Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano has made many claims that the Scarlet Knights are a “developmental program”, and for good reason. Over the years, Schiano and his company have taken lower-graded talent, even walk-ons, and turned them into capable starters at the college level. A few recent notable examples of this are offensive tackle Hollin Pierce (walk-on), wide receiver Christian Dremel (walk-on), cornerback Christian Braswell (two-star), safety Christian Izien (three-star), and running back Kyle
Monangai (a low three-star). Out of those five players, four have landed on NFL teams, largely due to their exceptional development in college.
That development has continued into 2025 and has paid dividends on offense last season. Players like KJ Duff, Antwan Raymond, Athan Kaliakmanis, and many of the offensive linemen looked better this season than last. In other words, their college development continued at a very solid pace through the offseason. However, that trend did not continue on the defensive side of the ball. In fact, many players regressed in some areas.
For example, many of the transfers Rutgers brought in were completely ineffective. There were questions on whether grabbing players from lower levels would help the Knights, since it is a large jump from the group of five to the Big Ten, but to be reduced to what they were just doesn’t make sense. Not only were players like Bradley Weaver, Jett Elad, Eric O’Neill, and Jacobie Henderson solid starters at the lower level, they were stars. Stars who should have been able to adjust to the Big Ten if given the proper guidance. If a few of the defensive portal additions didn’t adjust properly, that would be a different story. However, since none of them did, other than Elad and O’Neill to a very late and very limited degree, it becomes clear that they were not developed properly to compete at this level once they got here.
The examples continue with returning players as well. Linebacker Dariel Djabome was a star for Rutgers last season. Safety Kaj Sanders showed a lot of promise in his freshman season. Both of them took a step back this season under new position coaches. Players don’t just forget how to play football. Stars don’t just forget how to be stars. The development from last year to this year did not continue, and as a result, players regressed.
Many of the Rutgers faithful are disgruntled with the term “developmental program.” However, how much of that hostility has stemmed from the reality that this so-called developmental program did not develop much last season on defense? If the transfers were developed to be Big Ten-ready, and if the talent from last season on defense continued its progression, the term developmental program would seem more fitting. Perhaps it is not the notion of being a developmental program that’s the issue, but rather the execution of those claims.
Rutgers under Greg Schiano will always have the mindset of being a developmental program, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially for a program like Rutgers that can’t just recruit several five stars year in and year out. On offense this season, they showed that they can do just that. However, it is the several poor and inexperienced defensive coaching hires that the Knights have made that have made them deviate from actually developing the players on that side of the ball. If Rutgers football can make the appropriate coaching hires on defense this offseason, it should be able to get back on track towards becoming a better overall team.
