USC Big Ten Tour: Rutgers has a ‘first things first’ focus under Greg Schiano

.@KristianRDyer of @RutgersWire told us Schiano doesn’t think he can remake Rutgers overnight. He knows from experience.

The USC Big Ten Tour continues with a look at Rutgers football. We talked to Rutgers Wire editor Kristian Dyer to get a fuller feel for the challenges and opportunities in Piscataway, N.J.

One of the core themes which clearly emerged from our podcast conversation with Dyer is that Rutgers, under head coach Greg Schiano, is very self-aware. There are no delusions of grandeur in the program right now. There is a levelheaded grasp of the reality that Rutgers is not in position to make stratospheric gains and a dramatic leap in one season. It’s just not going to happen.

The Scarlet Knights are focused on modest improvement, reaching basic goals such as getting to a bowl game (going 6-6 this season), and gradually rebuilding their identity.

Dyer made the point that Schiano has inherited rock-bottom situations at Rutgers not once, but twice. His first tenure and his second tenure both began with the RU program in shambles. Schiano had to patiently build the first time; he knows he has to be similarly patient this time around as well.

Here’s the full conversation with Kristian Dyer of Rutgers Wire:

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