Rutgers’ 2021 National Signing Day class shows how Greg Schiano is emphasizing N.J. on recruiting trail - NJ.com

On a day when he introduced 23 recruits into his Rutgers football program, Greg Schiano didn’t want to single out any particular area.

Schiano said he liked the way his staff scattered throughout Rutgers’ recruiting footprint to land players outside of the Garden State, landing commitments from three players from Ohio and Florida, two from Pennsylvania and one each from Colorado, Illinois, Maryland and Virginia.

But the Bergen County native couldn’t help but correct a reporter who asked about the nine New Jersey players in this year’s recruiting class

“I thought it was 11 total but I might be wrong,’' Schiano said.

Schiano was correct. Nearly half of Rutgers’ 23-player class is comprised of players who starred at one point at a New Jersey high school football program.

“Obviously everything starts and finishes with New Jersey and New York,’' Schiano said. “That’s where we are. That’s right here. They can get here in two hours tops. We have a lot of good football in our region. And then after that you go where you need to go to get what you need to get to put together your football team. I love the distribution. We’re never going to be handcuffed to (the thinking of) ‘you have to have people from here and there.’

“But for us to be successful we have to be successful in our backyard.’'

According to the 247 Sports’ state rankings, Rutgers landed two players ranked in the top-10 in New Jersey and five players who were ranked between Nos. 11 and 20.

The seven commitments marks Rutgers’ best in-state haul of top-20 recruits since 2012.

Schiano’s latest recruiting crop will make Rutgers’ roster even more Jersey-centric next September. NJ Advance Media previously reported that 60.2 % of the team’s 123 players were produced on gridirons throughout the state -- the highest percentage of New Jersey players for Rutgers since 2004 (Schiano’s first tenure).

Of the 74 players out of New Jersey high schools on Rutgers’ roster, 39 are believed to be on scholarship. New York (12), Pennsylvania (8) and Maryland (5) follow New Jersey as the states with the most Rutgers players on the roster.

“New Jersey will always be the beginning and the end of everything we do (recruiting-wise),’' Schiano said. “It’s a great high school football state. There are great players, there’s tremendous high school football coaching. So you get guys that are further along in their development and understand the commitment level of playing big-time college football.’'

The list of New Jersey recruits in Rutgers’ 2021 class includes Carnell Davis, a 6-2, 170-pound receiver who spent his senior year at a Florida high school after playing at Absegami High and St. Augustine Prep earlier in his scholastic career.

Here are the other 10 recruits from New Jersey in Rutgers’ 2021 class:

-- Zaire Angoy, DL, 6-3, 310, Irvington

-- Khayri Banton, LB, 6-3, 220, West Side-Newark

-- Alijah Clark, DB, 6-2, 180, Camden

-- Zach Goodale, WR, 6-0, 170, Toms River North

-- Keshon Griffin, DL, 6-4, 245, St. Joseph-Hammonton

-- Desmond Igbinosun, DB, 6-3, 200, Union

-- Shaquan Loyal, DB, 6-0, 180, West Side-Newark

-- Al-Shadee Salaam, ATH, 5-9, 175, East Orange

-- Zack Taylor, LS, 6-0, 220, Parsippany Hills

-- Jordan Thompson, DL, 6-3, 225, Parsippany Hills

“The one thing that I’ve loved about this class is we’ve recruited them for a long time,’' Schiano said. “We know them very, very well. These guys feel like they’re already part of our family.’'

Schiano had a little more than a year to establish and then build relationships with the class. He did the former by hosting a series of meet-and-greets in the weeks after he was re-introduced as the Rutgers coach in December 2019. And he did the latter in an unorthodox way, talking with recruits and their families in video conference calls once the coronavirus pandemic hit.

“It’s about relationships,’' Schiano said. “It’s hard because we can’t see each other in person. I know it’s been a dead period for a long time. But I think our assistant coaches are doing an incredible job of creating opportunities to communicate with these players and their families. So we just have to keep doing it and eventually the virus will subside and we’ll be able to get back on the road recruiting and have people down to our campus and all that.’'

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Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.

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