Greg Schiano

A staunch defense and the powerful running of Ray Rice were the main reasons for Rutgers' 11-2 record and No. 12 ranking in the final Associated Press poll last season. Now, as the Scarlet Knights get ready to open spring practice on Saturday, coach Greg Schiano hopes some shuffling of his coaching staff leads to further improvement. Schiano said yesterday that John McNulty, who coached quarterbacks and receivers and was assistant offensive coordinator, has been moved to offensive coordinator.

Greg Schiano was like so many other Jersey boys when he was growing up in Bergen County. College football loyalties were torn between Penn State and Syracuse. Rutgers? He'd never been to the state's university and had only a vague notion of where it was. "I think there's a whole generation of people who might be able to say that same thing," Schiano said during a recent telephone interview. "I was a Penn State fan. " Fast-forward to 1989, when then-Rutgers coach Dick Anderson gave him his first college coaching job as a graduate assistant.

Barring a drastic change, Steve Addazio will remain Temple's football coach, according to sources close to the situation. "He's not going to Rutgers," said one source with inside knowledge. Multiple reports have put Addazio among the leading candidates for the Scarlet Knights job, which opened Thursday when Greg Schiano was hired by the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Addazio replaced Al Golden at Temple in December 2010. The former Florida offensive coordinator led the Owls to a 9-4 record and a 37-15 victory over Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl in his first season at Temple.

Eric LeGrand went home from Wednesday's 76ers-Celtics game with some great memories and a new jersey. LeGrand, a football player for Rutgers who was paralyzed in a 2010 game, attended the game at the Wells Fargo Center as the guest of the 76ers. He was presented a jersey with his No. 52 on it by Sixers director of public relations Michael Preston. "This is great," LeGrand said during halftime. He said that he has been a longtime fan of Celtics forward Kevin Garnett, but that he had no rooting interest.

Rutgers football coach Greg Schiano and his staff are beginning to construct a rock-solid pipeline from Warminster to New Brunswick. First, Archbishop Wood running back/kick returner Desmon Peoples orally committed to the Scarlet Knights. Now, Vikings teammate and up-and-coming offensive lineman Brandon Arcidiacono is set to join the fold. Wednesday, during a 3 p.m. news conference at Archbishop Wood's library media center, the 6-foot-5, 250-pound Arcidiacono, Rivals.com's No. 7-ranked center in the country in the Class of 2012, will commit to Rutgers, according to sources.

Fixing the record on Rutgers remarks This letter responds to several points, including some that we believe are inaccurate, raised by Robert Strauss in his Nov. 22 commentary ("Victim of its hyped success") about academics and athletics at Rutgers. Referring to the budget crisis at the university - the result of an unprecedented cut in state funds - Strauss said Rutgers "has given" land to football coach Greg Schiano to build a house. Rutgers sold the property to coach Greg Schiano for $325,000 - the higher of two appraisals - and the coach will pay for the cost of building a home on the property.

Tom Savage can now play quarterback where he wants. On Monday, Rutgers football coach Greg Schiano granted permission to Savage, his former starting QB, to contact Miami and Florida about transferring, the Newark Star-Ledger reported. This was the same day an appeals committee at Rutgers upheld Schiano's decision to block Miami and Florida from recruiting the former Cardinal O'Hara High quarterback. NCAA rules allow schools to choose where players can seek a transfer. "I have a better understanding of his reasons for wanting to contact those schools after speaking with him," Schiano told the Star-Ledger.

Neshaminy junior tight end Paul Carrezola is expected to announce at a news conference today that he is committing to attend Rutgers, according to sources. The 6-foot-3, 252-pound Carrezola will make the announcment at 2:30 at Neshaminy. He chose Rutgers over Pittsburgh, North Carolina State and Iowa. Last season, while averaging about 18 yards per catch, Carrezola was a second-team all-Southeastern Pennsylvania selection by The Inquirer. According to Neshaminy coach Mark Schmidt, he has 16 scholarship offers.

Quron Pratt, an Inquirer first-team all-South Jersey defensive back from Palmyra, made an oral commitment yesterday to attend Rutgers. Pratt made an unofficial visit yesterday to Rutgers and told the coaching staff of his decision before going home. "I liked everything about Rutgers, what Greg Schiano has done. Plus it's close to home, and my family, who have always supported me, can get to my games," Pratt said last night. Pratt said he would make his official visit to Rutgers on Jan. 23. Besides Rutgers, Pratt also made official visits to Delaware and Pittsburgh.

TAMPA, Fla. - Greg Schiano relishes the challenge of trying to turn around the struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 45-year-old former Rutgers coach was formally introduced Friday as the ninth coach in franchise history, inheriting a team that allowed the most points in the NFL this season. "We're beginning a new chapter for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers," Bucs cochairman Joel Glazer said. Glazer said Schiano "has a vision for what he wants to do. " Schiano transformed Rutgers from a struggling college football program into a Big East contender during an 11-year run with the Scarlet Knights.

Eric LeGrand went home from Wednesday's 76ers-Celtics game with some great memories and a new jersey. LeGrand, a football player for Rutgers who was paralyzed in a 2010 game, attended the game at the Wells Fargo Center as the guest of the 76ers. He was presented a jersey with his No. 52 on it by Sixers director of public relations Michael Preston. "This is great," LeGrand said during halftime. He said that he has been a longtime fan of Celtics forward Kevin Garnett, but that he had no rooting interest.

Quanzell Lambert believes his word should be as firm as his handshake. Lambert, a 6-foot-2, 240-pound linebacker from Timber Creek who was South Jersey's most highly recruited football player, honored his commitment to Rutgers University on Wednesday by signing a letter of intent with the Scarlet Knights. Despite some "highs and lows," after coach Greg Schiano left Rutgers Jan. 26 to become coach of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Lambert said, he never wavered in his determination to continue his athletic and academic career at the state university.

Phil Grosz is one of the nation's top analysts of high school football recruiting, and he is impressed with the class Rutgers signed on Wednesday. The publisher and editor of the G&W Recruiting Report, Grosz didn't rank Rutgers as a top 25 class nationally, but he had lower expectations after coach Greg Schiano departed last week to lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Rutgers quickly named Kyle Flood interim head coach and took the interim tag off Monday, making the official announcement Tuesday and landing a group of 20 players Wednesday.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers acted quickly in replacing head coach Greg Schiano and that move appears to be giving the Scarlet Knights a banner recruiting class. On the day that Kyle Flood turned the interim tag into a five-year coaching deal, Rutgers scored a recruiting coup when all-American defensive lineman Darius Hamilton announced on Tuesday evening that he would attend Rutgers. The son of former NFL lineman Keith Hamilton chose Rutgers over Miami. In addition, two-time Inquirer all-South Jersey linebacker and all-American Quanzell Lambert of Timber Creek also said he will attend Rutgers, his high school coach Rob Hinson said in a text message on Tuesday.

RUTGERS TURNED to assistant Kyle Flood to replace Greg Schiano as the team's head football coach, hours after Florida International's Mario Cristobal passed on a chance to take over the Scarlet Knights. A person with knowledge of the decision told the Associated Press yesterday that Flood had accepted an offer to become Rutgers' next coach. Flood is expected to be introduced today at a news conference on the Rutgers campus in Piscataway, N.J. Cristobal, a former Rutgers assistant who has been with FIU for five seasons, appeared to be Rutgers' first choice, but decided to stay in Miami.

ALL INDICATIONS are that Temple football coach Steve Addazio will not be leaving North Broad Street after one season to fill the vacancy at Rutgers. One source said Addazio has even told Temple boosters that he had "no interest" in the job. Reports out of North Jersey had said Addazio could be targeted by Rutgers after Greg Schiano left in the middle of last week to go to the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They even suggested that Addazio could be the Scarlet Knights' primary target.

Barring a drastic change, Steve Addazio will remain Temple's football coach, according to sources close to the situation. "He's not going to Rutgers," said one source with inside knowledge. Multiple reports have put Addazio among the leading candidates for the Scarlet Knights job, which opened Thursday when Greg Schiano was hired by the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Addazio replaced Al Golden at Temple in December 2010. The former Florida offensive coordinator led the Owls to a 9-4 record and a 37-15 victory over Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl in his first season at Temple.

Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw calls reports that Owls football coach Steve Addazio is a candidate for the Rutgers opening a "nonstory. " Multiple reports have put Addazio among the leading candidates for the Scarlet Knights job, which opened up Thursday when Greg Schiano was hired by the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Rutgers coaching search appears to be moving at a rapid pace with Wednesday's national signing day fast approaching. Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti has made no secret that he would like to hire a coach by then in order to keep the 2012 recruiting class intact.

Multiple reports have Temple football coach Steve Addazio as one of the top contenders to take over at Rutgers, which lost head coach Greg Schiano to the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday. The Asbury Park Press, citing sources familiar with the coaching search, reported on its website that Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti has spoken with Addazio about the position but has yet to meet with him.   A report on NJ.com, the website of the Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., said Pernetti had not asked permission from Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw to speak with Addazio as of late Friday.

TAMPA, Fla. - Greg Schiano relishes the challenge of trying to turn around the struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 45-year-old former Rutgers coach was formally introduced Friday as the ninth coach in franchise history, inheriting a team that allowed the most points in the NFL this season. "We're beginning a new chapter for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers," Bucs cochairman Joel Glazer said. Glazer said Schiano "has a vision for what he wants to do. " Schiano transformed Rutgers from a struggling college football program into a Big East contender during an 11-year run with the Scarlet Knights.