Greg Schiano might have something brewing at Rutgers in 2021. Even though they were 3-6 last season in his first year back, Schiano definitely made people notice the Scarlet Knights and the new look they displayed after a few disastrous seasons.
Quarterback Noah Vedral was a huge part of that transformation and he’s back for another season. Vedral originally transferred to Rutgers ahead of the 2020 season from Nebraska and with two years of eligibility left, he plans to use both.
Speaking at Big Ten Media Day this week, Schiano opened up on the impact of Vedral.
“Yeah, Noah was a tremendous addition and it was during COVID, I was in my office, I was actually sitting in my home in Columbus, and he came into the portal,” Schiano said. “My recruiting guy shot me the video I watched it and I watched, I don’t know, 180 snaps. I said this is the guy. We got to get him. He’s going to be perfect for what we do offensively and a two-week process that ended with Noah committing and signing with us and he’s been everything that we were looking for. He’s a tremendous student of the game, number one, very, very smart. Can run our offense, can run the whole operation.
“We’re a no-huddle outfit and he runs it seamlessly and I think having been in the system for a year it’s going to be even better going forward. And I think the other thing that he brings is he’s got a respect of his teammates. He’s an unselfish guy who is a giving guy and puts the team first. So when you have those traits, success is going to come.”
Schiano also dove into the continuity at quarterback and offensive coordinator, with Sean Gleeson returning for his second season. Rutgers went through a rotating cast of OC’s over the last decade.
“Well, I think it’s important,” Schiano said about having continuity at quarterback and offensive coordinator. “I’m pretty excited to have the same head coach back too. That helps me. But, yeah, I am excited. I think Sean Gleeson is a tremendous part of our program. We worked very hard to get him. He came from Oklahoma State. And there was points where I didn’t know if he was actually going to come and he’s done a tremendous job. And then Noah, I spoke about earlier, to have those two guys back working together and they really do, they work hand in glove, they’re excellent together, I love listening to them in meetings and they’re a great example for the other quarterbacks in the room because we have some good, young quarterbacks. So it’s going to be a huge positive and I agree, it’s nice to have some continuity.”
In seven games, missing one due to what appeared to be a right thumb injury on his throwing hand, Vedral completed 136 of 221 passes (61.5%) for 1,253 yards and nine touchdowns against eight interceptions. He was Rutgers’ second-leading rusher behind junior running back Isaih Pacheco, keeping 68 times for 327 yards (2.8 average) and one touchdown.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Vedral completed 34 of 52 passes (65.4%) for 418 yards in five games as a third-year sophomore during the 2019 season at Nebraska. Vedral did some damage with his legs, too, as he took 30 carries for 106 yards (3.5 average) and three touchdowns. Vedral followed head coach Scott Frost to Nebraska after spending the 2017 season as a freshman at UCF.
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Rutgers is scheduled to open up the 2021 season at home against Temple on Thursday, September 2nd at 6:30 p.m. ET.
