Following one of Union’s games this season, Desmond Igbinosun got a call from Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano and was told a possible problem developed after several of his assistant coaches had reviewed some of his recent games.
You can step away from the edge of the Lynch Memorial Bridge now, RU fans. This problem is a good one.
“Coach Schiano said there’s gonna be an argument between Coach (Sean) Gleeson and Coach (Fran) Brown about how we use you,” said Igbinosun, a three-star safety who was recently named First Team All-State by NJ.com at DB.
Gleeson is the Scarlet Knights’ offensive coordinator and Brown the secondary coach under Schiano. Brown also is one of Igbinosun’s recruiting officers along with tight end coach Nunzio Campanile.
“Coach Schiano said he could see me coming in on offense and doing like a couple jet sweeps or something like that,” he said. “There’s no doubt that my versatility can help me a lot.”
The 6-3, 185-pound Igbinosun was valued for his well-rounded skill set the past two seasons at Union. It’s just that after graduating so many players from a 12-1 sectional championship team in 2019, the Farmers needed to rely upon his versatility far more urgently.
Along with his 52 tackles and two interceptions at strong safety, Igbinosun helped Union finish 4-3 by rushing for 454 yards and 10 touchdowns on just 38 carries (11.9 yards per) and he caught 22 passes for 317 yards. One of Igbinosun’s picks was returned for a TD.
Post-game calls between Igbinosun and Schiano were common occurrences this past season, but they weren’t always centered on the youngster’s knack for playing multiple positions. In fact, many only touched upon the sport he’ll play the next four years on the banks, and focused instead on the mind and heart inside his talented shell.
It was one of the things that reconfirmed Igbinosun’s decision to verbal to Rutgers last May and convinced him that signing his National Letter of Intent during the early period was the right thing to do.
He will make it official at 11 a.m. Wednesday at his school’s library, becoming the second Union star in two years to join the Scarlet Knights. Ahmirr Robinson is a freshman wide receiver who has seen limited action. Fellow Farmer Mike Tverdov is a standout senior defensive lineman.
Former Union great and head coach Brian Sheridan, who died last September at the age of 45, was a two-time captain at Rutgers and close friend of current Union coach Lou Grasso, Jr.
“There is comfort knowing Desmond will be looked after by his brothers during this adjustment period,” Grasso said. “I think it’s an exciting time to be joining the Rutgers program, and Desmond will only add to the team’s progress.”
Through his many phone calls with Schiano and members of the staff, Igbinosun developed the strong sense that fellow Union alums won’t be the only ones with his best interests in mind.
“Coach Schiano and all the other Rutgers coaches I spoke to were always authentic. When I got on the phone with coaches across the country, all they really talked about was football,” Igbinosun said.
“I remember one phone call with Coach Schiano during quarantine that changed my life drastically. He may not even know that,” he said. “If he can make that kind of impact with one phone call, imagine what he can do in four, five years? He made that much of an impact on a little facetime call because we were talking about real-life stuff.”
The Igbinosun family mobile plan is likely to be tracking numerous calls to and from Schiano in the coming year with junior cornerback Davison Igbinosun, Desmond’s younger brother, now prominent on the Scarlet Knights’ radar. He was offered a scholarship last March while accompanying big brother on an unofficial visit to Piscataway.
Davison, also a three-star athlete, has 10 other offers at the moment and not prepared to render a verbal commitment anywhere until at least the spring, according to Desmond. But if Davison holds the same enthusiasm he expressed about Schiano’s program last winter, well, the Rutgers secondary will soon have its most devastating brother combo since Devin and Jason McCourty 10 years ago.
Desmond is No. 22 on the NJ.com Top 50 recruit list for 2020, and Davison is No. 49.
“When I went up there for my first unofficial (last Jan. 25), I took Ali Lee (a Woodbridge star and Stony Brook commit) and my little brother to my plus-two. They fell in love with it more than me,” Desmond said. “So, when they fell in love with it, I fell in love with it.
“We went to the basketball game that day and Geo (Baker) hit the game-winning shot against Nebraska (75-72). It was great. When we got in the car, my little brother could not shut up about Rutgers. For two weeks straight, that’s all he talked about. I was getting more offers, but he kept telling me, ‘Nah, they’re not better than Rutgers.’ "
Davison wasn’t the only member of the household eager to secure Desmond’s college career in Piscataway.
Their mom, Precious Aladi, is a hard-working single parent who is trained as a psychiatric nurse and also holds down a second job to support her family.
“She never got a chance to go because she was always working,” Igbinosun said. “R-U went out of its way to put my mom on a virtual tour one day. Right after the tour, she told me, ‘I hope you know you’re going to Rutgers.’ "
It wasn’t Igbinosun’s original intent. He actually rejected the notion roundly after Robinson signed and Union teammates correctly targeted Igbinosun as Rutgers’ next prized recruit.
“I told Ahmirr and all my other friends there was no shot of me going to Rutgers. I wanted to go out of state, wanted to be a man, live my own life,” he said.
“I first got offered by Syracuse (last Jan. 17) and I really liked it. The following week Rutgers called and I started thinking about it,” Igbinosun said. “You get to play in New Jersey in front of your family and friends and you compete against the best schools. I started considering it, considering it. And then we (he, Davison and Lee) went up there.”
What Igbinosun will actually be position wise at Rutgers seems right now to be anyone’s guess. All he knows is that he wants to get on the field as soon as possible, and he had a blast playing his multi-faceted role for the Farmers this past season.
“Everybody that loves football loves that role. It’s like taking matters into my own hands,” Igbinosun said. “You know when you want something done the right way, you won’t ask anyone else to do it; you’ll do it yourself.
“I love the role because I always felt like I couldn’t let my teammates down. I just wish you could hear sometimes the dialogue that goes on in the huddle. Like me talking up my teammates and my teammates talking up me. It was always real big for me not to let my teammates down.”
Grasso is certain Igbinosun will carry that same approach to Rutgers, and succeed.
“I think that Desmond can have an immediate impact at Rutgers. He has a great combination of physical ability, intensity and knowledge of the game,” Grasso said. “He will be able to grasp new concepts quickly and adjust to the college tempo. Desmond is a great team guy and has confidence that will help him fit into the culture Coach Schiano has established in Piscataway.
“We’re all excited about Desmond’s commitment,” he said. “We are most excited for him because he is fulfilling a lifelong dream to be a Division 1 college football player. We’re also happy because we will be able to easily attend Rutgers games and check in with him.”
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Mike Kinney may be reached at mkinney@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter @MikeKinneyHS
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