John McNulty believes he has evolved since his second stint at Rutgers came to an abrupt end two and half years ago.
He’ll get his first chance to show it against — who else? — the Scarlet Knights.
Rutgers’ already-anticipated Sept. 3 season opener at Boston College got sexier Tuesday when the Eagles formally announced McNulty as their new offensive coordinator. The move reunites him with BC coach Jeff Hafley, a fellow former Greg Schiano assistant at Rutger and with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and gives McNulty his first play calling role since he was fired by the Scarlet Knights four games into the 2019 season.
“Of course it’s important (to call plays again),” McNulty said. “That was not a great experience. Quite frankly, I don’t think it was enough time to really figure out how it was gong to go. I thought the young quarterback (Artur Sitkowski) was starting to play well, and then that was it. But in the end, that was somewhat of a blessing.”
Rutgers’ offense was one of the nation’s worst in 2018, McNulty’s first year back, as the team went 1-11 and Sitkowski led the nation in interceptions. But while things had not drastically improved, there were signs of life the following fall. Sitkowski had the only 300-yard passing game of his career in a home loss to Boston College and did not commit a turnover in a blowout loss at Michigan despite being hit early and often by the Wolverines’ pass rush.
Athletics director Pat Hobbs then decided to fire McNulty along with former coach Chris Ash after that 52-0 defeat in Ann Arbor. Sitkowski did not play another game that failed, opting to redshirt and wait out the coaching search that ultimately brought Schiano back. I have played one more season at Rutgers and has since transferred to Illinois. McNulty almost immediately landed an analyst role at Penn State, his alma mater, for the remainder of the 2019 season, helping the Nittany Lions win the Cotton Bowl. He then spent the last two seasons as Notre Dame’s tight ends coach.
McNulty said he’s turned down overtures for NFL position coach positions and other coordinator opportunities and he planned to stay in South Bend. But BC was the right opportunity to move on.
There were complaints McNulty — who ended his successful first tour as Rutgers’ offensive coordinator in 2008 and spent almost a decade in the NFL before returning to Piscataway — ran too archaic of a scheme with the Scarlet Knights the second time around. And there was some truth to that. But talent was a far greater issue. No one expected Mike Teel, Ray Rice, Kenny Britt and Tiquan Underwood to walk through the door, but the Scarlet Knights didn’t have anyone even close to the stars who excelled under McNulty during the program’s halcyon days. And it showed.
That should not be an issue at his new gig. Boston College has been bowl eligible for six straight seasons and eight of the last nine. The Eagles return quarterback Phil Jurkovec, a potential first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, as well as 1,000-yard rusher Pat Garwo and dynamic wideout Zay Flowers. And yes, McNulty said the scheme will change a great deal given his post-Rutgers experiences of him.
“I learned a lot,” McNulty said. “I evolved from more of a comfort level with a true pro-style offense to relying on that part of your system, but having a lot of the college elements at your disposal as well, especially when you have athletic quarterbacks that can run and really do a lot of different things. It opens up a lot of possibilities that either I was not as comfortable with or versed in, or we weren’t really set up to do. But either way, in those three years or whatever it’s been, I’ve changed a lot.”
McNulty replaces Frank Cignetti Jr. — another former Rutgers offensive coordinator under Schiano — at BC. He joins three other prominent staff members with Rutgers and Schiano ties — defensive coordinator Tem Lukabu, tight ends coach Steve Shimko and offensive assistant Savon Huggins.
The Rutgers-BC game is 213 days from Wednesday and there is already a buzz, but Hafley said it “feels like it’s five years away right now” and he is focused on getting through the offseason at the moment. But sooner rather than later it will be here. It figures to be a potentially season-defining opportunity for the Scarlet Knights if they want to earn traditional bowl eligibility — one that just got a bit juicy.
“I think it’s a great game,” Hafley said. “I have a ton of respect for coach Schiano, and how he’s affected my life. I’m sure John has the same feelings toward him. Anytime you can play a team regionally, I think it’s a great thing. I’m excited about it. I think it’s a game we should play often.”
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James Kratch may be reached at [email protected].
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism