Recap of Rutgers HC Greg Schiano’s 2025 Big Ten Media Day Press Conference

Rutgers Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano was the second coach to take the podium on Tuesday afternoon during 2025 Big Ten Media Days in Las Vegas.

Schiano began by thanking Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti, Rutgers new President William Tate, and Chair of the Rutgers Board of Governors Amy Towers.

Schiano then moved onto to discuss the three players representing the Scarlet Knights before taking questions.

On quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis:

“He’s transferred in and become the leader of our program. This is definitely his football team.”

On wide receiver Ian Strong:

“He’s grown consistently since he’s arrived. This will be his third season with us. He’s been excellent on the football field and a great young man.”

On linebacker Dariel Djabome:

“From Canada. DJ came down to one of our football camps, drove down from upstate New York. He didn’t have a hotel so he and two teammates slept in a car in late July. He went through our camp and he did a great job and we offered him. We had he and his family down for a visit immediately. It’s a great story. He’s turned into a great football player.”

On rebuilding Rutgers defensive identity:

“The ball is the program. There’s a huge amount of emphasis on that. We came back to Rutgers, we were dead last. You could barely see it from there. We slowly climbed our way back to the middle of the league. I didn’t come back for that. I came back to win a championship. That might sound funny to some who follow college football but that’s what we’re going to do. I can’t tell you when that’s going to happen but that’s why we’re back.”

On priorities in the transfer portal:

“It’s certainly been the focus of college football. It still comes down to finding the right fit for your program. What is fit? Fit is culture, fit is athletic ability, fit is student-athlete. That’s always gonna be our primary focus. Do I wish we had some more money when the NIL stuff was going on? Absolutely. Who doesn’t? At the end of the day, families are gonna entrust us with their sons if they know they’re going to be treated well and develop, not only on the field, but off the field.”

On finding the right culture players:

“We have to be very, very careful when we go into the portal at a place like Rutgers, you have to make sure your culture is the driving force. If we’re going to bring in a guy from the transfer portal, not only does he have to be able to help us right now, but he has to be a cultural fit. If you’re recruiting the good players, they’re going to help you. But if they help you and they’re not a cultural fit, they’re going to lead people in the wrong direction and we don’t want that.”

On NIL and revenue sharing:

“I think college football is in a great place. I know people like to moan and groan about things that are different. We need to just let things settle down and figure out if what we’ve done, what the court system has done, is it gonna allow us to find a level where we can go out and perform. Where we can go out and have the teams and programs and leagues that we want. I think tweaking things too early, let’s see how this works.”

On any changes to systems around paying player:

“I forever believed that players should be paid. I always felt it was an injustice that players didn’t receive some form of compensation, whether it was a stipend or whatever it would be. I’m thrilled where we are right now. I think there could be some fine tuning but not major changes right now.”