Rutgers running backs coach Gary Brown resigned from his post today to take the same position with the Cleveland Browns Accordig to a story on Scarlet Scuttlebutt.
Brown spent just one year as the running backs coach of the Scarlet Knights as he led a comittee led by sophomores Kordell Young and Mason Robinson and freshmen Jourdan Brooks and Joe Martinek to a total of 1,664 rushing yards.
Brown will now join Browns’ new head coach and former Jets’ head coach Eric Mangini in Cleveland.
In a preseason poll, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach pegs Rutgers as the 25th best team in the country going into next season. Rutgers is the only Big East team to receive a ranking on Schlabach’s poll.
In Schlabach’s opinion, Rutgers’ strong finish to last season (a 29-23 win over N.C. State in the Papajohns.com Bowl), combined with a strong recruiting class, outweighs the loss of standout quarterback Mike Teel and star receivers Kenny Britt and Tiquan Underwood.
Rutgers senior quarterback Jabu Lovelace will miss spring practice and is out indefitely after his second knee surgery last month.
The Tenafly, N.J. native broke his leg during practice last season and has not seen the field since. He primarily served as a backup to former quarterback Mike Teel in running situations.
Lovelace ran for 32 yards and had three pass atempts in limited action in 2008. He was expected to battle for Teel’s vactant starting spot over the off season, but seems to beout of the running after the injury.
Three Rutgers football players have been invited to this year’s NFL combine. According to a press release safety Courtney Greene and wide receiver Tiquan Underwood will take place in the NFL Combine.
Joining them will be the Big East’s all-time leading receiver, Kenny Britt, who chose to forgo his senior year at Rutgers to play in the NFL.
In other Rutgers news, incoming freshman defensive lineman Andre Civil will join safety Mohamed Sanu at Rutgers spring practice and has already enrolled in classes for the spring semester.
Civil (6’4″, 239-pounds) is a three-star recruit on Rivals.com from Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, N.Y.
After four-star defensive tackle Isaac Holmes was seemingly between Pittsburgh and Marylnd, the Hoboken, N.J. native offered his verbal to Rutgers early Monday after a recent visit to the school.
Holmes, a 295-pounder, made 87 tackles and 10 sacks as a junior at Hoboken High School and is the second run-stuffing defensive tackle in the Rutgers Class of 2009 along with 335-pound Antwan Lowery.
According to stories on scarletscuttlebutt.com and the Rhode Island student newspaper, four members of the Rutgers football team are set to transfer to URI for next season.
Among the transfers are Papajohns.com folk hero Rob Cervini who will join tight end Tom Lang, defensive back Robenson Alexis and quarterback Chris Paul-Etienne.
Rhode Island is an FCS team coached by Darren Rizzi, a former assistant coach for Greg Schiano.
Rutgers quarterback Mike Teel was named Big East Player of the Year today by the New Jersey Sports Writer’s Association. He will be presented with the award Jan. 25 at an awards banquet in Edison, N.J.
Teel, the MVP of the Papajohns.com Bowl, thre for 3,418 in his senior year with the Scarlet Knights (8-5, 5-2) and threw for a school record 25 touchdowns.
Teel is Rutgers’ all-time leader in passing touchdowns and passing yards and hs the potential to be drafted in the sixth or seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft
After a phenominal junior season in which he pulled in 1,371 yards and eight total touchdowns, Rutgers wide receiver Kenny Britt decided to declare for the NFL Draft. Britt, who now holds just about every receiving record, has been a part of all three of the Scarlet Knights’ bowl wins including the 29-23 win over North Carolina State in the 2008 Papajohns.com Bowl.
Britt has 3,042 career receiving yards with Rutgers, a Big East record, to go along with 18 career touchdowns. The Bayonne, N.J. native is expected to be a second round pick in April’s draft, but could still potentially go in the first round depending on his performance at the NFL Combine.
After a strip by Courtney Greene on Wolfpack running back Jamelle Eugene and a recovery by Jason McCourty on the first play from scrimmage, the Scarlet Knights subsequently marched down the field with long catches from Tiquan Underwood and Shamar Graves.
The star of the drive, however, was redshirt freshman holder Rob Cervini who ran the ball six yards for a touchdown on a fake field goal.
Cervini was forced into a starting role as the holder after the injury to long snapper Jeremy Branch forced previous holder Andrew DePaola to move to long snapper. Before holding, Cervini played on the practice squad as both a defensive back and quarterback.
Cervini and the special teams unit was not as successful on the extra point play as NC State got a hand on the kick and it fell short.
Rutgers starting lineup:
Offense
QB: Mike Teel (R-Sr.)*
HB: Kordell Young (R-Soph.)
FB: Jack Corcoran (Jr.)
WR: Tiquan Underwood (Sr.)*
WR: Kenny Britt (Jr.)
TE: Shamar Graves (Jr.)
LT: Anthony Davis (Soph.)
LG: Caleb Ruch (R-Fr.)
C: Ryan Blaszczyk (R-Jr.)
RG: Art Forst (Fr.)
RT: Kevin Haslam (R.-Jr.)
Rutgers junior wide receiver and third team All-American Kenny Britt needs just 79 receiving yards this afternoon to bcome the Big East’s all-time leading receiver in terms of yards. Prior to the game, Britt has 2,924 receiving yards, trailing only Pittsburgh’s Dietrich Jells who had 3,003 from 1991-95.
Defense
LE: George Johnson (Jr.)
DT: Pete Tverdov (Sr.)*
DT: Alex Silvestro (Soph.)
RE: Jonathan Freeny (Soph.)
SLB: Kevin Malast (Sr.)*
MLB: Ryan D’Imperio (Jr.)
WLB: Damaso Munoz (Jr.)
CB: Devin McCourty (R-Jr.)
CB: Jason McCourty (Sr.)*
FS: Courtney Greene (Sr.)*
SS: Joe Lefeged (Soph.)
With right end Jamaal Westerman out with a torn bicep muscle, sophomore Jonathan Freeny – a distant cousin of Colts’ Dwight Freeney - will step into a starting role. On the season, Freeny has 17 tackles and a forced fumble.
* denotes team captain