newjerseynewsroom.com

BY MATT SUGAM

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

PISCATAWAY – A casual observer of Rutgers' football practices over the last few years wouldn’t think much has changed since Kyle Flood took the reins from Greg Schiano. And for the most part, they’d be right. A lot of the drills are the same along with the pace of practice.

However, Flood has brought his own style to his new position, with a couple of minor tweaks having positive impacts on the players.

The first is the start of practice on Tuesdays. As the players go through warm ups before stretching, music is blasting. From Jay-Z to Aerosmith, the players bob their heads to the beats through what is a monotonous part of practice for them.

“It was just his idea to get us going in the morning because on Tuesdays sometimes we’ve been known to just slouch and he doesn’t want that drop off at all from Saturday practice to Tuesday,” Duron Harmon said after today’s practice. “So it was his idea to get us pumped up and motivated in the morning.”

One thing Flood doesn’t do to motivate his players is hoot and holler. Quite the contrast from Schiano.

“As we all know coach Schiano is a very fiery type coach. Coach Flood — that’s not him. He’s not going to be a guy that’s going to go around and yell at you or scream at you,” Harmon said. “He’s a guy that’s going to show you by his actions. So if you don’t do what he says, he’s going to show you exactly what he wants, and it’s our job to do exactly what he says. He’s not going to go around yelling and screaming. That’s not him.”

Instead, he leaves the yelling up to his assistant coaches.

“One of the goals that I had for my first spring here as the head coach was to make sure that the position groups heard the voices of their coaches,” Flood said. “With it being the first time out there with the exception of myself and coach [Robb] Smith, I thought that was really important.”

And the players have gotten to know those voices. They all note that while Flood isn’t a yeller, their position coaches are.

It’s a style of coaching the players have come to enjoy. Brandon Jones said Flood’s style makes him feel like he’s being treated like a man. That feeling has helped with the learning process.

“It is easier because you feel like that person respects you and you want to do it right the next time and you want to prove to them you’re capable of doing it,” Jones said. “It’s different, but I think it’s a good thing.”

While Flood seems like he will always have a reserved coaching style when it comes to raising his voice, it doesn’t mean he won’t in the future. When needed, the first-year head coach will raise the decibels.

“My voice will raise as it needs to during practice and during games,” Flood said. “I think they’ll know when I’m trying to get my point across.”

For now, Flood has been able to use his own style to get through to his players. And he does so without a deafening scream.

“He’s a different coach than coach Schiano,” Harmon said. “But sometimes change is good, and I think this change will really be good and beneficial for our team.”

For more Rutgers football coverage follow Matt Sugam on Twitter @MattSugam and on Facebook.