Will Greg Schiano's Untimely Departure Hurt Rutgers Recruiting?

With the departure of head coach Greg Schiano to the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dave Miller of the National Football Post asks the question that Scarlet Knights football fans must be sweating over right now — what happens to the 2012 recruiting class? National Signing Day (Feb. 1) is just a few days away.

Miller writes:

With Ryan Brodie, J.J. Denman and Chris Muller, Rutgers is bringing in three very solid pieces to work along the trenches. Brodie is New Jersey’s top offensive lineman, Denman switched his commitment this week from Wisconsin and Muller is a four-star prospect from Pennsylvania. Along with Derrick Nelson and Brandon Arcidiacono, Rutgers has five offensive linemen — a position of great need — in a class that stands at 17 so far with commitments from seven of the state’s top 15 recruits.

But how will Schiano’s departure affect their commitments? Will a few or more re-open their recruitments? And will stud defensive end Darius Hamilton and dual-threat quarterback Devin Fuller now turn their attention elsewhere? Fuller will announce his decision Sunday, while Hamilton will declare the day before National Signing Day.

Certainly replacing your head football coach less than a week before National Signing Day is a nightmare, and one that could really hurt the Scarlet Knights.

Indeed it could.