Rutgers’ quarterback room will have a decidedly different look when the next season rolls around.
Earlier in the week, Hayden Rettig confirmed his desire to transfer from the Scarlet Knights. Not long after, Chris Laviano (pictured) confirmed that he would be doing the same.
Both Rettig and Laviano will be leaving RU as graduates, meaning they can transfer to another FBS program and be eligible to play immediately in 2017.
Laviano had started 18 consecutive games until he was benched in October. Rettig, a former LSU transfer, played in five games the past two seasons after redshirting his first season in Piscataway.
Giovanni Rescigno took over for Laviano around midseason this year and started the last five games of what turned out to be a 2-10 first season for head coach Chris Ash. The Scarlet Knights lost all five of Rescigno’s starts, losing the first two by a combined eight points. They lost the last three, though, by a total of 106 points and scored just 13 combined in the process.
The junior Rescigno will return in 2017, as will Zach Allen, a transfer from TCU.
In addition to Rettig and Laviano, Mike Dare has confirmed to nj.com that he too will be transferring. Dare came to the Knights as a touted 2015 pro-style quarterback, but the coaching change from Kyle Flood to Ash proved too much for the in-state product to overcome.
“I had a sitdown with [offensive coordinator Drew] Mehringer and I really wanted to see what the plans were in the near future,” Dare told the website. “We were talking for a while, and we both knew that this offense didn’t suit me very well. I came to a pro-style offense, a coaching change happened, and I’m not mad at it.
Dare would be forced to sit out the 2017 season if he lands at another FBS program, leaving him with two years of eligibility remaining beginning in 2018.