Belichick and Fisch are both New Jersey natives, born in Summit and Livingston, respectively, which adds to the coziness of this football game.

Otherwise, Belichick will be looking to beat the man he played for in Schiano, now serving as Rutgers coach for the second time since returning in 2020. His first tour began in 2001 and lasted eleven seasons.

Schiano and Belichick simultaneously left the Scarlet Knights and moved to the NFL – Schano became head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the 2012 and 2013 seasons, while Belichick joined his father in 2012 as an assistant coach with the New England Patriots and a stay of a dozen years.

The elder Belichick often traveled the 235 miles from the Boston area to Rutgers to watch his son play lacrosse, even wearing that team’s gear at his press conferences and posing for photos with Steve at the Pinstripe Bowl after the game.

Schiano recounted in a Providence Journal story how Belichick came onto his team and agreed that he should play one sport at a time.

“Stephen talked to me about playing football early on when he decided to come to Rutgers,” the coach said. “He came to play lacrosse, so we decided it would be best for him to get down to earth there, and so that didn’t come about until his lacrosse career was over.”

Steve Belichick came to Rutgers from The Rivers School in Weston, Massachusetts, where he played both sports and spent time as a linebacker, tight end, fullback and long snapper on his high school football team.

Any pleasantries between the alum and his old team will be put aside once the teams square off at Rutgers at 8 p.m. ET.

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