The Knights Watchman

Live on MSG varsity earlier tonight, 5-star recruit Darius Hamilton, son of former New York Giant Keith Hamilton, officially chose Rutgers over the University of Miami and a host of other schools. Around the same time, fellow commits Steve Longa and Quanzell Lambert confirmed their allegiance to Rutgers. Earlier in the day 4-star recruit Leonte Carroo had done the same. (As a fellow Edison guy, I knew you were going to do the right thing.:->) Best of luck to all the recruits, and here's to having a successful signing day for Coach Flood tomorrow! 

I am unofficially knighting Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti for the way he has handled the Rutgers head football coaching search, the sensitivity of losing a coach so close to signing day, and for reminding the press and the Rutgers faithful what it means to be a Scarlet Knight. The thing that struck me the most about Pernetti's words during the press conference announcing the hiring of head coach Kyle Flood was that he emphasized that at Rutgers "we don't win at all costs." Pernetti wanted to ensure that his hire would be a man of character who would continue to keep Rutgers football ranked at the top of nation's student athletes while still maintaining a level of success on the field. By going the extra mile and getting certified as an assistant coach to aid in recruiting he proved how meaningful it is to have a Rutgers man and former student-athlete as the AD rather than an outsider. Thank you for doing things the right way.

The time of the Flood, Kyle Flood, is the dawning of a new era for Rutgers football. As such, it seemed appropriate for it to be the dawn of a new day for this blog. First off, congratulations to Coach Flood on being named head coach of the oldest program in BCS football after 19 long, hard years as an RU assistant. When Greg Schiano shocked the Rutgers faithful and left for Tampa Bay, at first it seemed to me to be almost a panic measure for AD Tim Pernetti to install Flood as the interim head coach rather than simply leaving the position vacant until naming a permanent replacement. But it made sense to me from the perspective of him already being the Assistant Head Coach, who else would you name, especially at such a delicate time in the recruiting process. As the days went on, more and more current and former Rutgers players, prospective recruits, and local big-name high school coaches essentially vouched for Kyle Flood. It's like the old Elvis album title 100,000,000 Elvis F...