Project hope: football has been an exercise in futility at Rutgers, Indiana and Duke, but signs of change are rising from the ruins

Sporting News, The, Oct 6, 2003 by Tricia Garner, Mike DeCourcy, Matt Hayes

It's Monday morning, and there's a typo in the point spreads for September 27. Wait--Rutgers really is not an underdog. What gives? Ah, yes, the Scarlet Knights are playing Navy, and the line is pick 'em, a victory in itself for a program without a win in its conference, the Big East, since alumnus James Gandolfini's pre-Emmy days.

Meanwhile, it's just another week at Duke, which is preparing for Florida State as a 30-point 'dog, and at Indiana, which is catching 34 from Michigan.

Hope? It's nowhere to be found at three of college football's most desolate outposts. Or is it? Despite our pre-occupation with the star players and winning teams that shape each season, perhaps it's time--early on, before the 2003 Scarlet Knights, Blue Devils and Hoosiers reasonably can be ID'd as losers or, worse, utterly ignored--we take a walk on the other side.

What is in the air that surrounds these programs? Does it poison a young athlete's body with deep-rooted negativity? Does it stifle progress before progress can he detected, let alone believed? Or is it healthier than that? Let's breathe deep and find out.

RUTGERS Under construction

As you walk into the Hale Center, Rutgers' football complex, two large signs immediately grab your attention. Posted on twin columns flanking the lobby, the signs are white with a simple black border. The scarlet red letters in the center read, "Please pardon our appearance during construction."

There's a gaping hole where the baseboard has been torn up, an electrical outlet dangling out of the wall--evidence of the Hale Center's ongoing $12 million renovation. But more than the physical surroundings are under construction. For a simple description of the Rutgers football program, those signs say it all.

Leading the renovation is third-year coach Greg Schiano. Off the field, Schiano is personable and likable, a man who greets his wife and four small children at the edge of the field after practice.

On the sideline, he is much more intense. Midway through one practice, a few players begin laughing when they botch a play. Within seconds, an infuriated Schiano charges Into the middle of the group. "That's not funny," he bellows, followed by something to the effect of, "You gonna do that on Saturday?" The players get the message. There are no subsequent lapses in focus the rest of practice.

Clearly, Schiano means business. He has instilled an impressive sense of structure and discipline in the program. Players must eat breakfast each morning with a coach or member of the academic support staff and review their schedule for the day. It is a necessary approach, considering Schiano inherited a team in 2001 that had gone 24-63-1 since its last winning season (7-4 in 1992).

"We knew what we were coming into," Schiano says. "We also knew the only way to get that turned around was to get the right players in our program."

Discipline isn't Schiano's only focus. He has made recruiting a priority in a state that is a hotbed of talent. Chris Simms (Texas) and Ron Dayne (Wisconsin) are among the players who attended New Jersey high schools before accepting offers to play at out-of-state colleges. Schiano's goal is to keep the top-caliber players closer to home.

"They have a great facility, a great stadium.... They've got everything every other school has," says Ralph Dass, coach at Hackensack High School, which is ranked third in the state by The Star-Ledger of Newark and has two graduates on Rutgers' current roster. Still, Dass concedes, "You're trying to impress 17-and 18-year-old kids. One thing they like to see is winning."

The fans would like to see a few wins as well. The magic number thrown around a lot is four. Entering the season, Rutgers was expected to beat three teams on the schedule--Buffalo, Army and Navy, last week end's opponent that went down, 48-27. A 3-1 start is encouraging, but it is the fourth win, a victory against a Big East opponent, that Rutgers fans covet most. The team hasn't won a conference game since 1999. Get four wins, and the season is a success. Fall short, and let the dissension begin.

Rutgers fans speak with envy of Midwest football schools such as Nebraska, where the fan support is rabid and the local kids stick around. They convey a wistful longing, a hope that one day Rutgers will he home to the same environment.

Among fans and in the locker room, a cautious enthusiasm is building. Junior safety Jarvis Johnson, the team's leading tackler, believes that day will come even before he leaves New Brunswick.

"We'll be the team to watch," he says, "in the Big East, around the world."--T.G.

INDIANA Shadow dancing

It is 6:32 p.m. when the sun slips beneath the soft Bloomington horizon, and the Indiana Hoosiers practice into the gloaming. Seconds before, head manager Chris Miguel blasted through his bullhorn to signal the start of "Period 16," which means there's another half-hour to go, which means the only illumination by the end will be a few fireflies and a solitary street lamp in an adjacent parking lot. There are no lights for these practice fields.