Rutgers athletics director Kenny Parker talks with athletics director Pat Hobbs and boosters Joanna and Ron Garutti in the new weight room.

For most of the world, the big New Year's countdown happened Saturday night into Sunday morning.

For Rutgers football players, there's still about two weeks to go before the clock strikes midnight on Jan. 17.

In addition to marking the first day of classes for the spring semester, that's when the team will gather for the unofficial start of the 2017 season and the first day of winter strength and conditioning workouts run by the program's own pseudo-drill sergeant Kenny Parker.

"They are going to push us hard -- and we're ready for it," safety Saquan Hampton said. "We know what's coming for us and what we have to be ready for. They are going to amp it up to a whole other level."

Hampton is speaking from experience.

Jan. 19 will mark the one-year anniversary of one of the biggest wake-up calls the players have faced in their careers -- 5 a.m. bear crawls in the snow at High Point Solutions Stadium as coach Chris Ash made his initial judgement of his new team.

Coming off a 2-10 season, the players aren't expecting to be cut any breaks when Ash and Parker unveil their plans for an encore.

"We know what we are going to get ourselves into," defensive tackle Sebastian Joseph said. "I know Coach Parker and Coach Ash are probably going to crank it up a lot because now we know what's expected.

"Now we are going to probably rev it up even more, which I'm excited about. Winning football games isn't easy, so training shouldn't be easy. I'm excited for us to rebuild and grow as a program."

Since the season ended with a loss to Maryland on Nov. 26, the returning players mostly have been focused on weight-lifting. An organized program was set up through Dec. 14, followed by discretionary lifts from then until the players scattered.

Some time off granted for the holiday break is not an excuse to fatten up on Christmas cookies, however. At least not without feeling the wrath when workouts resume.

"Last year was shocking," Hampton said. "This year we know what our mentality has to be entering the weight room. We'll be mentally prepared for it, but it's not going to be easy at all."

One surefire difference is the outspoken voices will change since Rutgers said goodbye to all four of its 2016 co-captains. Ash and Parker use those workouts -- culminating in the Valentine's Day Massacre -- to gauge leadership qualities.

"It's like anything in life: You better outwork people," Parker said. "We were behind the 8-ball with a long way to go. You know what, though? I think our kids stepped up to the challenge. I think they embraced that grind, that culture. It took them a while, but they've done a good job."

At this time last year, quarterback Giovanni Rescigno was a third-stringer. Now he is the returning starter planning to thrive off competition.

"I'm not sure if it's going to be more calm for me," Rescigno said. "I really enjoyed last offseason's workouts. I thought it was great. The mat drills and all the stuff we did -- the massacres -- I thought that was really good. I'm not necessarily looking forward to it, but it's exciting."

Ryan Dunleavy may be reached at rdunleavy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rydunleavy. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.