Tag: Rutgers Athletics

Gov. Phil Murphy talks Rutgers athletic facilities, the Big Ten and Greg Schiano

New Jersey governor Phil Murphy discusses Rutgers athletics and the need for facilities in the Big Ten.

It has been an unprecedented year for Rutgers athletics, ranging from the return of the football team to a bowl game to consecutive NCAA Tournaments for men’s basketball and the success of field hockey, women’s soccer and both lacrosse programs as well as wrestling (not to mention baseball’s current run).

And the question now becomes given the success of Rutgers athletics over the past two years, what exactly is the ceiling for the different programs, especially in the ultra-competitive Big Ten?

When Rutgers entered the Big Ten in 2014, it faced a deficiency in terms of facilities and infrastructure. That much is clear and obvious.

But now with everything from the Rodkin Academic Success Center (an initiative from athletic director Pat Hobbs) to the new training facility for the soccer teams (see Hobbs, Pat) to naming rights for the basketball arena (again, Hobbs) to the facility for the basketball programs (Hobbs yet again) and the proposed football facility (Hobbs…Hobbs…Hobbs…), Rutgers is gaining traction in terms of the arms race to be competitive in the Big Ten.

[lawrence-related id=15797]

It is something not lost on New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who told RutgersWire last week that the need to be competitive in the Big Ten is both academic and athletic when it comes to infrastructure.

“Absolutely and by the way, it’s not an either-or with a Rutgers,” Murphy said last week in an interview.

“If you’re a Big Ten university, you can and probably must be both a great research institution of higher education and you have to be competitive as it relates to your sports presence and all the stuff that goes into making those presences competitive.”

There is also talks of upgrading the baseball facility, something that Hobbs hinted at recently in an interview with the Big Ten Network.

Murphy also spoke about the importance of having Greg Schiano back as head coach of Rutgers football. Now in his third season back with the Scarlet Knights, Schiano has back-to-back recruiting classes that are highly ranked and has pieced together improvement in each year with the program.

[lawrence-related id=15814]

In the process of bringing Schiano back, Murphy was instrumental in the process of recruiting the man who once resurrected the program from the ash heap of college football. Schiano is now charged with the same objective yet again to rebuild Rutgers football from the Ash heap.

“It’s a big deal. And I think most of the great moments for that football program are before us,” Murphy told ‘Rutgers Wire’ last week about the direction of the football team under Schiano.

“Coach Schiano is a game-changer. He’s one of the best recruiters in sports. He’s put together a heck of a staff. They’ll win more games this year than they win last year and they won last year more games than they did before. I think it’s on a great trajectory.”

[mm-video type=playlist id=01fc3gzhz7qrm49z6q player_id=none image=https://rutgerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Greg Schiano reacts to AD Pat Hobbs’ new extension: ‘he’s done a great job’

Rutgers football head coach Greg Schiano was excited about the news of athletic director Patt Hobbs getting an extension.

On Friday afternoon, Rutgers announced that Patt Hobbs will get a six-year extension as athletic director. It is an extension that is certainly deserved by Hobbs, who has overseen a highly successful rise of the athletic department in recent years within the Big Ten.

It was news about Hobbs that football head coach Greg Schiano greeted on Friday night. There is no doubt that Hobbs has made a dramatic turnaround of the athletic department at Rutgers.

This past year, field hockey won the Big Ten Tournament, women’s soccer won the conference regular season, men’s basketball made consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since 1976 and both lacrosse programs are nationally ranked. Plus, football made a bowl game for the first time since 2014 and baseball is competing for a Big Ten regular season title.

[lawrence-related id=15578]

Schiano, who casts a giant shadow across the athletic department, the university as a whole and the entire state, was pleased with the extension for Hobbs.

“I think it’s great. I think continuity here with people that work well together, you know, Pat’s been here I don’t know how many years now, but he’s done a great job and I think he’s got all our — you just look what’s happening with baseball, both lacrosses, what happened with basketball, and I know I’ll leave somebody out if I start mentioning everybody,” Schiano was asked following the spring game.

“But you look at the Rutgers athletic department, it’s going like this (Schiano moves hand up) and the leader of that department is Pat. I’m very happy for him. He deserves it. What we need to do is get this operation cooking because this is the one that, as we know, can really push everything up even faster.”

[lawrence-related id=15565]

There is a sense of momentum around the football team. The class of 2023 was a top 30 class in the national recruiting rankings. And football’s 5-8 record represented the most wins for the program since joining the Big Ten in 2014.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01fc3gzhz7qrm49z6q player_id=none image=https://rutgerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Rutgers athletics director Pat Hobbs gets a new contract

Patt Hobbs, athletic director at Rutgers, gets a contract extension.

Pat Hobbs has overseen the most successful six seasons of athletics in Rutgers history. And now, he will get another six years.

The Rutgers athletic director signed a new contract that will keep him with the Scarlet Knights through 2028.

“I want to thank President Holloway, the Board of Governors and the Board of Trustees,” Hobbs said in a statement.

“Our coaches, student-athletes and staff are dedicated, hardworking and passionate about being Scarlet Knights. I consider myself fortunate to serve as Athletic Director at a great university, with a team that is committed to the pursuit of excellence, and I look forward to continuing to join them in writing the greatest chapter in Rutgers history. What they have been able to achieve over the past six years personifies Jersey grit. Rutgers has the biggest upside of any program in the country, and I wouldn’t want to do this anywhere else.”

This has been a tremendous year for Rutgers athletics, including the women’s soccer team making a run to the Final Four and winning the Big Ten regular season. Field hockey won the Big Ten Tournament Championship, men’s basketball made consecutive NCAA Tournaments for the first time since 1976, wrestling continued to do well, baseball is ranked and both lacrosse programs are ranked.

[lawrence-related id=15565]

And football made the Gator Bowl, making a postseason appearance for the first time since 2014.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01fc3gzhz7qrm49z6q player_id=none image=https://rutgerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Jersey Mike’s Arena now home to Rutgers basketball, volleyball and wrestling

Rutgers Athletic Center is now the Jersey Mike’s Arena.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01fc3gzhz7qrm49z6q player_id=none image=https://rutgerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Rutgers will be hoping to take a bite out of opponents in upcoming years at Jersey Mike’s Arena. The iconic Rutgers Athletic Center (RAC) now has a fitting new name that is certainly worthy of the Garden State.

On Wednesday, Rutgers athletics announced the new naming rights for the facility that houses several athletic programs. Jersey Mike’s Arena is the home to both the men’s and women’s basketball teams, women’s volleyball and wrestling.

“Jersey Mike’s is the perfect partner for Rutgers Athletics,” Rutgers director of athletics Pat Hobbs said in a statement released by his department.

“Our New Jersey brand extends beyond our borders; it is a state of mind that speaks to our core values of grit and the pursuit of excellence. Jersey Mike’s is an organization also engaged in the relentless pursuit of excellence, so what better partner for the State University of New Jersey?”

 

Jersey Mike’s has grown from a single sandwich shop in Point Pleasant, N.J. into an operation with over 2,000 stores nationally. They will receive prominent signage and placement throughout the facility.

This is the first-ever naming rights in the history of the RAC.

“Rutgers University is a home state neighbor that shares our values of excellence and community involvement,” Jersey Mike’s founder and CEO Peter Cancro said in the same statement. “Jersey Mike’s is proud to partner with Rutgers Athletics and celebrate the school’s many dedicated student-athletes and their fans.”

News of the original naming rights deal between Jersey Mike’s and Rutgers was first broken in early October by Jerry Carino.

How ‘The Scarlet Spotlight’ has become a must-listen for Rutgers sports fans

In just under four years, ‘The Scarlet Spotlight’ has become a must-listen for Rutgers fans.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01fc3gzhz7qrm49z6q player_id=none image=https://rutgerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

The conversation started four years ago between Jon Newman and Danny Breslauer about the need for a podcast that centered on Rutgers athletics. Fast forward to this fall and ‘The Scarlet Spotlight’ has just reached 100,000 downloads and has become a must-listen for hardcore fans of Rutgers athletics.

Newman and Breslauer, not surprisingly, share a deep passion for all things Rutgers sports. In the 1980s, Newman served as the sports director for WRSU, the student-run radio station on campus. Breslauer held the same post 25 years later.

They originally got to connect on what is now known as ‘RVision,’ helping to turn the athletic department’s online channel for sports content into an app (Breslauer served as one of the voices of the channel as a play-by-play broadcaster). They stayed in touch after their ‘RVision’ project and began to discuss the void in the podcast space regarding Rutgers sports.

It was a bit of a dark time for Rutgers athletics, with the expected bumps and bruises of the athletic department’s transition to the Big Ten.

“At that time there were one or two others doing a Rutgers-centric podcast but none focused on guest interviews. We wanted our listeners to get to know and hear from the Rutgers athletes, coaches and administrators past, present and future,” Newman said.

“Over the years we think we have captured not only the growing success of the department and its twists and turns during that growth but also reminded folks of some of the Rutgers history they either have forgotten or might not have been reported.

Of course, this is a labor of love, although they have landed a sponsorship deal with the New Brunswick Development Corporation. By day, Newman runs The Hodges Partnership, a public relations firm based in Richmond, VA (and is named after a former baseball player, the late Gil Hodges). Breslauer maintains his work in the media with a role in content partnerships for iNDEMAND, a distributor of content to cable companies.

Not surprisingly, the top downloads for ‘The Scarlet Spotlight’ have included episodes with head football coach Greg Schiano as well as former athletic director Bob Mulcahy. Each has gone past the 2,000 download mark.

 

By design, the bi-weekly show is more than just the high-profile sports and guests. Newman and Breslauer mine into Rutgers athletics and talk a heavy dose of the Olympic sports. This fall, there is a lot to be excited about for the Scarlet Knights with No. 3 field hockey being among the top teams in the country and women’s soccer just capturing the athletic department’s first-ever Big Ten title.

“We definitely want to educate and entertain with the main focus being on the guest. In some cases, we’ve broken news and in others, guests have told stories about games or events that they’ve never shared before,” Newman said.

“Listeners have told us they really appreciate hearing directly from key figures in the history of Rutgers Athletics and we plan on continuing to do that.”