The strength of the Rutgers football roster last year and likely for this season is projected to be their secondary. And a big part of that boils down to accountability.
So says cornerbacks coach Mark Orphey, now in his second season with Rutgers football. Orphey’s group is probably, on a player-by-player basis, the most talented two-deep of any position on the roster.
But what is most encouraging for Orphey is that the cornerbacks are not content with their strong overall performance last season. This spring, he said that the group is doing a good job of holding each other to a high standard.
“The biggest thing that stands out to me? They’re holding each other accountable. When they make a mistake on the field field, I hear them on the sideline, in the other corner coaching them up,” Orphey told reporters on Thursday.
“As you do that, you start to build a culture, you’re taking the right step as a team. I think that is something that we did last year that we’ve been doing a good job, especially with the young kids that we have.”
Orphey came to Rutgers from Alabama, where he was a defensive assistant for the Crimson Tide. His previous stop was Utah State, where he was the secondary coach.
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He played his college football at Texas Southern where he was twice named All-Southwestern Athletic Conference.
“The thing about this place is it’s a tough place. The thing I love about here than any other place I’ve been is these kids come to work every day and they work hard,” Orphey told reporters,” Orphey said.
“It’s hard to go to Rutgers, play football and go to school here and the fact that these kids wake up and do it every do, that’s what motivates me as a coach every day to wake up and come and give these kids all I got.”
The secondary is losing some strong talent to graduation and the NFL draft. Coaching up the talent in the group is a major priority for Orphey.
“We just got to play together, play in sync. Obviously, we’ve got some holes to fill so we’re just kind of working through that. We’re making progress – we’re nowhere near where we need to be,” Orphey said.
“But as you know, that’s why we have spring ball, you have fall camp. We’re still trying to figure some things figured out. Hopefully by the time we get to September, we got it figured out.”