Greg Schiano

A little more than a week after Greg Schiano was announced as Rutgers’ new head football coach, fans will get another opportunity to hear him speak this weekend. Scarlet Nation has confirmed with a source with knowledge of the situation that Schiano has been tentatively scheduled to address the crowd during halftime of the Seton Hall vs Rutgers basketball game on Saturday afternoon inside The RAC.

Tip-off is at 4 p.m. and the game has been sold out since before the start of the season.

“I love Coach Schiano. It’s been great. We’ve talked, we text, we communicate,” Rutgers men’s basketball coach Steve Pikiell said on a conference call today. “He is awesome. His enthusiasm, people are excited here at Rutgers. I look forward to working with him. I know he is going to do some really great things for our football program too and for the university. Really, really excited about him; great guy. His wife, awesome, really excited he is here. He continues that trend, Rutgers – buy stock now. We are going to continue to get better.”

Schiano is already a pronounced supporter of Pikiell as he tweeted about last night’s win over Wisconsin.

Even though Schiano was away from Rutgers for a while, it was never far from his mind.

“The last eight years, I followed Rutgers, that was my team," Schiano said during his introductory press conference. "Now I didn't let everybody know that, but whether I was coaching in the NFL, I checked the scores, I read the stories. I always wondered and wanted to know what's happening at Rutgers. I'd be lying if I didn't tell you I got disappointed when things didn't go well. We need to adjust a few things because we do need to build this program to last. The State of New Jersey deserves that. Rutgers University deserves that. We're going to have to adjust some things, but it will be built to last, I promise you that."

Schiano has been blazing the recruiting trail over the past week and that resulted in multiple commitments to the class of 2020. This weekend will mark another round of official visitors who are expected to be in attendance for the basketball game.

In the very early going, Schiano is beginning to live up to the endorsements he received from droves of fans, coaches, players and even politicians.

"If my math is right, 19 years and three days ago in coming off a series of sub-par seasons, Rutgers turned to a jersey product, Greg Schiano, to turn the program around and reignite pride in Scarlet Knights football," New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said during Schiano's introductory press conference. "He said two simple words which set the tone for the decade to tomorrow: It's time. Once again, faced with the challenge to turn around a football program and reignite Scarlet Knight pride; it's time. A new era of Rutgers Football and a new era of national prominence for Rutgers begins."

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