Training camp yields two possible starters at center for Rutgers, Flood investigation continues

With only one day left in training camp, head coach Kyle Flood is still uncertain about who will be snapping the football to sophomore quarterback Hayden Rettig at High Point Solutions Stadium next Saturday against Norfolk State.

Flood has narrowed the field to two players, junior offensive linemen Chris Muller and Derrick Nelson, who remain razor-close in a race that began back in April at the opening of spring camp.

Although this late in the game he would probably prefer to know who will start at center, Flood remains optimistic that either player can fill the void left by Betim Bujari, who started all 13 games at the position in 2014.

“You know, I think it’s important,” Flood said after practice today. "You can’t ever have enough guys who can snap the ball and let you operate. That position can become an issue in a hurry if you don’t (have those players.)”

Muller started all 13 games for the Scarlet Knights last season at right guard and he has gotten first team reps at that position in addition to the ones he’s getting at center. Flood feels confident that Muller can fill either role.

“Chris (Muller) did a great job last year of learning that position and now playing it probably better than he ever has,” the fourth-year head coach said. “I would be very confident if ultimately he ended up being the starting center. I would be very confident that he would be able to do a good job and if not, it's nice to have a guy who's played as many games as he has, who can go in if you need him to."

Muller battled lower body injuries throughout the spring and some of the bumps and bruises took their toll on him during the first few days of training camp.

But Rutgers' second-most experienced offensive lineman, behind senior left tackle Keith Lumpkin, has declared himself healthy.

“I feel 100 percent healthy,” he said. “Momma didn’t raise no quitter, so I feel I’m 100 percent.”

The always-jovial Muller made it clear he didn’t care which position he was chosen by the coaches to play — acknowledging he wishes he had the tools to play a skill position — as long as it was on the offensive line.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” Muller said. “If coach left it up to me, I would play quarterback or running back. But I wasn’t blessed with that speed. I was blessed with a large body and big broad shoulders and big wide, child-bearing hips. So, I play line.”

Muller, who stands 6-foot-6 and is listed at 310 pounds, has a right to be confident.

The Perkiomenville, Pennsylvania, native was named to the third team of Phil Steele’s Preseason All-Big Ten list, having played in all of the Knights last 26 games.

If Rutgers is going to be successful in the running game, at either guard or center, Muller must have an impact in 2015.

Nelson, a 6-foot-3, 295-pounder, has the inside track on the starting position, as a result of both his play and the ability Muller has already demonstrated at right guard. Nelson only appeared in four games for the Knights last fall, but Flood has been impressed with his progress this summer.

“I’m very pleased with Derrick and how he’s produced in training camp,” Flood said of Nelson. “Derrick’s a high-motor guy — high energy, excellent communicator, he has a lot of the attributes you would want in a center.”

Muller agreed with his coach’s assessment of his competitor for the center position, telling the Targum that Nelson is a versatile athlete.

“He’s extremely powerful, but he’s also quick," Muller said. "He’s gonna give people a lot of trouble when he lines up out there."

But it is difficult to overshadow the versatility Muller has displayed throughout his career in Piscataway.

As a student of the game, the junior feels the more reps he can get at either position, the better he will perform at both.

“It’s nice being able to play both. Guard and center rely a lot on each other during the game, so being able to see from both perspectives has sharpened my craft in each one," Muller said. "The more I play guard, the better I am at center. And the more I play center, the better I am at guard. Now I know both things equally, what they have to do and every responsibility."

While acknowledging the coaching staff was still undecided, Flood intimated Nelson will likely start the season opener on Sept. 5 against Norfolk State.

“We haven’t made a final decision yet," Flood said. "But if we played today, Derrick (Nelson) would be the starting center."

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Rutgers University is continuing to collect information in its investigation into Kyle Flood’s contact with a faculty member regarding the academic eligibility of junior cornerback Nadir Barnwell. Barnwell, who has been on the injury list often since spring camp opened, has been widely reported to be in jeopardy of being declared ineligible.

Keith Sargeant of NJ Advance Media broke the story on Tuesday, which involves an email Flood sent from his personal email account to a faculty member.

Flood acknowledged Tuesday that he has been in contact with faculty members, but dispelled any theory that he was applying pressure to a faculty member in order to prompt a grade change.

The problem with Flood’s defense: the policy explicitly states there is to be no contact between coaches and faculty members.

As the investigation moves toward the end of its second week, for Flood, the fallout could mean a suspension at best or a firing at worst.

“Coach-initiated contact of any type is not permitted between any member of the coaching staff and any Rutgers faculty member,” the policy states.

The full policy can be viewed on scarletknights.com.

After practice today Flood was unwilling to comment any further on the investigation.

"I can’t really comment on anything," he said. "I've gotta be respectful to the university process and I'm sure there will be a statement after the process concludes."

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It’s been two days since sophomore quarterback Hayden Rettig learned he would be the team’s starter for the opener.

Rettig hasn’t displayed any noticeable signs that would indicate his mindset has changed at all, but he continued to show off his strong arm in practice today. Rettig’s most notable drive had set his team up for points at the close of 11-on-11 scrimmaging before a field goal attempt was thwarted.

Flood remains encouraged by the progression the Louisiana State transfer has shown throughout the summer.

“I think he’s done a good job. He had a nice two-minute drive at the end of the game, gave us an opportunity to kick a field goal," Flood said of Rettig. "We got it blocked, but he gave us an opportunity to get down there into field goal range and kick it. I’ve seen progress, I’ve seen progress since the second scrimmage. I think both quarterbacks have really progressed.”

Rettig has taken leaps and bounds since he begun in April when he was consistently inaccurate at the outset of spring. When Flood was asked to compare spring camp to the summer session for his starting quarterback, he saw them as polar opposites.

“I think it’s night and day from the spring,” he said. “I knew that the spring was gonna be really hard on him. He didn’t have the fall to be on the field running our offense and you know to go out there--and the other part that makes spring tricky is you don’t play everyday, you play every other day. With training camp you play everyday, just about everyday. So that helps your learning curve as well.”

Muller hasn’t noticed a difference between Rettig and fellow sophomore quarterback Chris Laviano, who is suspended for the first half of the season opener against Norfolk State, calling both excellent Big Ten quarterbacks.

“You know, honestly, if I didn’t look at the quarterbacks — if I didn’t look back to see who it was — I couldn’t tell the difference," the junior offensive lineman said. "They’re extremely good leaders, they both know what they’re doing and they both have great arms. They both have great pocket-presence."

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As the center position continues to sort itself out there is still a significant amount of fluidity within the offensive line, which will present the opportunity for some of the younger players to get on the field with regularity.

Flood stated he was comfortable rotating up to seven players along the offensive front at the beginning of training camp and he is looking for players beyond Muller and Nelson to step up.

Enter redshirt-freshman Tariq Cole.

Cole, 6-foot-7, arrived on the banks last year weighing in at a robust 363 pounds after having played high school football in Long Beach, New York, between 390 and 400 pounds.

The freshman insists he’s shed another 50-60 pounds since, emphasizing how the weight loss has increased his energy level and quickness.

“When I get asked to pull I feel a lot faster coming off the line,” Cole said. “When I get asked to take a double-team, or whatever we’re doing, I just feel a lot better.”

Cole said he was driven by the teammates who thought he wouldn’t make it through camp, let alone have a role on the field this fall.

“They said I couldn’t make (it through) the first couple days, so that’s really the motivation for me,” Cole said.

He acknowledged the emphasis his head coach places on the ‘next-man up’ mentality while understanding he may be asked to play more than one role.

"Coach Flood really harps on being able to come in when people are injured," Cole said. "So, me being able to come in a rotation would be fine with me.”

For updates on the Rutgers football team, follow @KevinPXavier and @TargumSports on Twitter.