Big Ten Quarterback Shuffle: Rutgers Scarlet Knights 1st to Host Minnesota Golden Gophers Transfer Quarterback

After vouching for Minnesota Golden Gophers’ head coach P.J. Fleck prior to the season, Kaliakmanis and his family changed their tune going into the offseason. After allegations of a “toxic” culture at Minnesota, Kaliakmanis expressed his gratitude for the program.

Despite the supportive words Kaliakmanis had for Fleck and his program, he and his family decided to cut ties. There are many speculations as to why Athan and his brother Dino made this decision, but it was confirmed by their father on X (formerly known as Twitter) that ties were cut.

After a disappointing 5-7 season for Fleck and company, reports came out that a large portion of the blame was placed on Kaliakmanis. In an article from Sports Illustrated, reporter Darren Wolfson outlined the potential reason for Kaliakmanis’ frustration with the program.

“As recently as before the Purdue game he was row the boat, Ski-U-Mah, all on board,” said Wolfson on a recent appearance on Skor North’s Mackey & Judd show. “So what changed? Well, they got their ass kicked in West Lafayette. Which, Purdue is rock bottom, so when you lose that game you become rock bottom. But there were some public words, I don’t know how many people were in the room. But there was a heated conversation, well more so a one-sided conversation, where PJ was pointing out stuff about Athan in front of others. That really soured Athan on his situation here.”

Athan Kaliakmanis would Provide Slightly More Stability at the Quarterback Position for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights with Less Rushing Upside

Rutgers Scarlet Knights’ quarterback Gavin Wimsatt was slightly more inconsistent than Kaliakmanis in 2023. He had five fewer passing touchdowns and almost 200 less yards passing on a 47.8% completion rate. While he was statistically worse throwing the ball, Wimsatt had almost 500 yards rushing and nine touchdowns on the ground.

Kaliakmanis would reunite with former Minnesota and current Rutgers’ offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca if he decided to go to Rutgers, but Ciarrocca would be forced to make some schematic adjustments. Kaliakmanis can scramble as he did have almost 100 yards on the ground this year, which is more impressive when considering the fact that he was sacked 21 times in a league where lost sack yards count against a quarterback’s rushing yardage.

While Kaliakmanis has the ability to use his feet, Ciarrocca’s offense would not be able to use him as on designed quarterback runs like he did with Wimsatt. This could change the schematic outlook of the offense, and potentially impact the leading rusher in the Big Ten, running back Kyle Monangai. With Kaliakmanis visiting, it looks like head coach Greg Schiano is willing to weather the change.

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