Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano hosted his game week press conference to preview the Rutgers matchup on the road at Purdue. Normally, these press conferences are held on Monday, but from now until the end
of the season, they will take place on Tuesday. Many speculate the move could be due to NIL-related meetings taking place on Monday, but that has not been confirmed.
Right off the bat, Schiano was asked what changes were being made on defense. While refusing to get into specifics in typical Schiano style, he did mention that many changes have been made.
“We’ve made some changes in a lot of ways, right? In personnel on the field, personnel off the field, adjusting responsibilities. Guys doing some different things, doing them differently. That’s one of the reasons why we moved this to Tuesday from now on.”
In a similar question later on, Schiano reiterated that no one had been fired from their staff, and if somebody had been, he would’ve made an official statement about it.
When Schiano was asked about why the safeties seem to be having the hardest time out of all the position groups, he took a long time to answer before saying, “Yeah, some of it is technique, some it, you know, we gotta put them in better positions to succeed. Um, yeah.”
Another question had to do with preparing for Purdue’s uncertain quarterback situation. The Boilermakers’ starting quarterback, Ryan Browne, left the last game with an injury, and it is expected that backup Malachi Singleton will be under center against the Scarlet Knights. In response, Schiano mentioned that they were already preparing for Singleton because Purdue runs a lot of sets with him, regardless of whether Browne is in the game or not.
When he was asked about how the freshmen will contribute going forward, Schiano mentioned that some of the freshmen are getting their feet underneath them and that he thinks they are in a position to help the team out. He also mentioned the team’s long injury list and how the younger players will have to start to contribute out of necessity.
To view the entire press conference, click here.
