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One of the top quarterbacks in the northeast for the class of 2023 visited Rutgers football on Saturday. And while it wasn’t a good day for the Scarlet Knights on either side of the ball, William ‘Pop’ Watson sees the program on the rise and building a foundation.
He also sees a potential good fit with Rutgers.
The three-star quarterback from Springfield, MA holds eight offers including Arizona, Boston College, Michigan, and Oregon among others. He does not yet have an offer from Rutgers but he said the relationship he’s building with the program is developing. He noted the time he spent with head coach Greg Schiano, offensive coordinator Sean Gleeson after the game as well as the connection with assistant director of recruiting Matt Hewitt.
“The visit was great and the head coach, even after a tough loss to a great program, took time to talk to all the recruits. That meant a lot to me and he understands he’s building a program back up,” Watson told ‘Rutgers Wire’ on Saturday night.
“I met coach Gleeson and we had a nice conversation about how we both are from the New England area so I’m looking forward to building a relationship with him and Hewitt as well.”
Rutgers was on the wrong side of a 52-3 loss to Wisconsin on Saturday. The game underscored the need for Rutgers to simply get better and bigger on both sides of the ball. The 2021 class is progressing nicely and the highly-rated 2022 recruiting class is supposed to be a turning point in the program’s development. But the depth and lack of difference makers were seen against Wisconsin.
Watson isn’t overreacting to the loss, understanding that the vision for Rutgers from coach Schiano, if it is going to take hold, will need some time. Growing pains are to be expected.
“I understand what they’re doing,” Watson said.
“I’m just looking at the offense and how the coaching staff handles themselves through adversity and I liked that they didn’t point fingers – they all came together and just kept playing.”
As far as the recruiting process, Watson doesn’t have any favorites yet. He said that right now, ACC program Pittsburgh is recruiting him the hardest.