Introductions won’t be necessary when in Piscataway tonight.
UMass and Joe Harasymiak’s return to Rutgers will bring together two coaching staffs with relationships and shared history running throughout them.
But if familiarity is supposed to provide an advantage, Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano isn’t convinced his team is the one that benefits.
Despite the extensive connections between the two programs, Schiano believes the Minutemen may have a better idea of what to expect in the season opener.
“It probably gives them a little bit more of an advantage, really,” the Rutgers head coach said this week. “They probably have a little better beat on what we’re gonna do than we do them.”
Harasymiak spent three seasons as Schiano's defensive coordinator at Rutgers before taking over at UMass following the 2024 season. He didn't leave Piscataway alone.
UMass defensive coordinator Jared Keyte worked under Schiano at Rutgers before joining Harasymiak in Amherst, while general manager Jared Osumah also spent time with the Scarlet Knights.
Schiano didn’t particularly enjoy losing either one.
“His GM is Jared Ozumah, who’s done a great job,” Schiano said. “They have 50, I don’t know, 53 new players on their roster this year, so Jared, I hated to lose him. He’s got Jared Keyte as his defensive coordinator, right? And didn’t want to lose him.”
The connections extend beyond their time together at Rutgers.
Harasymiak and Rutgers offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca previously worked together at Minnesota for a year, creating another layer of familiarity as Keyte prepares the UMass defense to face Ciarrocca’s offense. UMass special teams coordinator Joe Castellitto also has relationships with members of the Rutgers staff.
“Intermingling on these two staffs, a lot of football will be known,” Schiano said.
But not everything.
UMass has a new offensive coordinator in Max Warner. The Minutemen also recently added veteran coach and former UMass player Kevin Coyle to the defensive staff, another variable Schiano acknowledged as Rutgers tries to anticipate what it will see tonight.
“Who knows what they’re gonna do?” Schiano said. “Kevin’s been a defensive coordinator at every level, NFL, college. He is an excellent coach, so I’m sure Joe made a real smart move in getting him on the staff. So who knows what he brings to the scheme and what he’s gonna add there.”
Schiano has noticed Harasymiak and Keyte putting their own stamp on the UMass defense versus what they did under his direction in New Jersey.
“Joe’s been away for a year and Jared’s been the coordinator for a year, and obviously Joe has a big influence on it, but you watch some different things that they’re doing defensively last year, towards the end of the season especially, and you say, ‘OK, yeah, I can see that’s something that they believe in now that maybe we didn’t do,’” he said.
“It’ll be interesting to see what further growth they’ve had.”
There may be some uncertainty about what UMass will do, but Schiano is considerably more familiar with who will be doing it.
That starts with quarterback Pop Watson, who enters his first season as the Minutemen’s full-time starter.
“We saw Pop when he was at Virginia Tech,” Schiano said. “We were aware of him, we recruited him, so we’re very familiar with him. He’s a really excellent athlete.”
Schiano also pointed toward running backs Elijah Faulkner and Justin Williams-Thomas and a receiving corps led by Joseph Griffin Jr. and T.Y. Harding.
The 6-foot-4 Griffin provides the Minutemen with size on the outside, while Harding, who switched from #10 to #2 this season, has Schiano’s attention because of his ability to create explosive plays on offense and special teams.
“#10, who’s gonna be wearing #2 this year, he’s an explosive player,” Schiano said. “He’s their return guy, does a great job there, has taken it to the house, as well as deep shots. So we have to be aware of that.”
Schiano’s familiarity with the UMass defense becomes even more personal at linebacker.
Timmy Hinspeter followed Harasymiak from Rutgers to UMass and is now one of four Minutemen captains alongside fellow linebacker Tyler Martin.
“We know Timmy Hinspeter very well, obviously,” Schiano said. “Timmy’s another guy I didn’t wanna lose.
“Timmy’s a captain along with Martin, #5. Their linebackers are their heart and soul, their defense.”
The combination of familiar people, a dramatically different UMass roster and schemes that have continued to evolve leaves both sides with a little more uncertainty than their shared history might suggest.
“They knew what they walked into, and they went out and got half a hundred new players, more than that, that they believe in,” Schiano said. “It’s gonna be interesting to see. There’s some unknowns.”
Harasymiak has a similar view of how much all of that familiarity will ultimately matter.
While he knows plenty about Schiano, Ciarrocca and the way Rutgers wants to play, he sees enough differences on both sides that trying to win a game based on inside knowledge isn’t the focus.
“From a game plan standpoint, all of football is really kind of the same plays,” Harasymiak acknowledged. “I think it’s who you put in those positions to get the plays. And I certainly think UMass offense and Rutgers defense is a little bit different. There’s two new coordinators. They have a whole new staff.
“I recognize some of the names there that were younger when I was there, but there’s a lot of guys I do not know. I just wasn’t there for it.”
Harasymiak has spent more time preparing his team for the characteristics he expects to remain the same under Schiano.
“I’m focusing on trying to get our team ready for what the mentality will be to have a chance, the physicality, the grind, the strength of their team, how big they’re going to be upfront especially, and how strong they are,” he said. “That’s what we got to be prepared for.”
For all of the connections between the programs, both coaches eventually arrive at essentially the same place.
“Definitely an opener that has a lot of plot twists to it,” Schiano said. “And at the end of the day, we gotta be prepared and we gotta go play, right? Go play our best game, and that’s really all I’m concerned with, us playing our best game.”
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