What if Chris Partridge ended up at Rutgers

Asking the question "what if" is always a dangerous?

What if the Colts took Ryan Leaf over Peyton Manning?

What if the Blazers took Jordan over Bowie?

Over the last 18 months or so the one question that has been bothering me is: What if Rutgers had hired Paramus Catholic head coach Chris Partridge?

In January 2015, Kyle Flood had talked about offering Partridge a job on the Banks. As time went by something happen, we might never know, but the offer was withdrawn. Was it a troubled past or some type of ethics issues. The decision helped set off a chain of events that will forever changed the future of the program.

Flood lost his job and one of the best classes in the history of the state headed to different locations. Partridge ended up taking a position at Michigan and bringing most of the state's top players including Rashan Gary with him.

Would the likes of Jordan Fuller, Gary, and Ron Johnson spur offers from Ohio State and Michigan to stay in state and play for Flood and Partridge on the Banks. If that happened would Flood still be here roaming the sidelines with Partridge as his DC.

If this happened then Schiano would not be at Ohio State and we would never know what the Ash Era is. I'm not saying I'm against the Ash Era but sometimes its good to look at what might have happened.

The most important class ever

Since the start of the season, the 2015 Rutgers recruiting class has seen like a salad before a dinner at a fancy restaurant. While the salad is tasty it's not the main course you are looking for.

While the 2015 group is an interesting class it's not the main course. The 2016 class is the most important class in the history of the program plain and simple. The state is overflowing with national recruits and Rutgers has to get a bunch of them to be successful in the Big Ten. 

Fans are so obsessed with the Class of 2016 that web sites have been developed urging the states most talented players to play on the banks. Fans of taken to Twitter and created works of social media art  to urge the states best to stay home. 

The Rivals 250 for the 2016 class features 10 players from the Garden State. The top 10 players in the state have 4-star rankings. The states top 10 is comprised of five guys from private school and five from public schools. 

While fans are infatuated with the likes of Walker and Gray, the key to this class for the Scarlet Knights will be that next tier guy like: Johnson, Hawkins and Fuller (pictured below). 

If Rutgers can get five of the top ten in the state as well as either Guarantano or Haskins to play qb. This class would be a huge success and go down as one of the great classes in the history of the program. 

Ranking Rutgers Greatest Recruits

The commitment of 4-star defensive tackle Marques Ford got me to thinking, who are the best recruit that Rutgers got since the start of the Schiano/Flood era. Here are my 10 recruits that have pledge to play on the Banks. My rankings take into account several things including: who RU beat for their services, the player they became, and the impact that they have had on the program.

1. Anthony Davis, 2007, 4-star: Davis picked Rutgers over USC and Ohio State during the US All America game. To turn down those nationals powers and pick Rutgers on national TV was huge for this growing program.

2. Savon Huggins, 2011, 4-star: While it has not worked out on the field, Rutgers went to war with some of the powers in college football to get Huggins.

3. Darius Hamilton, 2012, 5-star: According to Rivals, he is the only 5-star to play at Rutgers over the last decade. Hamilton has been warrior on the defensive line and showed the player he was during the knights first year in the Big Ten.

4. Tom Savage, 2009, 4-star: The QB out of Philly was supposed to be the man who replaced Mike Teel, while it never happened, Savage found success at Pitt and now is with the Texans.

5. Scott Vallone, 2008, 4-star: Vallone was the type of player that showed the continued growth of the program. He was a lunch bucket type of player who have everything on every play.

6. Logan Ryan, 2009, 4-star

7. Leonte Carroo, 2012, 4-star

8. Khaseem Greene, 2008, 2-star

9. Brandon Coleman, 2010, 4-star

10. Gary Nova, 2010, 3-star:  

Not the greatest couple of days for RU

A season ticket hike and three of your top recruits de-committing, it has not been the best couple of days for the Scarlet Knights Nation. It all started on Sunday when four star wide reciever Adonis Jennings decided to decommit, then on Monday it was a triple shot of bad new, first a season ticket increase for fans and then a pair of four star recruits decided to take a walk in Kiy Hester (pictured above) and Lamont Simmons.

I can deal with the season ticket increase, better product is coming in the form of a better schedule.

As for the recruits, its very simple until the NCAA has an early signing period this is going to happen. While Simmons is the one that is  the least surprising, the other two are more concerning. 

Hester has been a leader in trying to get more kids to commit to Rutgers. While Jennings has been one of the longer committed kids in the class. Part of me wonders if these two want to just take visits and will get back in the boat heading the Big Ten. Neither of the two have said they have crossed Rutgers off their list, so there is hope 

Two years ago Kyle Flood was able to hold together a class when Greg Schiano bolted for the Bucs. Let's hope that Flood can do that with this class, if not questions are going to abound. 

One of the biggest recruits in program history: Blacknall commits to Rutgers

Rutgers might not be moving the Big 10 till next year, but it appears that its already paying off.

On Saturday Saeed Blacknall, a wr from Manalapan, committed to Rutgers. The best thing is that Rutgers beat national powers like LSU, Alabama, and Ohio State for the explosive four-star pass catcher. Its a great day to be Rutgers season ticket holder.

Greg Schiano had Anthony Davis, Blacknall is Kyle Flood's Davis. A highly recruited instate player that he was able to keep at RU.

National Signing Day: An Ode to the Fax Machine

Over the last couple of years as the use of email has become more and acceptable, the fax machine has been rendered useless. Sure most offices still have them, but the constant hum of them has been replaced for the most part by the bing of email in a person inbox. 

But on the National Signing Day, the fax machine takes its spot at the top of the technological chart. Recruits from all over the country will be sending their National Letters of Intent by fax to their schools. Without the fax machine recruits would have to FedEx their letters of intent and that would not be good for television. 

While the concept of fax machine has been around for nearly 70 years, it really gained in popularity during the 60's. A landmark year for fax machines was 1964, in which the Xerox Corporation introduced (and patented) what many consider to be the first commercialized version of the modern fax machine, under the name (LDX) or Long Distance Xerography. This model was superseded two years later with a unit that would truly set the standard for fax machines for years to come. Up until this point facsimile machines were very expensive and hard to operate. In 1966, Xerox released the Magnafax Telecopier, a smaller, 46-pound facsimile machine. This unit was far easier to operate and could be connected to any standard telephone line.

The use of fax machines is not without its negatives, early on National Signing Day FSU officials told ESPN that they were having issues with the fax machines. Lets hope that they got that fixed, so they can get their letter of in intent.

So as we get excited for the classes that our schools get, just remember that the real star of the day is the fax machines. This is one of the few days in the sun that this machines has, so lets respect it.

National Signing Day Giveaway

A National Signing Day giveaway at a liquor store, yes its happening. @birds60 send me this photo of a local liquor store that was offering car magnets to people who stopped by on National Signing Day. Now that is something new.

Social Media: a recruits worst nightmare

As National Signing Day has grown, so has the reach of the recruits. Social media has also increased that reach and also that danger. Social media pose risks for recruits from photos of co-eds to photos at bars. Social Media has really changed the recruiting landscape.

What is next for Rutgers?

Any Rutgers fan will tell you that Thursday night was tough. At the half I texted my wife and said "half way there'', little did I know that the second half would be full of heart break. Sure walking out of Rutgers Stadium was incredibly difficult on Thursday night and it took a couple of days to get over. Rather than rant about how terrible Gary Nova is or how limited the offensive plan was or how the defense was not good, I decided to take a couple a days and think about what happened and where they go from here.

First of all, Rutgers fans, like myself, have to realize what our pedigree is. Just a decade ago Rutgers went 1-11 and 0-7 in the Big East. During that season, the Scarlet Knights lost their opener to Villanova. If you would have told fans that a decade a later they would be dissappointed by sharing the Big East title, they would think that you had been on drugs. People have to understand that this program has little pedigree, and that it has has been developed since 2005, when they went 7-5. Let's face it we are not Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Michigan, or even Georgia. We're Mississippi State, a nice program that in the right year can win a conference title but traditionally will go 7-5 and go to a mid-tier bowl.

People are going to scream about Nova, I thought he was good on Thursday night. Sure the last pass is something that will be talked about for years to come, but who knows who fault that was. Next year, Nova should have the best offense he has ever had. Two good running backs, a good group of receivers and solid offensive line.

Let's look at it like this, the Knights are heading into the best bowl game in the history of the program. They have a share of their first conference title.

The future looks bright and I mean that. On Thursday night, 44 recruits made their officials visit and most of them had Rutgers near the top of their list and that is the very important. The next couple of classes will know the Rutgers program as a winning program and have no idea how bad things where.

While it hurts, all Rutgers fans should know the best (and the Big Ten) is yet to come.

Best place to find Jimmy and Joes

The debate always come up this time of year, what is the best recruiting area in the country for college football players. The Bleacher Report breaks down the 25 best recruiting hotbeds in College Football.

Lenny Cooke: The best that never was

He was supposed to be the first one, not an oversight. Lenny Cooke was supposed to be a superstar on the basketball court, now he is a has been. Famous New York Times reporter Harvey Araton takes a look what has happen to the form New York City start in his story : Lenny Cooke, From Star-to-Be to One Who Never Was. Amazing story.

Rutgers Signing Day Sprint

Sports Illustrated does a great job breaking down the chaos that surrounding Rutgers recruiting class. Signing day could have been a mess for Rutgers, but it turned out ok, according to Sports Illustrated.

Rutgers State Champs

A couple of years, the idea of Rutgers being crowned State champions of recruiting for New Jersey was a joke, but now it appears to be a reality. Recruiting service, 247Sports, crowned Rutgers the state champion of recruiting. 


According to the story, Rutgers got 10 of the top 32 prospects in the state. This was the sites verdict on Rutgers recruiting performance in the state: "Keeping Devin Fuller at home would have made the Scarlet Knights feel a lot better at their relative domicile domination. Still, they deserve credit for fending off the vultures amid their 11th-hour coaching change,'' the report stated. 


It's amazing how things have changed over the years. In 2005, Rutgers was able to get one of the top 30 players in the state to come to the State University of New Jersey. In 2008, Rutgers made progress securing commitments from seven of the top 30 prospects in the state. 


This year, Rutgers did a great job keeping the top prospects in state. Their success in state helped Rutgers get the top ranked class in the Big East.

Our Biggest loss, Our biggest gain

A week ago the Rutgers Football program had their biggest loss, when head coach Greg Schiano left for the Tampa Bay Bucs. Now they have their biggest gain as Don Bosco's 5-star defensive tackle Darius Hamilton commits to Rutgers earlier tonight.

The commitment has a chance to keep the class together and make this the best class in the history of the program.

Standing Up for Schiano

A week ago, I was exchanged tweets with JC Shurburtt, a recruiting guru for 247 sports, on Rutgers upcoming recruiting class. According to Shurburtt, Rutgers was set to make a huge recruiting splash on National Signing Day.

Fast forward to Thursday morning and that has all changed, as Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano made the jump to the NFL to go the Tampa Bay Bucs. Now people are going on message boards and screaming about Schiano's salary, his lack of Big East champions and his game day coaching skills, but I will be one of the few that comes to his defense as a loyal season ticket holder.

Before Schiano got here the Rutgers football was a complete dumpster fire. No one wanted any part of it, in state recruits never looked at going there and it was a joke to everyone. During his tenure at Rutgers, Schiano helped oversee a complete redesign of the school football facilities and make them some of the best in Big East and on the East Coast.

Sure Schiano left the school at the worst time possible time, six days before National Signing Day, but he has not left the school in a bad position. Rutgers is coming off a bowl win and a nine win season. The team has a ton of talent coming back and should be one of the best in the Big East and might find themselves in BCS Bowl at the end of it. If that happens much of the credit should go to Schiano after all it will be his players that took them there.

High School Football All Star Game Recap

The high school football All-Star season has ended. Over the course of the last two weeks, the OTWT Scouting Department has been watching the three majors national games that where played and making a list. Here are some of the players that we where impressed with during the games.


Semper Fidelis Bowl:

• DJ Foster, RB/DB, Arizona: He is a lock down corner who is very comfortable playing against the other team's fastest receiver, and he's very confident with a smooth backpedal and he can turn and run with the best of them. One of the nation's premier cover corners, he also showed great hands, burst, and displayed outstanding moves in the open field at WR.
• Jayodon Mickens, DB/RB, California: One of the more explosive ball players in Los Angeles. He shows the speed, quickness, hands and burst needed to become an impact WR at the next level.

Under Armour All American Game 

• Chad Kelly, QB, Buffalo (pictured above): The nephew of former Bills great Jim Kelly is headed to Clemson. In the skills challenge Kelly arm strong was really shown, he can make any throw out there. Will be a perfect fit in Chad Morris's Clemson offense. 
• Ifenndi Odenigbo, DE, Ohio: The one that got away, instead of picking Ohio State, Odenigbo will be headed to Northwestern. I can not remember the last time the Wildcats had an athlete like this on defense.

US Army All American Game 

• Cyler Miles, QB, Colorado (pictured right):  Miles is a dual-threat quarterback, but he uses his feet more as a weapon than a priority. He has a strong arm and can make all of the throws. Miles, who is heading to Washington next, will be the perfect replacement for Kevin Price in a couple of years. Miles will probably red shirt next years, which will help his development in the future
• TJ Yeldon:, RB, Alabama:Yeldon is an instinctive runner with excellent speed and acceleration. He has a great initial burst, which allows him to hit small windows and attack the defense. His balance and vision allow him to set up tacklers and break tackles. During the game the 'Bama recruit showed his athletic ability hurdling defenders not once but twice. For a larger back he is incredible athletic.

Sometimes getting a 5-star is not all its cracked up to be

In college football, getting 5-star recruits is the name of the game but sometimes it does not work out. Rivals.com took a look at the five years of 5-stars and the results are a mixed bag, for every superstar there is a bust. 

New Jersey HS Football Wants Respect

Players from New Jersey are out to prove that they produce some of the best players in the nation at the Army All-American Game. Players from the Garden State are out to prove they can compete with the best.

Open for Debate: Top 10 running backs in South Jersey history

A very interesting list of the top 10 running backs in S.J. history on comcast. As a person that lives in the area its great to see all of the great backs that have come out of the area.

Professional Tailgating: What's the name of this place

After a couple of months away, the OTWT Tailgating Crew returned to Rutgers for a football game, but many things have changed since we where there for the spring game. 

The RAC has turned into an active construction zone

 It's no longer Rutgers Stadium. It's now High Point Solutions Stadium 

 Nothing beats a live mascot 

Rutgers take the field for the first time 

True freshman Savon Huggins score his first, of what will be many, touchdowns