The Knights Watchman

Linked from scarletknights.com Click on the above image to find out about some of the exciting new things that Rutgers has added to enhance the football game-day experience. Last year, I noticed some new things taking shape over the course of the season. But this year, it seems the new blood in the athletic department has really taken the game-day experience up a notch. Here's some of the new things that stand out to me. "Rutgers Gameday" app There will be a new downloadable app that will give fans information and statistics for all 24 of Rutgers' main campus sports teams. Users can sign up for push notifications and receive discounts. Can't wait to see how this looks. Video Board at Practice Complex The video screen at the Marco Battaglia Practice Complex will broadcast pregame shows and other information related to the game. Food Trucks Along Scarlet Knight Way The long walk from some of the parking lots and bus drop-off to the stadium will be alle...

On Monday, Pat Hobbs announced in a press release that Rutgers all-time great Marco Battaglia had been upped to Assistant Athletic Director for Development. For the past few years, Battaglia has been instrumental in establishing relationships with donors and increasing financial support for the Rutgers athletics programs. According to the press release he will also aid in "strategic planning, specifically serving on a task force selected by Hobbs to outline the future vision for Rutgers athletics." Congrats to Battaglia, one of my favorite Scarlet Knights, especially since his playing years coincided with my undergrad years. His time on the Banks ended the same year as Doug Graber, and we know what happened after that. Four years with Battaglia and Graber, a competitive 20-23-1. The four years after, 8-36. I look forward to Marco brainstorming the future vision for Rutgers athletics as he looks out over the practice fields named in his honor.

It appears that there has been some movement on a resolution to the Notice of Allegations that Rutgers received from the NCAA in December of last year. Last Friday, July 14, representatives from Rutgers Athletics met with the NCAA Committee on Infractions. According to reports from NJ Advance Media, the Rutgers contingent included President Robert Barchi, AD Pat Hobbs , Head Coach Chris Ash, Senior Vice President and lead counsel John Hoffman, and chief compliance officer Paul Perrier. Also former head coach Kyle Flood, former assistant Darrell Wilson, and former director of sports medicine Robert Monaco (and/or their representatives) were reportedly in attendance. The gist of the meeting was that those appearing before the panel had the opportunity to ask questions and answer to, or for, each allegation. The next step is that in 8-12 weeks the Committee on Infractions will issue a final report and announce any potential sanctions on Rutgers football or the athletic department i...

Congratulations are in order for Rutgers Athletics, as many of the university's sports programs scored exceptional marks in Graduation Success Rate. Read the article on Scarletknights.com here The football team ranked third among all Big Ten schools. Great job to the student athletes and academic support staff in all of the sports!