After giving the media a chance to speak to head coach Greg Schiano, offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarocca, and defensive coordinator Travis Johansen, the program has started the press conferences where members of the media can ask questions to position coaches. This time, it was new offensive line coach Jim Turner’s turn at the podium, having the chance to speak publicly in front of the media for the first time since joining the Knights coaching staff.
The first question had to do with how close Turner feels like he is to determining the best five offensive linemen on the team.
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“Not close at all. So, you know, at the direction of our head coach, right, this is a great time for us to learn about our players, right? So, especially a guy like me who just came in here, I’ve only been here for a short time. So this is a great time for me to really learn these guys, you know what I mean, to learn what they’re capable of doing, and more importantly, what they’re not capable of doing….I don’t know who’s up yet to answer your question, but I’m getting closer. I’m not even close, though, I’m getting closer, though, you know?”
Turner had a lot of high praise for Schiano and Ciarrocca on how they run practice throughout the press conference.
“I worked with Coach Ciarrocca and Coach Brock. The three of them, between the head guy (Schiano) and those two, the three of them, maybe in my top five of football coaches that I’ve worked with.”
“I think I’ve had, don’t quote me on this, I don’t know, but I’m right around 14 jobs. Okay, I have never seen a team be developed the way we’re developing this team. I’m talking about all positions. You can’t stand out there if you’re a player; you can’t stand out there for one second. I’ve thought this my whole career. I’ve never been the boss, so I’ve never been able to change it, but I’ve thought this my whole career. When this unit’s going, right, so I got 26 linemen. So when five of them are going, I got 19 just standing there, scratching their ear, you follow me? It doesn’t happen here. Every group is running every play, every day.”
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One of the last questions in the press conference had to do with how Rutgers football culturally aligns with what he saw during his time in the Marine Corps. He then went into describing how Schiano operates in a style that is very similar to military style, especially when it comes to showing up on time and being disciplined. On top of that, his values of Family, Chop, and how he challenges the players are very intertwined with Turner’s military experience.
Here is a link to the full press conference, filmed by NJ.com/ The Rutgers Rant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtGfKrJ4s5I
