(L to R) Greg Schiano, Former OC John McNulty and Mike Teel

One of the most notable Rutgers Football players in school history was in attendance for last week’s Greg Schiano introductory press conference, which was followed by a meet and greet. Former Rutgers quarterback Mike Teel made another trip back to Piscataway and offered his thoughts on the return of his former head coach.

“I was down there for the press conference but I was upstairs in the suite, the old Audi Club. I was sitting there with Ron Girualt, Jamaal Westerman, Amy and Jeff Towers, watching Coach Schiano on the television,” Teel said. “Watching him speak gets you ready to run through the wall. The vision, the passion, and the desire to be good and make New Jersey proud and unify the entire state was the biggest message that Coach spoke about today.”

Teel also pointed out what caught his attention in Schiano’s message.

“The passion he spoke with was unbelievable. I thought I was a sophomore in college sitting in the meeting room with him talking to the team. It seemed like a Schiano team meeting from 2002-2007. There was passion. His thing has always been that he cares about the players, no question about it. His thing with his team and his players, the No.1 thing is he needs to take young men and develop them into grown men who can go out into the world and be a husband, a great parent and other things that men do. His vision is family - you love your family and take care of your family, and ultimately things will take care of itself.”

Having such an in-depth and firsthand knowledge of the program, Teel talked about some of the differences in place for the start of the second Schiano era at Rutgers.

“There’s a difference from when he first took over to now. When he first took over, there wasn’t a lot of support in the state. It was his vision to build Rutgers football. The university is now committed to a big-time football program, and now it is his job to build off of that and continue to recruit high profile athletes and put a winning football team out there.”

After his playing days at Rutgers, Teel was a sixth-round NFL Draft pick of the Seattle Seahawks. His post-Rutgers career also included a coaching stint, which involved stops at Rutgers, Wagner and even as head coach at his alma mater, Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J. Those experiences allowed him to get a well-informed take on the evolution of Schiano.

“There was an evolution. I have spent more time with Coach in the past two years than I have in a long time because I was at Don Bosco,” Teel said. “More than anything, he has grown as a head coach and person to understand kids and this generation. I have multiple conversations about that, listened to what he had to say, and he mentioned multiple times how he learned from his first head coaching situation, into the NFL, through Ohio State and through New England. He comes with the same passion and fire that he had one time. But I think he comes as a person who has learned a lot about the profession and dealing with people, dealing with kids. I am so excited how that translates to us being able to grow our program.”

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Teel also acknowledged how much things have changed with recruiting since the time he was a prospect.

“It is a completely different world. And he said it in his press conference. Social media has changed the game. No doubt,” Teel said. “It has changed everything about the kid from now back to 2002. He has been part of this transformation and he has seen how it has changed the recruiting and the dynamic of the student-athlete. There are kids who get recruited, who shouldn't because of social media. And there are big recruits who have to deal with the pressure of social media every day. The 3, 4, and 5-star kids are expected to come in and be pro bowlers right away. If you dominate the high school field, I think it gives you a chance to dominate. But now the expectation is that you definitely will dominate, that they will be All-Americans and play in the NFL.

"But they are high school kids and there is so much development that has to go into transitioning from high school to college and beyond. I think coach Schiano understands the dynamic of how the social media world puts people on a pedestal and you have to be honest with people and give them the opportunity to succeed.”

And what will it take for Schiano to rebuild Rutgers football to its previous prominence?

“I think the first thing, the name of the game is recruiting. You have to recruit to be successful,” Teel said. “If you don’t have good players, you don’t win games. He talked about with the state of New Jersey being involved in the rebuild. The university being involved. All these people don’t think they have a big influence in Rutgers football, but they do. I think those people today will understand, whether you are a donor, booster or alum, you have those conversations around the water cooler to make the school relevant again. I haven’t seen block Rs since he left. I used to see them up and down the Turnpike. We need players, but we need the support from everyone.”