Legendary coach says Rutgers could be ‘next Indiana’ after Hoosiers’ storybook national title run
Urban Meyer thinks Rutgers could be up next.
The legendary former college coach, who won two national championships with Florida (2) and Ohio State, believes the Scarlet Knights are among the best positioned teams to be the “next Indiana,” he said on Wednesday’s edition of his Triple Option podcast.
The Hoosiers were crowned national champions on Monday, when they beat Miami to complete arguably the most improbable title run in college football history. The program that had the most losses in the sport’s 155-year history, Indiana became the first team since Yale in 1894 to finish a campaign with a 16-0 record.
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In discussing the news, Triple Option host Rob Stone posed a question to Meyer during the “3 and Out” segment of the program: “Give me three programs that could be the next Indiana, meaning teams that are used to losing, have really bad records and can somehow rise from the ashes to become national champion.”
Meyer, who had Rutgers coach Greg Schiano as his defensive coordinator at Ohio State for three seasons, did not hesitate: “Rice, Rutgers, and Wake.”
“I have no idea about Rice, no idea about Wake, but I’m going to throw them out there because if Indiana can, they can,” Meyer said. “But I will say Rutgers because Greg Schiano — who I’m biased, he’s a great friend and a great football coach — he had him in the top five in the country at one point in ‘06.”
Schiano brought Rutgers to its greatest heights during the 2006 season, with the Scarlet Knights getting as high as No. 7 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 6 in the BCS standings following a 9-0 start to the campaign highlighted by the mythical win over No. 3 Louisville in Piscataway. Rutgers finished that season with an 11-2 record, culminated with its first-ever bowl win, and a final No. 12 ranking in the AP Poll.
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The Scarlet Knights currently have the third-most losses in college football history (708), trailing only Northwestern (716) and Indiana (715). They face both teams next fall: the Hoosiers at home and the Wildcats on the road.
