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Q&A: Todd Rucci Discusses Phil Trautwein, Zoom Calls & Much More

If there's one thing that Todd Rucci has made clear from the very beginning, it's that he wants to do everything he can to make his son's recruitment as stress-free as possible. After his oldest son, Hayden, went through the process in 2018-2019, Rucci and his wife, Stacy, learned a lot about the process, both the good and the bad. Now, as they go through it all over again with their second son, Nolan, it's given them an even better feel for all the little things that every parent should monitor during this process.

However, one thing they couldn't prepare for was a worldwide pandemic that would throw the NCAA's recruiting calendar on its head. That's made the past few months a unique experience, but one that he and his family have adapted to quickly. To get a better feel for Nolan's recruitment, we caught up with the eldest Rucci, who played eight seasons with the New England Patriots, to learn how he and his family have handled the process since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Todd Ruci played eights seasons in the NFL with the New England Patriots. He's now an assistant coach at Warwick High School in Lititz, Pa.
Todd Ruci played eights seasons in the NFL with the New England Patriots. He's now an assistant coach at Warwick High School in Lititz, Pa.

Snyder: As the father of one of the nation’s most sought-after prospects, what’s this situation been like for your son and your family? I know Nolan was getting bombarded with calls at one point. What’s it been like over the past two months?

Todd Rucci: It was a little out of hand prior to him narrowing his schools. That was the whole point of him doing that. It was getting overwhelming and stressful for everyone in the house. Between all of us, we were spending around five hours a day on calls. But once we narrowed the field a bit, that helped. Also, I think coaches have come to understand that he’s not someone that needs to be contacted everyday for two hours just to be told how great he is. We’ve kind of told schools to get in touch with us once a week and if they have something pertinent or it’s meaningful conversation, let’s do it. So, I think once we focused in and the teams got a better understanding for what kind of kid he is, that helped a lot.

Snyder: What have all the Zoom conversations been like? Has any school done anything unique? What has Nolan really learned from all the video calls?

Rucci: I think the academic meetings that we’ve done have been great. We’ve been able to meet with advisors and professors and have spent time talking to them about everything that would go into him being an aerospace engineer. We’ve also been fortunate enough to talk to players at different programs, including some that have linemen in the engineering department. That was the case at a couple different schools. So, the Zoom calls with them have been good for Nolan. It’s given him a player-to-player feel for how it’s done and what kind of time commitment he’s looking at. I know Penn State had him speak with Michal Menet and Will Fries not that long ago. We’ve also had some cool virtual tours. I’ll say that Stanford did a really cool call with a couple different coaches on a golf cart. They basically just zipped around campus, explained the different buildings, quads, all of that. It was out own personal tour of campus, so that was pretty cool, but all of his schools have done different things to help us out during this.

Snyder: What are your thoughts on Phil Trautwein?

Rucci: He’s been great. You can tell he’s a teacher. That’s the first thing that stands out to me. Speaking as a former player at Penn State, I’m excited for the guys up there. I think he’s going to really help those guys from a technique and coaching standpoint, and that’s not to speak bad about the former coach. We’ve talked a little bit as coaches and some of the things that he and Coach [Kirk] Ciarrocca are planning to do offensively are exciting to hear. I think it’s going to be a little bit different from what we’ve seen at Penn State over the past six years, so from that part, it’s exciting. I also think it’s more familiar to the things Nolan is used to. It’s similar to what we’ve run at the high school level, although it’s obviously more advanced at the college level. But the talk and verbiage we do is very similar to what Coach Trautwein is teaching, so I think it’s been good. I’m excited for the guys in the O-line room. Trautwein is bringing a lot of knowledge to that room. From a technique standpoint, he teaches very specific technique, which I think is going to serve them well upfront.

Snyder: Trautwein had your former offensive line coach, Dante Scarnecchia, meet with offensive line on Zoom the other day. I was just curious to learn your thoughts on that? I know Scarnecchia is someone you really respect.

Rucci: Yeah, I saw that Scar was on a Zoom call with the boys last week. I think anyone that knows anything about offensive line play, especially in the NFL, knows that Scarnecchia is one of the top O-line coaches in the league. Anyone that follows that or coaches the O-line knows that Dante Scarnecchia is one the main guys. I believe that when Trautwein was at Boston College, he may have gone over to the Patriots’ practice here and there over the years. But yeah, Scar has pretty much always been with the Patriots and he was my coach while I was there. He’s now been with the Patriots for 30-plus years. I think he’s hands down the best O-line coach. I would argue that he’s the best in the game, at any level. He’s been a very close and good friend of mine for years. Even after I got out of the league, I’ve stayed in touch with him and talk to him numerous times a year. We talk a little bit of football, but he’s really just a great person and a great friend of mine. So, that was cool seeing that Traut reached out to him. Speaking as a former player, I loved seeing Scar reach out to the boys at Penn State. That’s a pretty good idea by Traut because Scar is great.

Snyder: How has Penn State handled the fact that Nolan is already very familiar with the school, the town, all of that? There’s only so much you can talk about, especially when the recruit has been on campus as much as Nolan has.

Rucci: I think they’ve done a great job. Let’s be honest, Nolan could probably show Trautwein around campus. We know what it means there. We know where everything is. We know everything about State College and we know everyone in State College. So, that’s not something that they need to do compared to other schools. So, in some ways, I think having a new offensive line coach is a benefit because Nolan has been able to talk a lot of football with Traut over this time. He doesn’t have to spend time on the other things, and I think that’s allowed him to get to know Traut very well. They’ve also done a good job figuring out Nolan and our family and what we’re all about. He doesn’t need his ego stroked. He’s not that kind of kid.

Snyder: I know Nolan plans to take his time and not set any dates for a decision. Can you just elaborate on your talks with him about his commitment timeline?

Rucci: We’re just encouraging him to take his time and not make this decision any more difficult than it needs to be. When the time comes, he’ll be ready. Our goal, from a parent’s perspective, is to not make this a stressful environment. He’s in a fortunate position. We’re very thankful knowing that the offers he has will probably still be there in a few months, so there’s no reason not to take your time with this. The most important thing is to make sure you make the right decision. We just want him to take his time with the decision and when he is ready to commit, that will be the end of the process.

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