PISCATAWAY, N.J. — One more year to play for his big brother. That’s what Rutgers football defensive end Aaron Lewis wanted when he decided that he will return next season for a final season of Big Ten football.
The older brother spoken of by Lewis does not have any blood ties to the All-Big Ten defensive end. Instead, it is a deep connection and line of trust that Lewis has formed with Rutgers defensive line coach Marquise Warson over the past two years.
And with Watson having been sidelined this past year due to health reasons, Lewis said he has felt the impact of being without a positional coach he not only respects but also loves.
Watson, who hasn’t coached at all this regular season, is very much a brotherly influence in Lewis’ life.
“Coach Watson’s like my brother – the brother I never really had. I gained a really really close relationship with him. He had a really close relationship with my mom before she passed,” Lewis said on Wednesday after practice.
“Obviously what happened was unfortunate and every day, we pray for his health and stuff like that.
“For me, myself, personally. I feel like that I depended a lot on coach Watson, you know? He gave corrections and stuff on the sideline; the way we worked and how we meshed as coach and the player was something different. So when that wasn’t there, I feel like I kind of was a little lost in a way.”
Lewis is coming off a solid season at Rutgers (46 total tackles, three sacks and two passes defended).
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But it wasn’t the huge step forward developmentally that he had hoped for, especially to further his NFL draft ambitions. Coming back another year, he said, will be very helpful in that regard.
“I feel like, weight-wise wise (and) obviously strength-wise, you know, I can get the final touches that I would like to do with my with my body and my strength,” Lewis said.
“But this last year, and you know, I just feel like you see some people on our team coming back, you know, having a chance to go one more time with the with brothers and the people you came in with – kind of drives you a little bit having that end success.”