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Flood in the land of Schiano

February 8, 2012

By Alex Jankowski

Head Coach Kyle Flood is everything Rutgers was looking for, but he could still struggle to live up to his iconic predecessor.

Rutgers University Athletic Director Tim Pernetti last week made Kyle Flood the 29th head coach in school history, removing the interim title that Flood held for the five days after former coach Greg Schiano bolted for the NFL.

The appointment of Flood, who spent seven years under Schiano as an offensive line coach and assistant coach, comes as little surprise. His hire both kept the team's core of assistant coaches intact and shored up ties with the incoming recruiting class.

But was it the right call? Does Flood have what it takes to deliver what Schiano couldn't during his 11 years — a Big East Championship?

In selecting a head coach, Pernetti said he was searching for three things: continuity, core values and connections.

“Somebody who believed in the core values of this program was a big piece of the criteria," he said at the press conference announcing Flood's hiring. "Relationships in the state of Rutgers, the Tri‑state area, in recruiting, [were also] a critical part of the criteria.”

Flood fit each marker on that list. After seven years within the program, the continuity and belief in the system were there. Flood’s ability to connect with recruits and their coaches across the Northeast had also been well documented. And those attributes produced encouraging early returns. After his hiring, nearly all of the verbally committed recruits stuck with Rutgers on Signing Day, forming a class that featured five of The Star-Ledger's top 10 players in New Jersey and 10 of the paper's top 25.

This was a positive that couldn't be overlooked. Programs all over the country had these recruits on speed dial the moment the Schiano news broke, hoping to poach a few from the suddenly vulnerable program. That there was barely any movement, much less a mass exodus, was a testament to not only how well Flood recruits, but how well he gets his message across.

Now the question is whether he has the coaching ability, the expertise to manage in-game situations. Where did those on-field skills fall on Pernetti's list?

For years, Schiano was praised for his ability to motivate players and get recruits to buy into the program. But that didn't exactly translate to success. Schiano's teams often crumbled when it mattered most. 

After the biggest win in the program’s history — a 28-25 win over then-No. 3 Louisville to remain unbeaten in 2006 — the team lost two of its remaining three games to finish out of the running for a Big East Championship and BCS berth. The same could be said about this year. All the Scarlet Knights had to do was beat lowly UConn to clinch at least a share of its first conference title. They fell apart and lost, 40-22. 

Can Flood get Rutgers over that hump? And how will he measure up in the places where Schiano did excel?

A major reason why Rutgers went from 4-8 in 2010 to 9-4 in 2011 was that Schiano took over the defensive play calling. He got the team back to playing the physical and fast style of defensive that first put them on the map. With Schiano in Tampa, a major question mark heading into the season will be how this defense holds up without him.

So Flood inherits a team that, yes, has the most talent on the roster since that '06 season. Yet it also faces a must-win situation. Should West Virginia be granted early exit from the Big East and with Boise State still at least a year away from entry, it will be now or never for the Scarlet Knights.

Flood will have to win this season, and if he doesn’t, he won't have the leeway that Schiano enjoyed for more than a decade. Schiano resurrected the program, and with that came perpetual support from fans and the administration. Flood will not get that luxury.

Hiring Kyle Flood was the quick-fix solution the program needed at a crucial recruiting juncture. Whether he's the long-term solution for Rutgers football remains to be seen. But with heightened expectations, huge shoes to fill and a roster set to make a legitimate run at a BCS bowl game, we will likely find out soon enough.

Alex Jankowski is a freelance journalist currently living in Hartford, Conn. He can be reached on Twitter.



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