Here's the 'recipe for disaster' Rutgers football must avoid in NIL era
INDIANAPOLIS – Greg Schiano’s job has changed plenty since he returned as Rutgers football coach in 2019. Name, Image and Likeness has dictated much of that change. “It’s changed my job immensely,” Schiano said in an interview with local reporters ahead of Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday.
“I’ve also learned that if you don’t like it, really you have two choices: Either change it or change the way you think about it. So I’ve changed the way I think about it and I’ve changed the way I do my job, because that’s what necessary right now. " QB CALL: Why Greg Schiano named Gavin Wimsatt Rutgers starting quarterback The advent of NIL is something that has thrown ample upheaval into the college football world, influencing player movement, and in some (illegal) cases, the enticement of high school recruits to certain programs.
Schiano has continued to learn about NIL – it’s an ongoing process – but he knows just how it can impact his program. It’s all about retention. Schiano frequently says that Rutgers is a "developmental program," but the Scarlet Knights are trying to avoid situations where players develop with the Scarlet Knights, only to enter the transfer portal because of a higher NIL offer.
Some programs can overcome that easier than others. Rutgers isn't one of them. “That is the ultimate recipe for disaster for Rutgers," Schiano said.
"Really for anybody, but especially for Rutgers. ” There are two collectives that forge NIL opportunities for Rutgers athletes − the Knights of the Raritan and the Knight Society. Raising enough funds to compete with other collectives around the country is the challenge.
Schiano, who has long been a proponent of players being paid for their likeness, has so far been able to keep his roster intact. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to always be the case, or easy to accomplish. And for a program that emphasizes and requires development of players over time, that's an issue.
“I don’t think people truly understand when I say we’re a developmental program what it means,” Schiano said. “I think they say, ‘Oh, he’s pushing the results back. ’ No, I’m not pushing anything back.
That’s facts. When you bring in a 6-foot-5, 215-pound defensive end, he can’t play in the Big Ten right now. ” But that changes with development over time, working with director of sports performance Jay Butler and his staff, along with the team’s nutritional program – but also improving on the field.
“Now all of a sudden two, three years later he’s 265 pounds,” Schiano said. “Then when he’s a 22-year-old grown man, he’s 270 pounds. But you need time to develop him.
” Filling the program with players who are physically mature, developed and ready to compete at a high level in the Big Ten is the goal, while simultaneously bringing in recruits who are at the start of the process. “At some point, when the pipeline gets full, it starts coming out the other end,” Schiano said. “That’s when you start to win.
That’s how we did it the first time. That’s how we’re going to do it the second time. … Will we get some guys that are more closely ready to play like a Sam Brown? Yeah, you love that when you get them.
But a lot of programs we compete with in the Big Ten, the majority of their class are those players. That’s OK. ” Rutgers has to operate differently from Big Ten powerhouses like Ohio State, Michigan or Penn State, among others, to get on the road to sustained success.
Schiano embraces that difference for the Scarlet Knights. But making sure that he can keep the roster as intact as possible in the world of NIL will remain both the goal and challenge moving toward the future. "I say to our team all the time – yeah you’ve got to know who you’re playing, more importantly you’ve got to know who you are," Schiano said.
"I know who we are maybe better than anybody because I’ve done it for so many years at this place. That’s what developmental program means. " .