2016 Spring Camp Practice 4: Quick Observations

By Greg Johnson

Twitter: @gregp_j

gjohnson@trentonian.com

PISCATAWAY — Rutgers is now officially a week into spring camp of the Chris Ash Era. The Scarlet Knights held their fourth practice (second in full pads) Thursday at the school's Indoor Practice and Conditioning Facility.

Just like last Thursday, media were permitted to observe the first hour of practice. We will be meeting with Ash in the Hale Center shortly.

Here are some quick takes on what transpired:

                         (Greg Johnson / Trentonian Photo)

• Rutgers President Robert Barchi and Athletic Director Pat Hobbs were both in attendance, as well as a few dozen recruits. Barchi paced around the Bubble for approximately 15 minutes. He addressed the team near midfield, then spoke with a pair of reporters and departed at 9:48 a.m. Barchi met with players at the Hale Center back in November after former head coach Kyle Flood was hired and Hobbs took over as AD, but I can't remember the last time he actually attended a football practice.

• Practice began at 9:30 a.m. After a few minutes of stretching and sprints (no players vomited as transpired last Thursday), players and coaches met near midfield. The atmosphere ramped up with chanting and fist pumping followed by one-on-one "bull-in-the-ring" drills, as seen in this video from winter workouts. Then coaches spoke until approximately 9:55 a.m., when a loudspeaker signaled the start of "Period 1."

• In the first set of quarterback drills, quarterbacks Hayden Rettig and Gio Rescigno were handing balls off to running backs in designed read-option plays near midfield. Meanwhile, quarterback Chris Laviano was light throwing in a separate adjacent drill.

• During "Period 2" quarterback drills at 9:59 a.m., the trio worked bubble screens, focusing on the fundamentals of quick turning and release.

• At 10:14 a.m., the quarterbacks transitioned into pocket work. They first focused exclusively on getting their bodies turned around with a quick spin move. Then they threw passes to tight ends in the flat, following by an array of fade routes and inside curl routes to both tight ends and receivers. Rettig and Rescigno each had an overthrow on deep balls, though Rettig dropped a nice dime to wideout Janarion Grant in the end zone nearest the Bubble's entrance. Grant also took a few jet sweep handoffs and lined up next to the quarterback in two-back sets. My overall take here was the emphasis on quick timing patterns likely resembling what fans can expect from Rutgers' new power spread offense next season. Grant should also be heavily featured.

• Defensive tackle Darius Hamilton did not take part in one-on-one defensive linemen drills with position coach Shane Burnham and special teams coordinator Vince Okruch. He wore a green non-contact jersey. No reason for the star fifth-year senior to push himself through hard drills this early in the year as he recovers back to 100 percent from last season's knee injury. Nothing to worry about here.

2016 Spring Camp Practice 3: Linebackers, new DC reveal early defensive developments

By Greg Johnson

Twitter: @gregp_j

gjohnson@trentonian.com

PISCATAWAY — Rutgers completed its third spring practice Tuesday at the school's Indoor Practice and Conditioning Facility, where defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Jay Niemann and a handful of linebackers met with the media.

Sophomores Najee Clayton and Deonte Roberts spoke one-on-one with The Trentonian. Below are clips from those two interviews and Niemann's session.

Click here to read my full story on the linebackers competition.

Defensive coordinator Jay Niemann:

Linebacker Najee Clayton:

Linebacker Deonte Roberts:

2016 Spring Camp Practice 2: Quarterbacks, new OC talk competition, power spread offense

By Greg Johnson

Twitter: @gregp_j

gjohnson@trentonian.com

PISCATAWAY — Following Rutgers' second session of spring camp Saturday, offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer and quarterbacks Chris Laviano (redshirt junior), Hayden Rettig (redshirt junior) and Giovanni Rescigno (redshirt sophomore) met with the media.

Below are clips from those interviews, which delved into an open spring quarterback competition and the program's transition from a pro-style offense to a power spread system. 

Click here to read my full story on the quarterbacks competition.

Offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer:

Quarterback Chris Laviano:

What Mehringer said about Laviano's progress...

“He’s obviously had game experience and some of those guys haven’t, so you could tell he feels a little bit more comfortable I think right now on the field.”

Quarterback Hayden Rettig:

What Mehringer said about Rettig's progress...

“Hayden is coming out and he’s thrown the ball very, very well. And he’s had, honestly, from where I thought he would be, he’s practiced better than I thought he would be, which is very encouraging.”

Quarterback Giovanni Rescigno:

What Mehringer said about Rescigno's progress...

“Gio’s got some things that we’ve got to work out mechanically, but he’s got a lot of speed and things like that. There’s some things that he can really, really help us with, and he’s got to clean up a few mechanical issues I think out there and some of just the mental mishaps. I think he’ll be alright, though.”