Rutgers football: Scarlet Knights dealing with new offense ... again

PISCATAWAY - When John McNulty was the offensive coordinator at Rutgers a decade ago, he morphed the system that was in place into something he could call his own.

Opting to not radically change the offense included keeping some terminology in place, making for a smoother transition, but that was then. McNulty is back for a second stint at running the Rutgers offense, and there is a different mindset in how to operate after the Scarlet Knights' offense was largely anemic, especially through the air, the last two seasons.

"We just changed everything," McNulty said earlier this week. "It's hard in some respects on those guys. I've tried to simplify it as best I could. I shortened things, but we'll be able to run the different tempos with what the terminology is, and we really haven't kept anything from there.

"It was just kind of wholesale, put a new deal in. It's been a lot of work for those guys. A lot of work, a lot of grinding, a lot of film, video, drawings, iPad, but they've adapted pretty well."

While not ideal, starting from scratch would seem like an easy decision for McNulty. During last season's 4-8 campaign, Rutgers ranked last in the 14-team Big Ten and 128th out of 129 FBS teams in total offense at 262.7 yards per game. Its passing attack was especially poor, ranking last in the Big Ten and 124th nationally at 115.6 yards per contest.

Compounding those problems is the fact that several key members of the offense are no longer around. The Scarlet Knights' top two rushers, Gus Edwards and Robert Martin, are prepping for the NFL Draft. Of Rutgers' four leading pass-catchers in 2017, only one, Janarion Grant, was a wide receiver, and he is gone to the NFL Draft after playing in just seven games during an injury-riddled redshirt senior season.

There is also the small matter of trying to figure out who the starting quarterback is, so yes, McNulty starting over, not holding onto anything from the past, makes a lot of sense.

"I think Coach McNulty and the offensive staff, particularly, are doing a great job coming in, identifying what we have on offense, tailoring an offensive system so far through the first four practices, based on what we have," third-year Rutgers head coach Chris Ash said. "We're continuing to install a lot, but we're a lot more multiple, a lot more flexible with what we're doing.

"We can utilize different players in different positions, a lot more than what we're able to do in the past. I like where we're at, but from a player standpoint, I think we've bought into the changes that we've made."

For Gio Rescigno, working with a new offensive coordinator and changing offenses is nothing new. McNulty will mark Rescigno's fifth different offensive coordinator in as many years.

As Rescigno vies to be the stater when Rutgers opens Sept. 1 against Texas State, can the fact he has learned so many new offenses be a positive? At a minimum, Rescigno has proven he is willing and able to adapt. That notion applies to each of his last two seasons as he took over the starting role in the middle of each.

"It's always a challenge, especially since it's something we haven't done yet, learning a whole new offense and going though that process," Rescigno said. "Same time, I think it's making us better and we're going to be better for it at the end of the day as an offense. It's exciting, some of the stuff I did my first couple of years in terms of the pro-style, so some of the stuff is relatable. Just the process of learning a new offense is fun and challenging at the same time.

"Right now, this is my fifth offensive coordinator, and I'm used to it at this point. It's not something I'm looking at as a negative thing. I think it's a positive to go out there, get better, and make my teammates better at the same time. I don't think it's something that is necessarily a negative, but a positive for me, as well as the rest of the offense."

Staff Writer Josh Newman: jnewman@app.com; @Joshua_Newman