♫
Well.
PCTV & Eye on Piscataway is taking its annual road trip down to SHI
Stadium, and I want to say it's
nice to see coach Schiano here again.
I think this is about 15 years we've been doing this interview
maybe a little longer, a little longer.
I know, I know, it's long enough that we both now have gray hair.
There you go.
So it's been a while, but this is the start of training camp.
Is coming in for the 2026 Scarlet Knight season.
And we just want to go over a little bit of preview.
Words of wisdom.
So what the fans of both Piscataway and the general central new Jersey area
want to know about Rutgers football.
So, coach, you've had some changes.
Have there many changes within the coaching staff, so to speak?
How do you want to start offense defense?
Big, big changes defensively we've kind of revamped everything.
We weren't very good last year on defense and it really affected
the outcome of several games, and I just felt like we had to make a change.
It was time and took a little while to find the guy,
but he's the right guy in Travis Johannsen.
So where where does Coach Johanson come from and what's his historical?
And we got assume that everybody
that's looking at this show are not, are novices of football.
We want to make them fans of Rutgers University football.
So where did he how long, where was he coaching prior to you picking him up?
Well, Travis was born and raised in Minneapolis,
but he coached in South Dakota, so he was
he was the defense coordinator there for a number of years.
And then most recently last year, was the head coach
at the University of South Dakota, took his team to the playoffs.
So so is that like a Division two school?
Well, it's it's a FCS.
Okay. Yeah.
So what used to be called one AA.
And you know, to take the team to the playoffs was quite a feat.
And I was really excited when he agreed to come.
So how they teach their players out there I'm just thinking because South
Dakota has a lot of bison, do they use them as pushing the bison around?
I'll tell you what,
he's a really good football coach and we're fortunate to have him.
So what type of philosophy were you looking for in a defensive coach?
Because I know a lot of times
you would handle someone in the past, handle some of the play calling.
I mean, to me it's all about fundamentals.
It's about what you believe in
and you have to find someone that has similar beliefs, right?
It's got to be like in any business, it's got to be a fit.
But then the ability for Travis and the defensive staff to
connect with the players and I'm sure not a lot different than what you do
if you don't have connection, it's hard to get things done.
And when you do have connection, man it's exponential.
So that's that's what I'm excited about.
Just watching for the last 6 or 7 months the job that he and his staff
have been doing.
So he did as defensive coordinator.
Now. Now, were there any other assistants that came in that are new defense?
Several actually.
Yeah.
So some guys from Big Ten schools, some guys from other conferences.
But I think a really good mix and you never know right,
until you put them all together.
But there's a chemistry there. There's a vibe there that I like
and I think the players have really taken to them.
That's the most important thing.
Okay, so it's really interesting as a layperson looking at football,
when you go to search for assistant coaches
and they and with the mixes of how different conferences play their
strategy and football, how does that work when you personally have to
obviously review and interview every individual coach?
It's different, right?
Earlier in my career, I had a lot of people
my age that were guys that we could bring to Rutgers.
Now, most of the guys that are,
you know, my generation are either coaching in the NFL
or their head coaches themselves somewhere.
So it's gotten more to be more of a challenge when you have to make.
So I really believe in growing your own coaches.
Sometimes you need to go outside of the program
like we did with Travis, and it's been really helpful.
You know, when there's change, there's growth,
and there's been a huge growth this spring.
It's a little refreshing.
So now on the offensive side, your offensive coordinator
who's been with you I believe, for four years.
Correct.
What can we expect even though you've lost
a very seasoned QB,
that what can we expect from the coaching staff side on the offense?
Yeah, you know, the coaching staff has remained
pretty much consistent on offense.
We made a change at offensive line.
Coach Jim Turner's joined us.
Really a seasoned NFL and college coach, but I really like where we are.
Kirk has done an incredible job of building our offense
and that's what he does. He builds it over time, right.
Incremental improvement.
We've gotten better and better,
and I think we have some really fine players on the offensive side of the ball,
three of them in particular that we were able to retain Coby Asamoah, K.J.
Duff and Antoine Raymond.
And we're going to get into both of those later in the interview.
But what?
So now we just spoke very briefly about your your coaching staff.
What what are your impressions of the team so far
even though they haven't hit the training camp yet?
I like our team.
I do, I like I like what we've done.
I think we've fixed some of the issues we had defensively.
They continue to have to do that in training camp and into the season.
But I like the chemistry, I like the cohesion of the team
and that's what it's about.
You know, we're sitting in our team room, right?
We have 130 guys on the roster.
You know when they come together, that's exponential growth.
You know individually they add up to this.
But when you put them together, you know, that's where it really gets exciting.
And I like the group we have.
Well, speaking of that, the commentators and the folks
that do progression projections when it comes to football
said, this is probably
one of the toughest schedules that Rutgers had in a long time.
It seems like the way the schedule is at home,
you're going to be taking on the entire state of Michigan.
But how does that you know, when you look at the paper
like a draw, and these schedules are all put together years in advance,
and you never know what teams statured or how good the potential going to be.
I mean, as a head coach, you're saying, oh my God,
how can this how could this schedule possibly fall on my head like this?
I love it.
I think that, you know, we for years, you know,
I wanted to, longed to be in the Big Ten conference.
And finally we're there.
And what an opportunity to play at the, I believe, the best conference
in all of college football.
And that's proven to be true in the last few years especially.
Right.
So historically,
what a what a great conference we're in and the schedule.
I love it.
You know you play again.
You want to be the best.
You got to play against the best.
So you have you know obviously
starting out I believe University of Massachusetts.
And then you have Boston College, which by the way is the 25th
anniversary of 9/11.
So it's could probably be a very emotional game
because when it's happening and then you head into I believe USC.
Yeah, coming.
Which is coming to Piscataway, which is great.
I mean, who would ever thought that USC would be coming to Piscataway?
I did have a chance last year
or two years ago to go out to the USC game out there.
But I think some of the teams that are coming in
are really going to put a spotlight on the stadium here.
And obviously your team in the northeast.
Yeah, there's no doubt.
And that's the great part of playing in this league.
Right. As you play big, big time college football games.
And the nice thing for us is
some of those games come here to our home stadium in our hometown.
Yeah.
And then you also have the reigning national champ coming in Indiana.
And then I think you have both Michigan and Michigan State,
and then University of Nebraska, I believe is at home, which is good.
I'm trying to convince the mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska,
to come out for the game, bring them out, so we'll get her out there.
So anyway, let's talk a little bit about some of the players.
The quarterback competition obviously is to
a lot of people are very much including yourself interested in that.
How do you think that is it going to be an open forum to see
who's going to be capable between the two players?
You know, it is.
And they're really both very, very competent players.
Like one of the things that people say, well, you haven't named a starter.
And the reason is they both did well and I had.
So you're saying when they both did well, you're talking about spring training.
That's right.
And you know, had it been the other way where neither had done
well, I'd be very concerned.
I'm actually really excited to see the competition pick up here in training camp.
And at some point we'll make a decision.
And the good thing, at least for a year, is we're going to
we're going to have one who's the starter and we're going to have another guy
who's a quality, quality football player that's back.
So are they two different type of style quarterbacks, or are they going to
just be in the mold of what the offensive coordinator wants to see as a QB?
No. They're similar.
I mean, they have some differences, but they're similar athletically.
They're similar with their abilities.
That's why I think it's such a close battle. Right.
And they're both really super kids.
I mean, young men that you'd want leading your team.
So when you go to make the choice, I'm assuming it'll be happening
early on, possibly in the middle
towards the end of the 30 day period before your first home game.
Yeah.
Somewhere in the middle to the back part of training camp we'll make a decision.
I don't know if we'll necessarily announce it
or not publicly, but I think you need to do that.
You need your team to know who's going to be leading, leading the offense.
So the reason why you want to know, hopefully sooner than later,
is because you want the offensive line to get used to that QB
they're calling and things like that.
Yeah, and the receivers and the running backs, a whole offensive team.
And it's just, you know,
when you have the right guy at quarterback,
he really leads the whole team, not just the offense.
I know you're a very spoiled when you're a seasoned
veteran quarterback Kelly Marcus, that was there for two years
who really and I actually very much enjoyed him when he was out there.
He was a very proficient quarterback and his statistics proved that.
Yeah, he was he was a fine player.
I just my only wishes we had him for a couple more years.
But you don't look back.
You look forward.
He's down in Washington with the commanders now.
And I know he's going to do. A good.
We wish him the best of luck.
And you know his brother Dino still plays on the team.
So that's that's a neat connection.
We're going to take a little break here and show some other segments that happened
throughout the month.
We're at 1665 Stelton Rd
at the newest business here in Piscataway.
And I'm going to turn the mic over to the chief spokesperson
of the newest business.
And please tell all the residents of Piscataway & Central New Jersey
and name of your business.
Sure our restaurant name is Kati Roll.
We are so excited here because in Piscataway
we never have this kind of food before.
So we are like very new to here and we wanted to see more people coming.
And we are grateful that I'm also lucky to have,
because I'm resident of Piscataway and wanted to pass on
to another person who is another
business owner, Neil's daughter.
Yeah. There you go. Hi.
First of all, thank you so much for giving us this opportunity.
We're very excited to have this business in Piscataway.
We've had a lot of people telling us, you know, we always have to come down
to Edison to eat, but we brought all the food right to you.
Street food. There is live bonnie booty there.
There's every place from India we have the food from.
So you don't have to travel.
We have right here in Edison.
I mean, Piscataway. Edison people can come here and we have a lot of options.
And thank you so much for the mayor.
Well, part of Edison used to be part of Piscataway.
Okay. So you're okay.
But more importantly is you won't have to get on a plane ride
to go over to India to get the food.
You can come right here to Stelton Road, and you'll get Northwest Cuisine
of India and also southern cuisine right there, and everything else in between.
So I want to.
I'm going to ask now, what's your name?
Vihan. Vihan is going to help me with the scissors here.
So Vihan. Okay. Ready?
And Vihan says he's going to be the the new mayor next year in 2026 at MLK.
At JA biztown.
Okay, there you go.
So you're going to help me and we're going to count to ready.
Come on. Help me.
Three. Two. One.
Yeah.
Well, that's your first official act as a mayor.
Okay, well.
Thank you. Don't forget 1665 Stelton Road.
If you want to whet your tongue and eat something very delicious,
this is the place to come.
♫ Star Spangled Banner ♫
[Applause and Cheer]
♫
One of the biggest concerns that we have as public officials,
not just here in Piscataway, but across the United States,
you always hear that word food desert when it comes to food desert, where
there's lack of grocery, lack of options for people to shop and get healthy food.
Well, today we now have an oasis called Patel Brothers here.
Yes. Let's hear it up.
If you walk through
this store right now, you see nothing but great produce.
So much so, Mr.
Patel said whoever's the first shopper is going to get 25% off.
Yeah, 100%.
Please don't. Don't have a heart attack.
But I want to thank the community for reinvesting back in Piscataway Township.
I know it's been a big concern.
And Michele Lombardi and myself regards to getting a grocery store
back here in town.
And but the good news is this is meeting a niche market here
for a lot of people in this community, Piscataway Township.
And I want to thank you once again for doing that.
So would you like to say a few words? Yes.
Thank you very much for coming.
Nice and early on this hot, sunny day morning.
This is our 60th location in the US.
It's our ninth one in the state of new Jersey.
We're very, very excited about this opportunity.
And we'd like to thank the mayor's office for coming here,
for cutting the ribbon for our new location.
And after we cut the ribbon, we have a small performance behind us
right there to show off our not show off, to showcase our culture.
And one thing I know, it's been a very big concern of Councilwoman
Michele Lombardi here about
health, health and wellness here in town.
Michele, would you like to say something?
No, this I took a little look around inside and the produce looks amazing.
The store is fresh, new and beautiful, and it's definitely something
that we needed here in Piscataway.
Now, you don't have to go out of Piscataway
Now, that's.
Beautiful store.
And I got to tell you
that the produce has given my garden a run for the money right now,
so maybe I might have to take some cues from you.
Well. Thank you.
And why don't you want to come on up here, Mr. Patel.
Help assist.
♫
Well, the state of new Jersey has some new laws
that are in effect now regarding e-bikes.
And I think there's a lot of e-bikes throughout Piscataway
Township to be on the show here today.
We actually have Sergeant Bill Kloos from the Piscataway traffic Division
to talk very briefly about some of the changes in law
that residents may not know or do know about,
but we want to make sure everybody's in compliance.
So, Sergeant, what are the big changes that have taken place
in the state of new Jersey pertaining to e-bikes?
I know the township
did an ordinance going back earlier in the year regards to that.
And now the state of New Jersey has a superseding law regards that.
So any towns that had prior e-bike laws are now going to have
to make them applicable, as with the state of New Jersey Had.
But give us some of the highlights.
What people need to be aware of about pertaining to e-bikes.
And I believe there's all different classifications of the e-bikes.
So hopefully you're going to be the the guru so to speak, on the bike laws.
So if anybody has any questions, they can feel free to pick up the phone
and call to non-emergency number of the Piscataway Police Department.
So go ahead Sergeant. Take it away. All right.
So first of all, thank you for having us here
with the new law.
New Jersey
has new Jersey has classified e-bikes into multiple different classes now.
So there's the first.
The first
the first class you could look at is what they call a low speed electric scooter.
And in a low speed electric scooter is exactly what it sounds like
the maximum speed it can't.
It must stay below 19mph.
And with a low speed electric scooter,
anybody can ride those low speed electric scooters.
They're treated essentially the same as bicycles in the state of new Jersey.
Just like your six year old could get on a bicycle.
with trainers.
Exactly as long as they're riding safe.
A six year old could get on an electric a low speed electric scooter
in new Jersey.
As long as it's as long as it stays less than 19mph.
Now, when you now with the low speed electric scooters,
if you're under the age of 17, you must wear a helmet just like any
kind of bicycle.
And I just want to interject here with the sergeant.
To the parents out there, we do have periodically
and I'm going to make a pitch for we do have a debt assessment.
The councilman do has a road tour of the bikes,
and there will be some bike helmets to be given out.
You need to make sure your child and even adults should lead by example.
Should have helmets on. Absolutely.
Yeah.
More more injuries happen through head injuries from bicycle accidents.
So go ahead. Sorry. Absolutely. The helmets only going to protect you.
Yeah. So yeah.
So so with those with the low speed electric scooters,
as long as you're wearing, if you're less than 17, the helmet is required.
Everybody really should wear a helmet for your own safety.
But if it's less than 17, it's required.
And the thing with those low speed electric scooters
is, I'm sure, mayor, and I'm sure you and I'm sure
a lot of people in the community, you see these electric scooters riding.
They'll weave in and out of traffic and all kinds of stuff like that, maybe
go up on the sidewalk.
Well, these electric scooters, must
they have the same duties and rights as vehicles.
So they have to
they have to abide by all the same motor vehicle regulations as you do.
And I do know the.
One that looks like a surfboard with a stick coming up.
You know, they have to be applicable to all the normal traffic regulations.
Correct.
If you if you're driving your car and you have to flip on your turn signal,
they have to either use their turn signal or put their hand out to motion the turn
just like you would in a car.
So I think that's a very important thing to understand,
especially for parents that might be buying their children
these scooters and making sure children understand the laws behind that so.
And I think this is important because school is going to be coming
back in in September, and folks need to know if they're planning
to buy something for their child to go to used to go to school.
That is very important.
Absolutely.
And then even more so, if you're looking to buy something,
the next class up would be even more important
to understand the classification behind this,
because the next class up is an electric low speed bicycle.
That's the next class up of these e-bikes.
The electric low speed bicycle is is
is what it sounds like an electric low speed bicycle.
It has it has a motor.
But the motor only helps when you're pedaling.
So it has to.
So again, you have to be pedaling for the motor to help you.
And these low speed electric bicycles can only go up to 20mph.
These these low speed electric bicycles.
This is where a big change has happened in the
in the legislature in new Jersey, because these now require registration
and a driver's license or a permit or an e-bike permit.
That's a that's a very big change.
So what. Is what is the age of that.
Is there a different age. Right.
That for a permit whatever.
Or is it just like a regular driving a car. Nope.
So that's a it's a great question because there is an age.
So now these low speed electric bikes, you have to be
a minimum of 15 years old to ride one of these at all times.
So if you're if you're a parent and you have a.
Parents out there, you're looking at a sophomore.
Yeah, essentially 15 years old.
And if you have
if you have if parents out there, if you have a child that's less than 15,
do not let them get on an e-bike because it's prohibited by law.
Okay.
And at 15 and 16, if you wanted to,
if you had a teenager that wanted to ride an e-bike at 15 or 16,
what they would do is they would go through the e-bike permit process.
It's essentially like a moped license.
After they get a permit, they practice on the road
for a period of time, and then they would go to the DMV,
take their road test, and eventually they would get an e-bike license,
just like a moped license that you could get at 15 or 16 years old.
Okay.
Now, is there another class classification on bikes? Yes.
Because some of these bikes I see they're going way more than 20 miles an hour.
Absolutely.
The next class up is motorized bicycles in new Jersey.
These are still these can still be e-bikes.
Okay.
And these are the these motorized bicycles.
The key here is that
if they have a throttle capability, the moment you have a throttle
where the e-bike can drive, where the e-bike can propel itself
without you pedaling, then it becomes a motorized bicycle.
Okay. And these motorized
bicycles, it's classified as anything that goes up to 28mph.
So before we talked about 20mph, and now we're up to 28mph.
So if you're riding something
that goes up to 28mph or it has a throttle capability,
any throttle capability, then it's a motorized bicycle.
And this is where there's even there's there's been pushed
there has been pushed even more updates because
now these require license, registration and insurance.
Oh so interesting. One just requires a permit.
Now these you have to actually register the actual
bike with DMV. Correct.
Yeah. You have to register both e-bikes, but you have to ensure which is.
Which is interesting.
That leads to a whole insurance issue.
You know, once you have to register,
I'm sure your insurance carrier is going to want to know about that.
Absolutely. Yeah.
And you have to make sure that, again, these these higher speed ones
are not only registered but they're insured.
So all right.
So you have three classifications out there.
What happens if say an officer pulls over
somebody that's not in compliance especially a minor.
Can the that be confiscated temporarily until the parent whatever. Yes.
So I don't know how the process is set up now that the state is mandating.
Yes. So so the depending on the age of the the minor if it's a minor
operating one of these unlawfully, depending on the age,
the minor could be issued summonses through our township ordinance.
The the parent could actually be held
responsible for a second or subsequent offense down the line.
If we have a repeat offender, the e-bike could be impounded
depending on the circumstances behind it,
and then in order to get it out of the impoundment, you would
of course have to get it properly registered, insured, all all of that
to bring it into compliance.
And I.
Think that would be applicable
for anybody who actually has to register the vehicle with DMV to.
Correct. If it's not right there.
Yeah.
Basically, the impoundment process for this would be just like impounding a car
if your car didn't have registration or insurance and it got impounded.
It's essentially the same for for an e-bike now.
So I think those are the big highlights of the new law out there.
You will we will make sure that the residents know further about this.
We will be promoting this either
through the police department on our social media accounts.
One of the other things that I know we're looking at is that we're having problems.
So we're getting complaints from residents about some of these
e-bikes riding in the parks and creating dangerous situations.
So we may end up prohibiting the use of e-bikes in our parks.
Meaning, in a sense, if there's a multi-use path or a sidewalk
or whatever, I mean, not not if you want to take the e-bike
to go to the park, but actually riding around in the park.
Yes. Yeah, that's like there.
So we're going to have to take a look at that because,
you know, not everybody's obeying the current rules of the road.
And, you know, it could become a very dangerous situation out there.
Absolutely.
And that's and that's where we're at in, in in our enforcement of this,
of the new laws that have recently been passed
from from the traffic safety division's perspective, we're in the education stage.
We're trying to make sure everyone understands all these laws,
and we're working into the enforcement stage now.
So that's.
And I think a lot of it, we're going to have to make sure
that the school district knows that with their students out there,
because they're the ones that are on the on the line there with that.
So Sergeant Kloos, I would like to thank you.
Behalf of the Piscataway Police Department for you
stopping by the Traffic Safety Division.
And as a reminder, school will be opening in September.
And so parents out there, if you have any questions, feel free.
Is there a contact number in the police department, Sergeant.
Absolutely. Contact today. Any questions? Absolutely.
Anybody looking to talk about e-bikes or clarify anything can call me directly.
My phone number is (732) 562-2340.
I want to thank you for stopping by Eye on Piscataway.
Thank you. Thanks, mayor.
July 13th, 2026, marked the beginning of
the Piscataway Township Police Department's youth week
for children interested in law enforcement.
The week started off outside of the public safety building,
with multiple opening speeches.
This is a good way you can get a little taste of it, so.
Listen to the officers, and parents, thank you for allowing us
to have your children for the week here,
and I'm going to turn it over to Director Stith.
Parents, just to reiterate what the mayor said,
thank you for, entrusting us with your kids for the week.
They're going to have a great time. And to the kids,
you're in good hands, you're going to have a good time,
stop by the office, and I'll teach you how to tie a bowtie, alright?
Good luck to you!
Throughout an intensive week, the cadets learned all about what goes into
being members of the force. This includes, but not limited to,
learning how to lift fingerprints and using a radar detector,
to visits from the K-9 units and seeing a police drone in action!
One of the highlights of youth week was the visit from the
Hackensack Meridian Health Air Medical Unit.
The cadets got to see the helicopter land, got a chance to tour the helicopter
and sit inside it, and speak with the pilots and medical staff
to learn about their roles.
On July 17th, the graduation ceremony was
held at the Piscataway Community Center at the YMCA
to honor the hard work of the cadets!
During the event, the cadets marched to their seats as a unit,
and the drill instructors handed out multiple superlative awards
for standout recruits.
Welcome to the graduating class of Police Youth Week 2026!
Just looking at you right now, the transformation is incredible!
More important than the drones, the helicopters, or the tactical gear,
You learned the true definition of the badge:
Integrity, discipline, and community.
Stand tall, make good choices,
and continue to make your families, and your community proud!
Congratulations, Police Youth Week class of 2026!
Through hard work, this individual significantly improved in drill and
ceremony since day one.
Engaging with classroom instructors, and showed interest in wanting to be
a police officer.
The Most Improved Award is proudly presented to the recruit
Nieem Thompson!
This award is presented to the recruit who has demonstrated outstanding performance
and teamwork and leadership throughout the academy.
From the beginning, they followed instructions properly and set
the standard for how a recruit should conduct themselves.
They had enough courage to speak to other recruits and assist them
in making proper adjustments to be up to par with the rest of the class.
This award is proudly presented to recruit Makenzie Rosario!
The Detective Award is presented to the recruit who completed the
scavenger hunt in the fastest time, while answering every
question correctly.
This award is proudly presented to recruit Rafael Sharif!
I'm presenting the PT Award, this award is presented to the recruit who has
demonstrated outstanding performance in physical training
throughout the academy.
Their dedication, determination, and commitment to physical excellence
have made them a stand-out recruit.
This award is proudly presented to recruit Matthew Oliveri!
The Best Overall Recruit Award, requires a rare combination of traits.
We look for the recruit who is always squared away,
whose uniform, bearing, and attitude never waiver.
We look for someone who maintains laser-focus,
who treats their peers and instructors with the utmost respect,
and who quietly chooses to do the right thing,
even when they think nobody is watching.
For outstanding leadership, sharp intelligence, and exemplary
display of the core values of the Piscataway Police Department,
it is my privilege as your Youth Week coordinator to present
the 2026 Best Overall Recruit Award, to Ashmit Karnik!
Class, who are we? POLICE YOUTH WEEK
CLASS 2026, SIR! Good! Good job!
Congratulations to all of our youth week graduates
of the class of 2026!
So who do you out
of all the freshmen that potentially could play?
Who do you think stands out?
Oh, I don't know. You know.
That's.
A good question every year and I usually give you the same answer.
I hate putting pressure on those freshmen.
I could put pressure.
You can, but you can ask who you want.
I'll tell you.
Well, I think it's it's been very hard to come up as a freshman
because you have you don't really don't know
what their talents are until they actually suit up for the game.
That's a great point.
And you know, a lot of them now start school in January.
So they've been with us for a spring.
So just for the general public, why do a lot of these players
start in January instead of saying start over the summer. Why?
Well, it's a whole nother semester that you can develop
in a college football program. So what does that mean?
Nutrition, strength and conditioning, football skills and training,
all that stuff that you get a head start on.
And now it's not really a head start because most guys are doing that.
So if you're starting.
In June so they graduate high school early.
They do.
And then they spend their time enrolling for the spring semester.
And then they're able
to see like in spring practices and they have the whole summer.
So they're not just coming in. I guess what.
End of June.
July knew they had somewhat
an idea of how the team practices.
Yeah. Like anything else. Right.
More experience you have, the more comfortable you are doing it.
I think it helps. I know it helps.
And it's become because we're talking about guys that have NFL futures, right?
Not all of them, but a lot of them.
And how do I best prepare myself for that?
If that's something I want a whole nother, you know, what amounts to a whole nother
10th of the time.
I get to spend one tenth more here than I normally would.
That's that's important.
And it's also not just you, but it's also your entire support staff.
Everything. Everything now.
And of course, they're enrolling in classes to at the same time,
obviously you have to do, but which helps out. The portal.
That's obviously an annual merry go round
for most college football head coaches.
What folks that were in the portal.
Who do you think is going to make an immediate impact coming from the portal?
Well, you know, to me the most important thing first is retaining your own players.
So you have to sit there and say, okay, who can we definitely not lose?
Those are the guys you do everything within your power to keep.
Then you go out and you look and say, hey,
what are the needs of this football team, whether it be this year or two years?
And you know what?
I, I want to delve in that for a min
because I know you've been very loud proponent on that.
You know, with the advent of
NILs that the university needs to get where a lot of the top flight
schools are that, you know, felt like you had your hand behind your back.
Do you feel that way still? No.
And I've made mention of it, I think for the first time in my 25 years
being affiliated with Rutgers, we have vertical alignment
at the university when it comes to the football program, from our chairperson,
Amy Towers, to our new president, William Tate, to our athletic director,
Kelly Zinn, and the head football coach, you're talking to him.
I think we all see winning at Rutgers the same way.
And we all we also see how we're going to invest to get there.
And that has never been all four layers since I've been here.
We've had maybe 2 or 3, but never all four.
And to me, that's what it takes when you're
when you're trying to compete and be a champion in the best league
in college football, you need to be aligned at every step.
And that just gives you a chance.
But the programs that are doing that, they certainly are aligned at every step.
And I think it probably helps that with directors.
And she has a little bit of experience coming from LSU
with the Southeast Conference dealing with football.
How hard was it
to you to keep some of the existing players to share?
Big challenge, big challenge.
And the guys that I mentioned, you know, KJ could have gone anywhere in the country
And he thought about it like, you can't blame him, right?
And the money that's being thrown around.
But at the end of the day, he made a decision
that he was going to stay somewhere and really leave a legacy.
And I think he has an opportunity to do that here.
He's a tremendous player.
He's become a big, big leader on our football team.
But you look at Kobe Asamoah, same thing.
Like these are guys that could have
gone anywhere in the country and they chose to stay here.
And it's a choice now.
We can't say we're going to keep every player
that's not realistic, but you have to say, okay,
this is where we're going to use our resources
and we're going to do everything we can to keep them if they don't want to stay.
You can't make anybody stay. But you know what?
You can make it an appealing case, but you better have those relationships
in advance, right?
You know, like I've said many times,
you don't go build a bridge when you want to cross the river.
So I think for the general public, for those folks
that are not well versed in the portal, I mean, years ago, I mean,
you would sign a recruit and typically they would stay for all four years.
Now you're lucky if they stay for 2 or 3 years.
Yeah, but and Rutgers is not the only one.
It's every university is going through the same thing,
but it leads to a bigger challenge for coaches and coaching staffs
around the country because of the way the portal process works. Now.
You're not kidding.
And you have to figure out
different ways to teach and prepare because you got to get them ready.
Some of the guys, you know, we'll have guys that we brought in
from the transfer portal.
We've had six months to get them ready, and now we'll have training camp
and we've got to go.
Have you ever had a situation where somebody said, oh, I'm coming.
And then next thing you know, they changed their mind.
Often.
Yeah, that happens all the time, both in players and in coaches.
Yeah, yeah. You know people have change in heart.
So now you're seeing a portal for coaches too now.
Well the portal for coaches has always been.
But the portal for players certainly has taken off.
Yeah. All right.
So we talked about a little bit about the portal.
I mean
are there any other specific of players that you brought in through the portal
that you're expecting them to step up and playing the key positions?
Yeah. Well, you know, we weren't very good on defense.
So we went out and focused on on players that we thought could help.
And I think we have found for Time Morris, a linebacker from rice has really
impressed us, not only in the way he's played, but his leadership ability.
Malachi Davis, a guy from Toledo who was a really fine player.
I think he's going to be very, very effective defensive end for us.
Those are two guys.
We have a bunch of defensive backs that I think,
you know, without mentioning them all by name.
There's great competition now.
We've built some depth in the offensive line using the portal.
So and then Dylan Lonergan, one of the quarterbacks, you know
he along with A.J.
Dillon comes to us from Boston College.
So which is ironic.
He's going to be playing against his former players this year.
Well we are we'll figure out who the quarterback's going to be in camp,
but he's certainly going to be with us.
Yeah, but yeah, that'll be you.
Talk about an emotional moment, right?
There's be a lot of reasons for emotion there.
If Dylan is in fact the quarterback at that time.
So yeah, there's a lot that goes into it that and there's
a lot of unforeseen factors that come into play.
But you know, it just makes it just a little more complicated.
It's you really have to stay on top of it.
And we have a great staff that helped me do that.
So when you think about staff during the portal,
did you like you wanted to focus on the defense?
Did you have Coach Johannson
obviously heavily involved and looking at the portal with you?
Well, he wasn't hired yet. Okay.
So yeah, it was that was a that was a bit of a tough, tough situation.
Right.
And some of the kids would say, well, we don't know who
the defensive coordinator is going to be.
So that's that's a legitimate concern.
But the reality is we're going
to we're going to run a defense that's based in these principles,
and this is the program you're going to be coming to. Yes.
I can't tell you exactly who
that individual is, who's going to be leading the defense.
But the principles and our program are going to be what they are.
And I felt we did very well in the portal.
The guys that we needed to get, I think we got.
So you have two recruits reclassified to the class of 26.
How does that how does that work with the reclassification?
And how important is that for your program for you know,
I don't think, you know, unless you're a football fanatic, you understand that.
But if you're somebody who just turns the TV on and they don't understand that,
how that works.
You're right. And it's not.
It's something that happens a lot.
You know, starting in January starts a lot, happens a lot.
But but forgoing your whole senior year takes a couple of things have to happen.
Number one, they have to be academically qualified.
They have to have enough credits to do that.
And number two, the situation has to fit.
And how does that happen?
It's any number of factors. But you're right.
We have two players that are going to do that.
And I think it's it's going to be a great benefit to them in their development.
And it's going to be a benefit.
And obviously they have to agree to that.
Oh yeah. Yeah.
That's and I really want them to be very much in agreement,
not kind of wavering because, you know, it's a little different.
You're passing up your whole senior year of high school. But
we've done it with a few.
Antoine Raymond actually did that.
His program again, situations are all different.
His high school program dropped football in May.
So he and his mom. Oh, he had to. Yeah.
He could have gone to another high school, but I said,
if you're going to go to another place, why not come here?
And what a great opportunity
it was for him because he got to learn under Kyle.
Yeah.
So he was able to see how Kyle did his business.
Couldn't ask for a better mentor.
No doubt. Yeah. No doubt.
So you have Aidan Gibson was reclassified as we were talking about 2026.
How challenging will that be to allocate the touches.
And in the backfield.
Well everything comes down to practice right.
You go out and practice. You earn your reps.
So we happen to have Antoine Raymond, who I think
is a premier running back in the country.
And I believe he rushed for over 1200 yards.
He did. He did.
And that's pretty, pretty good going into the Big Ten schedule.
You're able to rush that. No kidding right.
And especially as a second year player.
But like I said he had the opportunity to learn under Kyle.
He's a tremendous athlete a guy that really understands.
And we have a great running back coach in Damien Shaw.
He's done a tremendous job year in and year out with our running backs, and
that's why Aiden's going to have an opportunity
not only to learn from Coach Shaw, but also to learn from Antoine.
So you talked about a little bit about Kyle Monangai, and you have
Pacheco, Monangai both grads alum.
Does that help you recruit for somebody
who's a promising running back?
Say, hey, listen, I have two of two former Rutgers
players are now stars in the NFL at the running back position.
Sure it does. Yeah.
I mean, these young guys, especially the top running backs,
they all have the aspiration to go play in the National Football League.
And when you can say, hey, this coach developed these players, that sure helps.
So you have you talked prior about K.J.
Duff staying.
Obviously a lot of the defenses that you're going to be playing
are going to be keen on him. How is that going to work out?
Is there going to be somebody else
that's going to sort of take the pressure off him?
He was lucky last year to work with a colleague that was very good
who transferred out, but he's going to be sort of there alone by himself.
And now that with all the hoopla about him,
you know, obviously defenses are going to be keen on.
Not that they didn't last time.
Yeah.
I mean, he will garner a lot of attention from the defense.
But Dave Brock, our receiver
coach, has done a tremendous job of building that room.
And it's taken a couple of years, but we have great depth in the room.
It's great competition right now.
Ben Black, who is a tremendous player.
But because like you said, we had we were kind of loaded at the position.
He's helped and he's played and contributed.
But now it's his turn to step up and be the guy opposite K.J., and he is.
He's shown that all offseason.
He's had a great offseason, so I expect him.
But we have a bunch of young receivers that it's their time now and I'm confident
they'll step up
and we have some some really good ones coming from high school here.
You know, starting next. Next.
So will there be any that are actually physically play that were just coming out
that they're not red shirt. They're going. To play.
You know what.
There's two young freshmen that I think have a chance to play.
Yeah that it'll be interesting again.
That's such a talented room.
Now I think that maybe one of the if not the most,
it probably is the most talented room in our program.
So when you have a freshman there, what is the point of no return
where they can actually have some playing time but yet be redshirted?
Well redshirting now.
And it just changed.
Redshirting has gone away.
There's new there's a new rule in college sports.
It's five for five.
You're not supposed to call it five for five.
They don't want us to call it that.
But what it is is you have five years of eligibility to play,
and whether it's from high school graduation
or from your 19th birthday, that's the way it's right.
You have five years to play five.
So now you don't have to worry about that anymore
where you can't play and pass this or you can't play.
And I.
Think part of that,
you know, people were redshirting, but they wanted to jump to the portal.
You know you got a little confusing there.
Yeah.
So now it's much more straightforward.
Now again you hold your breath right because someone will sue and then
but right now that's the rule.
And I'm hopeful that it'll just kind of be consistent.
I got to ask a technology question.
Are coaches now using AI to figure out
what other teams plays that they've run over the course of a game?
You know, they stick it in the tape.
I just had a curiosity. Yeah, we are.
Sort of like a computer just trying to figure out
why they did X amount of plays this way and there.
So there's a lot of different technology that's used in coaching nowadays.
There's certain things you're not allowed to use during the game,
but you use a lot of it in your preparation during the week.
During the game, you're only allowed to use the headsets electronically.
And now the iPads that we watch the video on.
So during the game. But that's. The two.
So you don't wait to look at the jumbotron?
No, we don't wait. Well,
sometimes you do, but most of the time you're looking right at that iPad now.
But years past there was no iPads right last year.
Whatever.
So that was a new NCAA rule that you can use an iPad, correct.
Oh, so it came in within the 21st century.
Yeah. We're modernizing. Yes. Yeah.
So I have to say what other new new rules
have changed with the NCAA pertaining to actual to play the game.
Yeah, there's there's a few. But look
the game you
know, people want to worry and cry about what's happening.
The the game of college football's never been more popular.
We just have to fix a few things.
And I think the number one thing is everybody's got to calm down
a little bit and assess, okay, how how did this change?
Before you go change a change,
let's see how the change works first and then maybe we adjust it.
I don't think we're that far off, but there are some things
that definitely have to get changed.
And one of the big things is the NIL the way it works, right?
I was always the one when I know
I mentioned this before is that I thought the NCAA.
I know you can't say it, but I will really screwed this up.
There should have been parameters, you know, instead of letting the free
market take control of everything because, you know,
there are teams that are going to be at a disadvantage
there because depending upon where they are
and whatever market they are in, that they really didn't get ahold
of this quickly on and recognize how impactful this was going to be.
Yeah, I mean, you know what's fair?
Nothing's fair in life, right? You got to figure it out.
But I think, as you said, what drove this was the markets and the courts.
And that's a rough way to do things.
And we did have an opportunity as not just the NCAA,
all of us, to get it right, and we failed.
So then other processes occurred.
But now we have another chance to get it right.
And we need to do that so we can make college football.
I mean, like I said, it's more popular than ever.
How do we sustain that?
I know, and now it's given on from Wednesday to Saturday now,
which that that would have been taboo having games on Wednesday nights.
So now it's Thursday, Friday Saturday night.
Yeah. People people love their football.
Yeah.
Quickly, if I know I always ask you a question
for the general public, what pitch would you make
to parents that want to have their son come play at Rutgers?
Well, it hasn't changed right now.
Money is changed for sure.
And like I've said, we have vertical alignment
and we have more resources now to match what the expectations are.
But at the end of the day, they're still 18 to 22 year old kids.
They may drive nicer cars and they may have more money in their bank account,
but they're still young people that need guidance, need to be led and mentored.
And that's what our staff does.
And, you know, I've said it many times, my goal is to win
the national championship at Rutgers.
But my purpose and why I coach is to help develop these guys.
A lot of young people God puts under my watch, and to me,
there's a responsibility there.
How are we going to develop
these young guys to become great husbands, fathers and members of communities?
That's our responsibility.
And these guys are the future leaders of our country.
I mean, those are.
And you're also looking down the road, potentially future coaches.
Future coaches, future mayors, future everything.
Yeah.
Well, we have like one of our police officers came out, came out of football.
Captain of our team. Yeah.
Darn right Ray Pilch.
We're going to close out the show.
But favorite ice cream?
That's a tough question. Store or flavor?
Either or.
That you're willing to admit.
I am I am really an easy guy when it comes to ice cream.
There's not many I don't like, but I'm kind of an old fashioned guy.
I got into this.
But do you like it soft or hard?
Well, I like I like the salted caramel.
That's my. That's my one. That that sounds a little.
That sounds a little bit, you know, modernized, doesn't it?
Now, I know your favorite dish is Italian.
Yep. Chicken Scarpariello.
And your favorite sandwich?
Probably an Italian.
Okay.
All right.
And your favorite refreshment drink?
Nonalcoholic. Nonalcoholic?
Yeah. Gatorade zero.
Gatorade zero. Because no calories. There you go.
Yeah.
Well, I want to thank the head football coach, Greg Schiano, for stopping
Eye on Piscataway.
We obviously wish him and his staff and the players
the best of luck in the 2026 season, coming especially here at SHI.
We want to make sure everybody's in the seats at the stadium.
We want to make sure it's a sellout for every game.
That's good for Piscataway Township and I myself, as the mayor, cannot pay
enough every time that the Big Ten Network says live from Piscataway, new Jersey.
You know, for PR,
if we ever had to pay for that PR wise, that would be a lot of money.
But I really appreciate all the hard work that you do, coach.
Appreciate you as a resident of town.
And best of luck to the players and everybody.
Well, the same goes mayor. We appreciate everything you do.
You do a great job and you're doing it for a long time.
So thank you.
Thank you. Good seeing you. You too.
Welcome to National Night Out.
2026 Piscataway.
We like to welcome you to our Piscataway National Night Out.
We've been doing this for over like 35 years.
And every year it gets better and better.
Let's remember what this night is for National Night Out.
Get to know the men and women in blue out here.
All of our first responders
patronize the businesses out here and have a very good time here.
This is what this is about.
To get to know your community.
You're here at the community center.
This is what it's all about.
We have a gorgeous, wonderful,
pretty, environmentally clean community
with great public safety services.
The our police department is a solid organization looking out for your safety.
We have great volunteer opportunities in our volunteer fire companies.
And you know what?
We all live together in peace and harmony,
and that's the way it should be in America.
Don't you agree?
I come from a law enforcement family.
My mother is the sheriff of Middlesex County.
My father is a retired lieutenant
from the prosecutor's office, and so is my brother.
So I know that there are a lot of good police officers out here,
and this is an opportunity for you to come together and meet them here today.
So when something is going on, you feel comfortable
getting to know them and they feel comfortable getting to know you.
So I hope you take this opportunity tonight to do just that.
So when I say P-Way, you say... You know! enjoy.
This evening is is the evening of fellowship
and you get opportunity to meet some of the police officers
that serve this community. So have a great time.
We have activities for all ages.
Have a great time. Thank you.
♫