you more detail on it, but Kirk’s done this for a lot of years, and so have I, so nothing really gets you too shook up. These guys are working really hard.

They’re competing really hard, but they’re competing. Yes, they’re competing for a job, but they’re also really good teammates to each other, as well as Sean and the rest of them. And Sean is a great competitor. You may think there’s a two-man competition. Sean thinks it’s a three-man competition, and I love that. Look, it usually plays itself out.

Will it play itself out in this spring? I don’t know. If it doesn’t, that’s what summer training camp’s for. I’m not going to make anything happen. I’m going to let it happen, and it usually will happen if you give it time to happen.”

Coach, you brought in a new defensive staff. What’s kind of been the early impressions about that set of balls being handled?

GREG SCHIANO: “Yeah, very well. I’m very pleased with Travis. Coach Johansen is very organized, very detailed, leads the staff well, leads the players well, and all the assisting coaches that we brought in from the day they got here. It’s been a great connection with the kids, and I really am impressed with the way they’re working.

And we’re taking our time. We’re not trying to rush it. We’re not trying to have the defense installed by the middle of spring. It’s going to be a five-month approach to opening game, and it’ll take every second of it and then some, but that’s what we’re doing, and I like it.”

Coach, a couple of season-ending injuries last season, Doug Blue-Eli, Moses Walker, a couple other guys. Have they returned to practice, and what are they looking like?

GREG SCHIANO: “Yeah, everybody’s at different stages in their recovery. It’s never unilateral like everybody, but guys are doing certain things. Some guys are limited. Some guys are full go. Some guys are doing a mix of inside work and then outside work, but I’m pleased where we are. We didn’t have any major things happen in this off-season program, which is a positive. It’s a day-to-day thing.

You just keep working hard. You keep working smart, but everybody is healing. Everybody’s on schedule like we predicted, and as long as we can do that, we’ll be ready at each different marking in time where they’re supposed to be ready and back to full go.

That’s the goal, right, to make sure they’re back when we think they’re going to be back, because we build a plan over the whole course of the year, how they do things. It’s not week-to-week. It’s literally from January all the way through to opening game.

With Zaire going, Keshon Griffin, I know they’re applying for another year of eligibility. Where is their status, and just talk about what their return would be to them. Keyshawn has been cleared, so he is a go, right, and we’re still waiting on Zaire, but it’s legal for him to practice, and he’s participated in the entire winter program, and I’m hopeful that’ll happen soon.”

Why was it important for you guys to add a quarterback to the transfer pool this off-season, and what did you like about Dylan Lonergan? Did you identify him that made you want to bring him in?

GREG SCHIANO: “Yeah, you know, we looked at a ton of quarterbacks, right? I think why is it important? Well, we have A.J., who was in the number two role, who didn’t have a lot of experience, right, and we want to make sure that we bring in people that’ll make the whole level of the room rise. Who it is, that’s not important, right? Who it is, we’ve got to have one, and then we’ve got to have a backup that is ready to help, and if need be, go in there and do the job. That’s what competition’s about, and I think when you bring in good players, Dylan’s a good player that raises the whole level of the room.

But we looked at a bunch of them. I mean, you talk about every stone, you know, turned over every stone to find who we thought was the best fit for our program, and we found the guy we think is the best fit for our program, and A.J. and him are, like I said earlier to your question, they’re competing, but they’re working together. I think we’ve got a great quarterback room, and I know we’ve got a great quarterback coach, so it’s all going to work out. Just don’t know who yet.”

Greg, first full offseason was Spencer Brown running the strength and conditioning program. What’s kind of the major improvements that you’ve seen out of him in that room in general? Yeah, it is.

You’re right. Like, you know, probably unfortunately for Spencer and for our team, he got the job right before the summer program began, right? So he had to kind of change it on the fly. It had already been designed. Then in-season is in-season. There’s not a lot you can do. But I definitely see his stamp on our offseason program. You know, several things were changed. And I love his, you know, at the end of the day, it’s hard work, and it’s not why guys come here. You don’t come here to lift weights and to do physical training.

You come here to play football. It’s an integral part of playing football. But I think what Spencer has done is really captured the team, and he spends so much, he and his staff spend so much time with him.

It’s so critical that that guy is a leader that they want to follow, and he certainly has captured the team that way. So do I think it’s overnight? No, it’s not overnight. It’ll be a gradual progression, but I think, you know, we tested. We made really good improvements. So I’m excited where we’re headed. And, again, the biggest thing is, you know, you’ve got to be able to keep your team healthy, and that’s one thing that we’re working very hard on.

Offensive line has been a bit in flux. New position coach, some guys injured, some guys coming back from injury, and some newcomers. What have you seen from the early returns in terms of their acclimation, whether that’s to the program, coming back from injury, or the new coaching? Yeah, I’m really excited about the O-line.

I think Coach Turner is doing a great job. I know he is. I think the players have really taken to him. You know, I like the offensive line. I really think that we’ve got a chance to be good up front, and we have more depth than we’ve ever had. We have some young guys that need to ascend, and I think they’re going to. You know, we haven’t hit each other yet, right? So, you know, tomorrow we put some pads on and start hitting each other, and I’ll be able to give you a better answer probably in two weeks. But just watching what they do and how they’re doing it, the level of detail, the level of execution, I’m pleased with. And you’ve got to remember, we’ve got some veteran guys in there too, right? So some veterans and then some newcomers, which that’s, to me, that’s football.

Whether it’s college football, pro football, you’re always going to have some new guys, and how you get them up to speed is really the key to how successful you’re going to be.”

Greg, you guys lost all three starting cornerbacks from last season. You brought in three via the transfer portal. You’re DB’s coach by trade. What are your early impressions of that group?

GREG SCHIANO: “I love the corner group. I think there’s a lot of talent there. There’s a lot of length. There’s a lot of speed. There’s not a lot of experience, right? So that’s one of the reasons we brought in some guys with experience.

But I think the competition, that may be the fiercest competition on the whole team because, like you said, there’s no returning starters. So have at it, right? I think Kevin Levy’s had an unbelievable offseason. I just want to see him keep going on that course.

I know I’ve said all along, Kevin’s a guy that we really believed was going to be a big-time player, and now’s his opportunity. But there’s a bunch of really some talented, talented guys that this is going to be a critical spring, summer, and training camp for them to get ready for the 26th season. There were also a lot of positions through the portal that didn’t add a wide receiver or tight end.”

Ian leaving and Kenny graduating. What do you see of those two positions, and is there still a chance you add people from those two positions in the portal?

GREG SCHIANO: “Well, we did add a tight end from Ball State, right? But he’s not practicing this spring because he’s recovering from an injury. But he’s a gigantic human that I think is athletic and I think can really help us, right? So will it be right away? I don’t know that.

Receiver, you know, we were very, very selective in who we would take a receiver. I think you’ve got to make sure when you look at your roster, where do you feel you have upward mobility with some of the younger players? And we felt like receiver was a room where there really was a lot of upward mobility. You know, we lost a receiver, right? So that was where we thought, all right, if we get a guy that really, really changes the room, we’ll do that.

And if not, we’ll go with what’s in the building because we really have a lot of confidence in what’s in the building. So that was kind of by design. It would have taken a really special player, and that didn’t happen.”

Staying on the receiver, you lost DT. How do you see that slot position playing out in the competition there?

GREG SCHIANO: “Well, it’s intense competition. There’s no doubt about it. DT was a really good player for us last year. So it begs Brian’s question. I do think, though, that we have guys. I’m not going to get into mention who’s who and why yet because we haven’t done it. I want to let them play it, and you guys will see it.

You’ll be at those scrimmages, and those are really the best measure. Practice is good. There’s no doubt about it. But when the lights come on and they’re out there by themselves performing, who’s going to do it? I believe there’s plenty of guys that will do it at the Big Ten level and really at a high level. We would have made it a mandatory, got to get a guy in here. It’s just I can’t tell you right now who. But I love the competition. They’re all good. There’s not one guy that I say, oh, he has no chance. They all got a chance, and let’s see how it plays out.”

KJ is one of the older guys in that room now. Have you seen him kind of helping out the younger guys like Dyzier Carter?

GREG SCHIANO: “I think KJ has made a huge step as a leader on our football team, not just the young receivers. The one thing that I always remind people of because people want to say, oh, he’s a great leader. On football teams, not only do you have to do the right things to be a leader, you got to produce. You got to make plays.

That’s who players want to follow. They want to be like you because you’re really good. KJ Duff really performed at a very high level in 25. Then he came back with a leadership mode about him. He’s really become a key leader on our football team kind of overnight. I love the way he is taking control.

One of the things when your quarterbacks are in a battle for the job, it’s hard for them to really go take control of the team because it’s not somebody’s team. I think KJ has stepped up in a big way. Kobe Asamoah stepped up in a big way and really taken on a leadership role.

I was anxious to see who would do it, and they’ve done it in a big way. Tyler Needham, same thing, jumped up. We talked about the O-line earlier, jumped up and did it. That’s what we needed. Once the quarterback battle gets settled, both those guys have tremendous leadership ability. Don’t get me wrong.

They’re leading when they’re in there, but they’re competing for a job, so it’s a little bit more difficult. But once we decide on one, both those guys and Sean as well, all three of them are excellent leaders, and they’ll add in to that. I kind of like the way that it’s ham and egg in there with KJ and some of the other offensive players. Defensively, I’m anxious to see who really steps up as a leader. It’s going to be interesting.”

In terms of depth and internal competition, do you feel like this team has the potential to be the strongest you’ve had since you came back in that regard?

GREG SCHIANO: “I do. Yeah, it’s a good question. I do. What does that mean? Is the top level going to be the top level? That’s all dependent. That’s why I said it is a from January to September with the kind of team that we have. Sometimes you have a bunch of returning starters, and you kind of just got to get them there.

That isn’t the case here. We have to see some things develop. But as far as just talent, yeah, there’s more talent in that building today than there’s been at any point since we’ve been back.

Just some of it’s a little young right now. But I’m excited about it, and I love this team’s got something about it. I’m excited about where we are right now, but you’re as good as your last practice, right? So the last practice was pretty good.

They worked their tail off. There was good leadership and spirit and all those things. Now we’ve got to turn around and do it again tomorrow real fast, and that’s an interesting test to see right there. To me, there’s a lot of tests right now, a lot of tests.

One thing, a staff update for you. Damiere Shaw is going. I told the team yesterday he is going to add a role to what he does. He’s our running backs coach, and he’s done an excellent job, right? If you look at the last three years, what our running backs have done. But he’s an important part of our program.

He’s going to be the associate offensive coordinator on our staff, and that’s a title that I think he deserves, and I think it’s important that you recognize, you know, when a guy’s on a trajectory like that. He had several Power Four offers to leave, as well as an NFL offer, opportunity. And, you know, he’s here because he believes in what we’re doing, and he’s an important cog into what we’re doing. So I want to make sure that I let you guys know that. All right. Again, guys, I appreciate you covering this spring.

You know, you’ll have a chance to talk to all the assistant coaches, which we do every spring, which is important to me that you get to know them. You’ll get a chance to talk to the players. I’ll kind of hit you up, I guess, once a week, Jimmy, as it’s set up, and kind of get you up to speed if there’s any big changes.

But if there’s something that happens during the week, I’ll make sure I get to you with it. But I appreciate, you know, good turnout, and I appreciate you guys covering our team. It means a lot. You guys know we’re in a big market. It’s not like we’re the only show in town. There’s a lot of things. So you guys covering the team helps us in our development as a program.”