Athan Kaliakmanis goes from one Big Ten football program to another to make his mark

He was the future. That’s why he originally decided to go to the University of Minnesota.

“I wanted to go somewhere and be a legend,” Athan Kaliakmanis told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “Those were words that Coach (P.J.) Fleck said when he was recruiting me, and I’ve never forgotten those words. I wanted to go somewhere where we could change the program.”

But following a season and a half of being the present for the Gophers, things suddenly changed.

After starting five games as a red-shirt freshman in 2022 and the entire 2023 season, the quarterback found himself more or less the past. Minnesota hit the transfer portal to sign Max Brosmer, a FCS all-American fifth-year senior from the University of New Hampshire.

That was a big hint. Kaliakmanis, in turn, hit the transfer portal himself.

He ended up remaining in the Big Ten Conference at Rutgers, where he was reunited with Kirk Ciarrocca, who was his offensive coordinator at Minnesota. Ciarrocca had moved to Rutgers the season before.

“I believe, as a winner, you want to leave your mark wherever you go,” Kaliakmanis told NJ Advance Media. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do that in Minnesota. But I’d like to do that here.”

Well, he is doing that there. Without question.

Kaliakmanis started all 13 games last season for Rutgers, which hosts the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Big Ten opener for both teams Friday night (7:05/Fox). He completed 54 percent of his passes for 2,696 yards and 18 touchdowns.

That made him the first Scarlet Knights QB to reach the 2,000-yard mark since 2015. His 2,947 total yards was the most at Rutgers since 2008 and the fourth most in program history.

In the irony department, Kaliakmanis was brought in by Rutgers to give competition at the quarterback position to then starter Gavin Wimsatt. He ended up winning the job over him.

“He came in, worked, and kept his head down,” Rutgers Coach Schiano told local media. “He didn’t say much until he earned the respect of his new teammates. The way he did that was by performing. In the spring, he clearly won the job. That’s one of the reasons I named him the starter (in the spring of 2024). I wanted him to have the opportunity to really make it his team.”

Kaliakmanis is 62 for 85 in passing this season through three games (all wins) for 820 yards and seven TDs. He has yet to throw an interception.

“Just confidence in the scheme and guys,” he told On3. “We put in a lot of work together this offseason, and I think we’re all more confident in each other. When I talk to receivers, we have expectations for each other. I’ll keep that between us, but we have expectations for each other.”

Ciarrocca told NJ Advance Media the first time he watched Kaliakmanis play was for Antioch (Ill.) High School. Antioch is a small school located in extreme northeastern Illinois, just south of the Wisconsin border.

“I felt like, ‘Hey, this guy’s going to be a big time player,’” Ciarrocca said. “He had an uncanny ability to judge speed and angles. He’s throwing the ball 45 yards down the field and intersecting those receivers. I loved his quick release, the way the ball spun off of his hand. But it was really that accuracy. You could see the arm strength.”

Iowa also recruited Kaliakmanis in high school.

“Really the story, I think, is the progress that he's made, which is typical of a good college player. Usually they get better each year,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said this week. “He had some struggles four years ago, three years ago, like any young player. But he has worked through it. He's really done a good job. He was a good player last year for them, but he's playing at a higher level right now if you look at his stats. It's significantly better right now, so he's playing his best football.”

Rutgers has a number of injuries going into Friday night’s game, including at the wide receiver and offensive line positions. It’ll need to lean heavily on its quarterback.

“He's done a nice job for them,” Ferentz said. “He's got a good supporting cast, too. They have good receivers, good skill guys, and they run the football well. It's going to be a big challenge for our defense. It's probably going to be the biggest one we've faced so far.”

Comments: jeff.johnson@thegazette.com