When I saw the headline regarding Elias Reynolds it brought back memories of Dino. I was a freshman in 1975. Dino was a star back then and at the time one of the few players from RU to make it to the NFL. It was cool following his career. Nice to see that he hasn't forgotten his roots.
Does anyone else remember Dino Mangiero?
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I'd say Dino was probably a close second to Deron Cherry for top defensive player on those late 70's teams.
Yes. I believe Bill was a Freshman or Sophmore when Dino was a Senior. I think Mike Rustemyer (sp) played along side Pickel after Dino graduated.
I didn't know Mangiero personally, but did know Deron. Nice kid, lived at Cook where a lot of the team lived. Very good basketball player as well and used to play pick games with him also. Very interesting that he was drafted because of his punting abilities, but had a very successful NFL career as a Safety.
Little side story. Jimmy Hughes was an all east linebacker on those late 70's teams. An Ok guy, but a little full of himself back then. Had not seen him in many years but ran into him at the Insight Bowl in Arizona. We got to talking and I could see he felt some remorse about not treating people so nice back then. So he says.......
JIMMY: So tell me the truth, I was kinda a dick back then right?
Me: Yes, pretty much.
JIMMY: Sorry about that.
How often does that happen that someone apologizes for being a dick 27 years later!
Dino was awesome in the middle..:wish he finished that sack in the garden state bowl....turned into a td and the turning point of that game
Was legit
Was legit
Dino played with dave Ed Steward and Bill Pickel…if we had those three right now along with Turay, our first unit would be as good as Ohio St.
Everyone here would be losin their mind over a 245 lb NT lol. Ed could play MLB like he did vs Tenn.
Burns and Ted Cottrell knew how to build a defense.
We definitely had great Defenses in those years but we also played a much softer schedule and defense was much easier. You basically stopped the run and we were very good at it. We have been put to the test the past couple of seasons. First we had some great QB's and everyone played wide open passing games while we were short on D Backs. So we bolstered that up only to play against some of the top RB's and OL's in the nation. Getting bigger is not an easy task. We are on our way but we still have a ways to go. And it's not just big tough Football players on D like it was in the 70's. Everyone needs to be quicker and faster after shedding blocks of 330 LB OL. I was at many of those games and it was great to watch just as our D in 2006 and 2012 were really fun to watch.
you guys are forgetting Nate Toran and Alexander (two best defensive players of that era.
By the way - Dino was a member of Delta Upsilon
By the way - Dino was a member of Delta Upsilon
Was there another team in the country that faced Gordon, Coleman, Abdullah, Langford, and Elliot? NO, there wasn't. Not making an excuse because it's still up to you to stop them but I think it had something ro do with the poor rushing D stats. Then you add Barrett, Hack, Halliday, and Cook at QB. Jeeze that was a tough schedule.
"Dino played with dave Ed Steward and Bill Pickel"
"Dino was probably a close second to Deron Cherry for top defensive player on those late 70's teams"
"you guys are forgetting Nate Toran and Alexander"
Frank Burns knew talent and could recruit!
"Dino was probably a close second to Deron Cherry for top defensive player on those late 70's teams"
"you guys are forgetting Nate Toran and Alexander"
Frank Burns knew talent and could recruit!
I've been following RU FB closely since my freshman year,1971, and IMO the 3 best DL up til now were Nate Toran, Mangiero and Bill Pickel.
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Speaking of Bill Pickel, check this 1986 column (Click Here) by Jim Murray.
Excerpt:
It irks Bill Pickel that most people think of Rutgers as some sub-Ivy League college whose annual biggie is with Hampden-Sydney or Seton Hall and whose varsity is only playing because the polo ponies are sick.
"We play Army, Alabama, Kentucky, Penn State, Syracuse, Florida," Pickel said. "We're not Harvard. Everybody thinks East Coast football begins and ends with Penn State and Pittsburgh. But we're upgrading our program. We can play anybody in the country."
Excerpt:
It irks Bill Pickel that most people think of Rutgers as some sub-Ivy League college whose annual biggie is with Hampden-Sydney or Seton Hall and whose varsity is only playing because the polo ponies are sick.
"We play Army, Alabama, Kentucky, Penn State, Syracuse, Florida," Pickel said. "We're not Harvard. Everybody thinks East Coast football begins and ends with Penn State and Pittsburgh. But we're upgrading our program. We can play anybody in the country."
Absolutely, he was a monster DL. RU had some really good, tough players...especially on the defense in the late 70s. RU played much lighter competition back then week to week, but usually showed up pretty well when they played the bigger "name" teams. Back in the days when people weren't having panic attacks about how many "stars" a player was rated. There was no star system.
"Frank Burns knew talent and could recruit!"
How did he do at keeping New Jersey's top high school prospects at home, playing for their state university ?
Was he able to successfully recruit a good chunk of the Top Twenty players in-state at any time during his years here ? Did he beat out Ohio State, Alabama, or Notre Dame for any kids ? Or was he more a "diamonds-in-the-rough" kinda guy ?
How did he do at keeping New Jersey's top high school prospects at home, playing for their state university ?
Was he able to successfully recruit a good chunk of the Top Twenty players in-state at any time during his years here ? Did he beat out Ohio State, Alabama, or Notre Dame for any kids ? Or was he more a "diamonds-in-the-rough" kinda guy ?
played in a pick-up basketball game in the barn with him. Several of his friends left the barn and he was still looking to play. My friends and I teamed up with him, not knowing who he was. Obviously we won. He was bigger, faster and more coordinated by a mile than anyone else and he just took control. By the time the game ended, we realized who he was. After the game his buddies came back so we figured he wanted to play with them. We started putting on our sweat pants and he yelled, "Where are you guys going." We looked at each other surprised, dropped our sweats and said "Nowhere Dino." Played and won the second game. Dino then had enough so we packed it up for the day. We still laugh and talk about that today.
