PISCATAWAY, N. J. \u2014 After failing to win a Big Ten Conference game in his first season, Rutgers Coach Chris Ash suddenly has a major recruiting tool.
It\u2019s the Super Bowl.
When the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons meet in Houston on Feb. 5, Rutgers will be on display.
The Scarlet Knights are going into the NFL championship game not only with four players on the field, but defensive backs Devin McCourty, Logan Ryan and Duron Harmon of New England, and wide receiver Mohamed Sanu of Atlanta are expected to start.
Alabama, LSU and Stanford also will each have four players on the active rosters, but not all of them start.
And Rutgers would have had five players if Patriots linebacker Jonathan Freeny had not been put on injured reserve earlier this season.
\u201cThis is big for our program,\u201d Ash said Wednesday. \u201cIt shows people, especially in the tristate area, that if you have a dream and goal of going to the NFL, you can reach that right here at Rutgers.
\u201cIt\u2019s good for the university when you have five alumni who are competing in their profession at the highest level possible. It\u2019s great advertising for our university and our program at this time.\u201d
It\u2019s also a topic that potential recruits notice, especially with the national signing day just about a week away.
\u201cThey don\u2019t ask about it but we talk about it, they make comments about it, especially in this area where it is such a big deal with five former Rutgers players in the Super Bowl,\u201d Ash said.
\u201cOut of this region is it such a big deal? Probably not as much because some people are not as familiar with Rutgers and the players. But around here it\u2019s a big deal.\u201d
It should be. McCourty, Sanu and Ryan all played their high school ball in New Jersey. Harmon is from Delaware and Freeny from Florida.
All played for Greg Schiano most of their careers. McCourty finished in 2009, the year Sanu, Harmon and Ryan joined the program.
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool to have all the guys I went to school with playing,\u201d Sanu said Wednesday of the Rutgers reunion. \u201cMe and Logan were roommates for about two years.\u201d
Sanu, who was drafted by the Bengals before signing with Atlanta last offseason, has faced the Patriots. But he noted that Ryan and he rarely matched up.
\u201cVery patient,\u201d Sanu said in describing Ryan. \u201cHe knows what the tendencies are. He studies them. You\u2019ve got to study just as much as him.\u201d
It\u2019s no surprise four of the former teammates ended up playing in New England for Bill Belichick.
Current Patriots safeties coach Steve Belichick, Bill\u2019s son, attended Rutgers, where he played lacrosse and joined the football team as a walk-on long snapper.
When Bill Belichick went to his son\u2019s games, he got to see some of his future players. McCourty was taken in the first round in 2010. Ryan and Harmon were taken in the third round in 2013. Freeny was signed as a free agent in 2015 after four seasons in Miami.
\u201cI\u2019d say Logan and Duron\u2019s roles have been pretty similar to what they were in college,\u201d Bill Belichick said. \u201cDevin has shifted from corner to his safety role, although sometimes he\u2019s a multiple guy. He\u2019s versatile. He\u2019s definitely more of a safety now, was more of a corner in college.\u201d
Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia said that McCourty, Ryan and Harmon \u2013 who had interceptions in the AFC divisional round against Houston \u2013 not only do what is asked of them but seem to understand what each other is doing.
\u201cI\u2019m sure it\u2019s probably very (similar) in a way to maybe back in the day when teams had guys that were on teams for an extended period of time,\u201d Patricia said.
\u201cYou know, they were on the team for five, six, seven, eight, maybe even 10 years together where there\u2019s that common background and history together that allowed them to play maybe a bit more in sync at times.\u201d
Tannehill was hurt Dec. 11 and missed the final four games of the season, and medical personnel are still assessing the severity of his ACL and MCL sprain.
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