BAD BOY MOWERS PINSTRIPE BOWL: RUTGERS VS MIAMI

December 18, 2023

Mayan Ahanotu

Yankee Stadium

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions for Mayan Ahanotu.

Q. Just mentally you are part of such a grind there at the end of the year. Just your feeling and your excitement to play a bowl game at Yankee Stadium.

MAYAN AHANOTU: This postseason has been a grind. It's been a blessing as well. We're really excited just to be able to be blessed enough to get another season.

We take everything 1-0 season, and we're just happy and blessed that we're on the right side of things and being able to get a chance to play another down.

Q. You came here as a transfer and had a lot of success. You've seen some other defensive tackles have equal success with Freddie and Isaiah this last year. What do you think has been key to guys being able to come in and be successful on the defensive line as transfers?

MAYAN AHANOTU: I really credit it to the coaches and all the recruiting that they do. It's really just based on if they're a fit in this culture, and I really think that we do a great job of finding guys that love to play football and love this team and live what this culture is all about.

Q. Coach Harasymiak signed an extension last week. He'll be here long-term. How important has he been to how good this defense has played last year and how much they developed over the last few years?

MAYAN AHANOTU: We've always had great players, but we needed that guy that can bring the catalyst to connect all those players together, and I think that's Coach Harasymiak. He does a great, elite job of getting all the guys to execute their job at a very high level and building relationships with them as well to be able to run through a wall for a guy like that.

He's a great coach, a great man.

Q. Just talk about Miami's offense. They have a good running game. They have -- they don't know who is going to be at quarterback in the bowl game, but what are you going to do to stop that running game?

MAYAN AHANOTU: Really just chopping your job, having great eyes and great discipline and firing off the ball and getting on those guys so that way we can dictate daily on those running backs.

Q. Was it cool to be basically local going to Yankee Stadium to play a bowl game? You don't have to go far.

MAYAN AHANOTU: That's awesome. It's definitely going to be a thrill just being able to be there around Christmastime and all the New York lights and everything like that. It's going to be a really fun time.

Q. All the guys coming back from -- deciding to come back for another year, did you have any part in that? Did you talk to any of those guys? Did they question you? What was that like?

MAYAN AHANOTU: They definitely asked me a couple of questions, and it was great talks. It was great talks to speak with those guys. As you can see, every guy is coming back because they love this program, and they love where we're headed and they love each other. That's the most important part.

Q. Did you give them any advice on it? What was kind of your role in that? I know you're captain. You're an older guy, you've been there for a long time.

MAYAN AHANOTU: It's a real decision. It's a really life-changing decision. So I told them the real side. I told them anything they really wanted to hear or hear from my side of things because I came back this season. I really just told them both sides of the thing and what you have to think about when you are either going to go off to the NFL or come back for another year and what you can expect.

Q. Just a quick question for you. The experience of playing up against the Big Ten and you guys have been one of the best defenses in the nation this year, 19th, I believe, total defense nationally. Just tell me more about that experience going up against the Big Ten. How does that help you guys going into a matchup against a team like Miami? What can you take from that experience going into this bowl game?

MAYAN AHANOTU: I think this conference is built off of big lines, and we've done a great job this year of just being able to play violently and creating some knock-back on those guys.

Every O-line is a group of their own, so you really have to watch the film and see how they operate because some people will be position blockers. Some try to knock you off the ball. You really have to pay attention to what the offensive lines are trying to do and be able to execute your job within that.

Q. As a captain, I'm curious if there was ever a moment in the season that you had a conversation with your teammates that really stood out to you about what you guys could achieve this year or any kind of conversation that really stood out to you.

MAYAN AHANOTU: One thing I will say is as a team in the summertime there was pretty much a breaking point where we were just, like, who do we want to be? What kind of team do we want to be? I really think that was like -- that was the breaking point for us to go over to the next side of, like, just being able to push over to the next couple of wins to get us to the bowl game.

It was just making sure that everybody loved the game, loved their teammates and executed their job to the entire level. Nothing was above winning. Everybody had a great mindset. We're 1-0 every season. 1-0 every season, and take each week at a time so you don't get overwhelmed with all the games and all the practices. Just take each week as its own.

Q. You've obviously known Coach Schiano for a long time, going back to your high school days. What has it meant to you to transfer into Rutgers and help this program show the type of improvement it did this year and for you to play a pivotal role in that personally?

MAYAN AHANOTU: It means everything to me. It's really a full-circle moment. Meeting Coach Schiano when I was a high schooler and now being able to help lift this program up and just leaving this place better than when I came in, that's a great feeling.

I'm happy for all the guys and really excited for all the guys that's coming back. They're going to raise the level next year.