Rutgers’ stop in Chicago for Big Ten media day on July 28 should answer a few questions, even if Greg Schiano doesn’t exactly hand out the full playbook.
The biggest one is still the quarterback race. Dylan Lonergan and AJ Surace are the names everyone wants to hear about, and Schiano has never been the type to rush a decision or tip his hand early.
He’s more likely to talk in broad terms about competition, execution and leadership than to point toward a favorite. Still, the way he frames that battle could tell you plenty.
If there’s going to be a starter timeline, this is where fans may get the first hint.
Freshmen should be another major topic. With the NCAA’s 5-for-5 age-based eligibility framework, true freshmen have more room to get on the field without sacrificing a year.
Rutgers also has more talent in the pipeline than it has in recent seasons, including five four-stars in the class of 2026 and five more players rated 89, just below four-star level. Schiano hasn’t leaned heavily on true freshmen lately, but that could shift this fall, and the names he brings up will matter.
One freshman almost certain to come up is running back Aiden Gibson. He recently committed, reclassified from the class of 2027 to 2026, and was a Penn State decommit.
He was also the highest-ranked commit of the second Schiano era at Rutgers, which makes this his first public moment with Schiano speaking about him directly. Gibson’s potential role in the offense has already become a talking point, and that isn’t likely to cool off anytime soon.
Injuries will draw attention, too. Schiano usually keeps those updates vague, avoiding specifics on severity or timelines when he can. But media day often brings at least one player into focus who won’t be available, and if there’s a longer-term issue, that’s usually when it surfaces.
Then there’s the broader question of what Rutgers thinks it can be in 2026. The players at media day - KJ Duff, Antwan Raymond and Kobe Asamoah - are likely to bring the optimism.
Schiano, as always, will stay measured and avoid win-loss predictions. But after a season in which Rutgers finished with the worst FBS defense, the questions on that side of the ball will be unavoidable.
The exact words may not say much, but the confidence behind them probably will.
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Heningburg arrives with the rsum of a former two-time All-American and recent professional retiree, while DeMarcos influence stretches from his time as Rutgers associate head coach to his work in the wider game. For a Scarlet Knights program that has already seen a dozen former members honored in the Hall, the latest class adds two more figures whose impact has been felt in very different, but equally important, ways. [Read more 🡒]
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Incoming senior guard Tariq Francis also earned a spot on the 2025-26 NABC Honors Court, a distinction reserved for student-athletes who maintain a 3.2 cumulative GPA or better. Francis recognition adds another individual note to a program-wide achievement, and it fits the larger picture of a Rutgers team that keeps showing up in the academic awards conversation as well as the basketball one. [Read more 🡒]