Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano hosted his game week press conference on Monday to answer some questions from the week before and preview the Scarlet Knights’ matchup against Miami (OH).
Schiano spent the first few minutes of the press conference giving praise to the Redhawks football program and head coach Chuck Martin. During this time, Schiano spoke very highly of the opposing team and particularly their defense. He mentioned that Miami (OH) has had several top 40 and top 20 defenses over the years
since Martin’s arrival. He also praised the defense’s performance last week against Wisconsin. One player on Miami (Oh)’s defense that Schiano mentioned in particular was linebacker Adam Trick. In their game against the Badgers, Trick had five solo tackles, two sacks, and one pass defended. According to Schiano, he is one of those players who you need to know where he is on the field at all times.
When the floor was opened up for questioning, Schiano gave some insight about why Dantae Chin was the starting left tackle last game and how he thought he performed. He mentioned that due to some injuries the offensive line sustained in training camp, Chin was moved over to left tackle, where he performed very well in practice and earned the start.
Schiano also touched on the loss of Doug Blue-Eli. He mentioned how it is a big loss for the defensive line from an experience point of view. He also shared some frustration over how the injury happened, but did not explain the exact situation in which it occurred.
“It’s kind of a silly way we lost him, which is frustrating. We can’t do that, right? Good teams know how to practice. I think we do a good job of that, but that was one of those instances that shouldn’t have happened.”
When asked about replacing Blue-Eli in the lineup, Schiano talked about the next man up mentality.
Schiano also talked about the similarities between Ohio quarterback Parker Navarro and Miami (OH) quarterback Dequan Finn. According to Schiano, both quarterbacks are extremely mobile with a big arm to go with it. Last week, Rutgers struggled to control both elements of Navarro’s game as he threw for 239 yards and three touchdowns, along with running for 93 yards and another touchdown. He mentioned how Navarro broke containment several times to make plays with his feet, and how that needs to be fixed before Rutgers takes the field to try and stop Finn, who has scored over 92 touchdowns at the Division one level.
To end the press conference, Schiano talked about the progress of defensive back Jacobie Henderson. He talked about how much he loves coaching him and how he wants him to become a leader on the team so that others can replicate his type of enthusiasm for the game, along with his work ethic when it comes to his preparation.
Listen to Schiano’s full press conference here!- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUFUi5JYhwQ
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