Rutgers football to host Virtual Fan Day on Saturday

With everything but essential businesses closed due to social distancing measures instituted because of the COVID-19 pandemic, normal gatherings are on hold for the foreseeable future. The annual Fan Day for Rutgers' football program won't take place in person this year but the Scarlet Knights will still give their fans a chance to stay involved.

On Saturday, April 25 at 1 p.m., Rutgers football will be hosting a virtual Fan Day on its YouTube channel. The event will feature a live Q&A with head coach Greg Schiano and radio play-by-play voice Chris Carlin. Fans will have an opportunity to submit questions directly to Schiano, view exclusive gameday videos and have the only opportunity to claim their official spring poster.

Fans are encouraged to use the #RUFanDay and #RUALLin on social media for the chance to have their posts featured in the show.

A high-profile courtship of Schiano brought him back to Piscataway for a second tenure to lead the Scarlet Knights football program. Chris Ash was fired midway through the 2019 season, finishing with an 8-32 record in three-plus seasons. Nunzio Campanile replaced Ash as the interim head coach and finished out the remainder of the season. Schiano emerged as a target in the coaching search and after a lengthy back-and-forth, he was officially hired and signed an 8-year, $32 million contract in December to return to the school.

Rutgers experienced its greatest success during Schiano's first tenure from 2001-2011. His 68-67 record over 10 years tells only a fraction of the story, however. After suffering losing seasons in Schiano's first four seasons, Rutgers was bowl-eligible in 2005. A 45-40 loss to Arizona State in the Insight Bowl set the stage for a memorable 2006 season.

Rutgers began the 2006 season 9-0, including a wild 28-25 home victory over third-ranked Louisville in what became known as the "Pandemonium in Piscataway" game. The Scarlet Knights scored the final 25 points of the game, culminating with a go-ahead field goal by Jeremy Ito with 12 seconds left. Rutgers would finish the season 11-2 and ranked No. 12 in the Associated Press Top 25. The Scarlet Knights defeated Kansas State, 37-10 in the Texas Bowl, for the first bowl victory in program history.

The 2006 team featured 15 future NFL players, including Jason and Devin McCourty, Ray Rice, Kenny Britt, Tiquan Underwood, Brian Leonard and Shore Conference standouts Kevin Malast (Manchester) and Clark Harris (Southern Regional).

During the 2007 season, Rutgers upset second-ranked South Florida, 30-27.

Rutgers would reach five consecutive bowl games from 2005 to 2009 and went 4-1 in those games.

Managing editor Bob Badders can be reached at bob.badders@townsquaremedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Bob_Badders. Like Shore Sports Network on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel for all the latest video highlights.