As was alluded to yesterday by head coach Greg Schiano, several of the assistant coaches on the Rutgers football staff will have press conferences with the media throughout the duration of spring training camp. This time, it was offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca’s turn to answer questions from the media.
He started the press conference by answering a question and explaining why he believed that Boston College transfer quarterback Dylan Lonergan could be a good fit for the program and why he wanted
to bring him in. Ciarrocca said that he believes Lonergan has the potential to grow into the system that they run and that he has the skillset to do so.
He then moved on to talking about how AJ Surace, Longeran’s competition for the starting quarterback job, is coming along in his development. According to Ciarrocca, Surace has had a really good winter, but he needs more reps, just like Lonergan, so he has experience to pull from when the season approaches.
Later in the press conference, Ciarrocca talked about his faith in the younger receivers in the room in filling the void left by Ian Strong and DT Sheffield. He stated that there was a conversation between himself, Schiano, and wide receivers coach Dave Brock in the off-season, where they decided that they were comfortable with where those younger talents would be in September of this year. He also mentioned how they planned to give more of the younger receivers in-game reps last season, but injuries to those guys prevented that.
The last question of the press conference had to do with the tight ends and who Ciarrocca feels will fill in the role of guys like Kenny Fletcher. While not naming a specific player, he did mention that several players in the room have an upside that they need to figure out how to take advantage of, but as for right now, everything is business as usual, and they will look to have an answer for that question at the end of the spring.
Here is a link to a recording of the full press conference by NJ.com/ The Rutgers Rant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgRDIdHO_Cc
