On the Banks: FanShots

The elephant in the room

2012-02-04T22:37:58Z

The elephant in the room

This thread from the Grease Truck forum is very, very interesting with regards to the ongoing topic of the athletic subsidies. I have been thinking some similar thoughts, but did not think raising them publicly would go over all that well...

So credit ondeadline for that, and noticing that Bloomberg's story (which I've probably read ten or so times over the past few months) actually has a link to RU's 2010 revenues and expenses report. How the heck do I miss something like that? That is very, very interesting reading, although grouping all of the general athletic expenses together provides a frustrating lack of closure. However, if anyone does have a copy of the 2011 report, that would be a useful refutation of Killingsworth, et al.

Several other Rutgers assistants who remain on the school's staff, including offensive coordinator...

2012-02-04T22:00:44Z

Several other Rutgers assistants who remain on the school's staff, including offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti and defensive coordinator Bob Fraser, are expected to join the Bucs' staff by early next week.

Goodbye, Frank Cignetti. Thanks for begin a legitimate FBS offensive coordinator. Greg Schiano owes you a debt for making the offense halfway decent enough to get him a NFL job this year.

Guess that means the only rumored departure who might still be in the mix for Rutgers is Jeff Hafley. Who it would be nice to keep, but is not a necessity. (Don't forget, most of his NJ success at Pitt came after Joe Susan left Rutgers, and Schiano mistakenly thought he could get by without another NJ-focused recruiter.)

Schiano reportedly will interview Mark Whipple for the Tampa OC job, which might mean that:

1. Cignetti will only be QB coach.
2. Any rumors of bad blood between Schiano and Whipple were unfounded, or at least not bad enough to be overcome by professional opportunity.

In other news, another report has Kyle Flood talking with Rob Spence for the WR coach job. That would be fine, although Spence was not a good OC at Syracuse or Clemson. Spence is one of a number of DI assistants who were on staff with Flood at Hofstra and Delaware, including Dan Quinn, Dave Brock, Dave Cohen, Warren Ruggiero, Raheem Morris, Bryan Bossard, Paul Williams, and former Rutgers offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca. I'm going to put a few lists together soon, throwing together pretty much anyone with ties to the area.

P.J. Fleck leaves NIU after one day, and the assistant coaching carousel keeps spinning

2012-02-04T14:31:12Z

P.J. Fleck leaves NIU after one day, and the assistant coaching carousel keeps spinning

If you think Rutgers fans are coming off as jilted lovers, this won't make any fans in DeKalb for their former favorite son. If one is resigning from an offensive coordinator job after one day, it could mean that Fleck could not bare to leave New Jersey. It is just speculation though, however, more likely is the possibility that Tampa just found a new WR coach.

By the way, it was also announced yesterday that John McNulty was promoted to QB coach in Florida, which may explain Schiano's possible interest in rehiring Frank Cignetti.

Schiano's hiring practices may seem odd from a NFL perspective, but they are not unprecedented. Let's look at Joe Philbin's new staff in Miami.

OC: Mike Sherman (2011 Texas A&M HC, obviously has a NFL history as well.)
QB: Ken O'Keefe (2011 Iowa offensive coordinator)
Asst QB: Zac Taylor (2011 Texas A&M assistant)
OL: Jim Turner (2011 Texas A&M OL coach, and oddly enough, the guy who followed Kyle Flood at Delaware)
DL: Randy Melvin (spent 2011 in CFL after being fired by Greg Schiano, previously bounced back and forth between college in the NFL)
DB: Lou Anarumo (2011 Purdue DB coach, notable mainly for being their NJ recruiter.)

One story yesterday had Melvin going to the Dolphins, which at least was useful as a basis for comparison. Both Schiano and Philbin are experimenting with mostly college staffs.

But wait! There's more! Another story today says that Melvin is going to the Bucs, not the Dolphins. That could be a simple geography mixup, or, Schiano is really dead set on only hiring former Rutgers coaches in Tampa. I lean towards the former, if only because Schiano let Melvin go a year ago (although that may not have been entirely deserved.) If he was going to hire a DL coach, wouldn't he go for one of the best ones in the country in Gary Emanuel? Even though Emanuel reportedly left because he was sick of Schiano forcing the staff to work crazy hours?

Damian Wroblewski joining Rutgers as OL coach

2012-02-03T03:22:02Z

Damian Wroblewski joining Rutgers as OL coach

Kyle Flood promised yesterday to hire the best OL coach in the country for Rutgers, and that designation apparently refers to last year's OL coach at Delaware. Wroblewski was set to join Pete Lembo's staff at Ball State before this last second job offer materialized.

Meanwhile, rumors continue unabated, and Flood at minimum needs to hire two additional staffers. Surprisingly, he did work with a lot of future DI assistants at Hofstra and Delaware earlier in his career, although none have been linked to Rutgers thus far.

It is still early, but this will be a critical few days. Flood definitely needs to make a big splash or two to add additional credibility with the public and media.

The university said that diverting student fees would hurt Olympic sports and women’s basketball...

2012-02-01T23:08:52Z

The university said that diverting student fees would hurt Olympic sports and women’s basketball the most because they don’t generate money and rely almost entirely on the fees.

Vocal Rutgers faculty are at it again, but their spokesman Mark Killingsworth just goes to show how poorly critics understand this issue.

1. As the university said, football operates at a small loss (and seems likely to make a profit in 2012 given recent events.) Any cuts would have to come from Olympic sports. It's preposterous how they are criticizing football
2. The student fees aren't going to an incinerator. Students receive free tickets for athletic events.

Jevon Tyree gets his offer

2012-02-01T22:05:08Z

Jevon Tyree gets his offer

Rutgers made a late run at trying to pull Kye Morgan (who would have committed in a heartbeat months ago if RU had been willing to take him) from UVA. Morgan decided to stick with UVA, so Rutgers in turn offered another late scholarship to Jevon Tyree from South Brunswick. Tyree, a cousin of David Tyree, and former South Brunswick star Mohamed Sanu, quickly jumped on the offer to fill out the defensive backfield depth in this year's class.

Ian Thomas signs with Rutgers

2012-02-01T22:00:32Z

Ian Thomas signs with Rutgers

Rutgers already has three blue chip WRs signed for 2012 in Leonte Carroo, Ruhann Peele, and Carlton Agudosi. The last two aren't locks to qualify though, nor is athlete tweener Delon Stephenson. That could explain the decision to go after Thomas, who is a pretty good prospect in his own right. Either someone doesn't qualify, or Thomas and/or Stephenson end up on defense along with Davon Jacobs and Jevon Tyree.

P.J. Fleck returning to Northern Illinois as offensive coordinator

2012-02-01T21:58:33Z

P.J. Fleck returning to Northern Illinois as offensive coordinator

Football Scoop is reporting that Rutgers WR coach P.J. Fleck will return to his alma mater Northern Illinois as offensive coordinator. Fleck was a tremendous recruiter in the state of Florida, but could not do much there with Rutgers pulling back in recent years, and had started to shift more to Maryland. It's too bad to lose him, but that's the downside of having good assistants. Eventually, they start angling for a promotion. Now the onus is on Kyle Flood to find a good replacement.

That means Rutgers is officially looking for a WR coach, in addition to an OL coach to replace Flood. In theory they need a defensive coordinator to replace Greg Schiano too, but that ultimately depends on how the coaching staff reshuffling goes. Tom Luicci reported the other day that LB coach Bob Fraser, who has been very good at Rutgers, is interviewing in Tampa. Presumably, other assistants will look around too.

The key ones for recruiting are Hafley (DB - North Jersey), Angelichio (TE - Eastern PA), and Galiano (DL - South Jersey). Flood was responsible for NYC/Long Island, so that is another territory that Rutgers will look to cover in addition to Maryland and Florida. This site will work on putting together a few lists over the next few days.