Rutgers football bullied in pursuit of in-state four-star recruits for 2021

Despite Greg Schiano back to provide a bright future outlook, Rutgers football is getting bullied in pursuit of some of New Jersey’s top prospects.

When Rutgers joined the Big Ten in 2014, it seemed like a curious move for the conference because it wasn’t exactly a powerhouse program in football or basketball.

Still, Kyle Flood managed to win eight games in that first season, starting his career with the Scarlet Knights after Greg Schiano with a 23-16 record and two eight-plus win seasons. He made three straight bowl games, but that was as good as it was going to get.

The next year, Flood went 4-8 and parted ways with Rutgers and the Scarlet Knights replaced him with Ohio State assistant Chris Ash.

Hope was present early on, but it didn’t last. Ash went 2-10 in year one and 4-8 in year two, but managed to win just two total games over the next season-plus and he was fired. The program decided the best move would be to bring back a familiar face that put the Scarlet Knights on the map from 2006-11.

Schiano was hired and he had spent a decade in Piscataway from 2001-11, but his best years came during the aforementioned six-season span.

The hire was great for the program and brought hope back which had been lacking for years. Not imaginary hope like that under Ash, but real hope.

But just because Schiano is back in town doesn’t mean everything will be fixed overnight. The image of Rutgers right now is that of losing and failure. Long gone are the days of nine-plus win seasons that Schiano experience during his first tenure and the Rutgers everyone pictures nowadays is the 1-11 or 2-10 program that is considered a “free win” on every Big Ten team’s schedule.

Geno VanDeMark proved that failure is still the face of Rutgers football until further notice when he committed to Michigan State over the in-state Scarlet Knights on Saturday.

The four-star offensive guard committed to a first-year staff at Michigan State which is also in an uncertain situation and that shows that even the kids who grew up around the Rutgers program don’t see things turning around any time soon.

Schiano has a ton of work to do.

Rutgers did land four-star New Jersey linebacker Khayri Banton back in March, but Michigan State dipped into the state and stole the fourth-best prospect. The Spartans are also the favorites to land Jersey’s No. 7 prospect in four-star running back Audric Estime who could be close to joining his teammate (VanDeMark) in East Lansing.

New Jersey’s No. 1 recruit for 2021 (Tywone Malone) has Rutgers high on his list, but Schiano will have to beat out Ohio State, Texas A&M and Ole Miss. Not exactly a positive outlook there. The No. 2 prospect (George Rooks) is a Michigan lean, the No. 3 prospect (Aaron Armitage) is a USC lean and the next-best New Jersey-native committed to Rutgers is ranked No. 10 in the state.

Right now, Rutgers is getting bullied in pursuit of the state’s top talent and while Schiano may fix that gradually in the coming classes, it’s going to be a painful few years for Scarlet Knight fans.