Tiquan Underwood is in his second season as the Rutgers wide receivers coach in 2021. A four-year letterwinner for the Scarlet Knights from 2005-08, Underwood holds the program record for receiving yards in a game and spent five seasons in the NFL. The New Brunswick, New Jersey, native worked the 2019 season on the Miami Dolphins' staff.
• Rutgers posted a program-best 26.7 points per game in a Big Ten season in 2020. The Scarlet Knights scored at least 20 points in eight games after reaching the mark five times the previous four seasons and 12 times in the first 52 Big Ten games. The 26.7 points per game ranked eighth in the Big Ten, improving from No. 14 the preceding season, as the previous best ranking in Big Ten-only games was 11th.
• Rutgers finished as the fourth-most improved team in the nation by scoring offense (+13.4 points per game). The Scarlet Knights scored 81 more points than in 2019 (playing three fewer games), the sixth-best improvement in the nation in total points scored (the five higher teams all played 12 games). In addition, RU was the most improved in the Big Ten in total touchdowns scored (+12) and offensive touchdowns (+9).
• Despite playing three less games, the Rutgers wide receivers combined to record 55 more receptions, total 439 more receiving yards and collect five more touchdowns in 2020 than in 2019.
• Bo Melton broke through for career bests with 47 receptions for 638 yards with nine total touchdowns (six receiving, two rushing, one punt return). Finished as one of three receivers in the Big Ten to rank in the top six in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. Earned a spot on the Biletnikoff Award watch list and gained honorable mention All-Big Ten status.
• Underwood spent five years in the NFL with Jacksonville (2009-10), New England (2011) and Tampa Bay (2012-13). He played in 45 career games with 10 starts and caught 63 passes for 1,006 yards and six touchdowns.
• The wide receiver was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the seventh round (253rd overall) of the 2009 NFL Draft.
• He also played three seasons in the Canadian Football League with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2015-16) and Montreal Allouettes (2016-17). He appeared in 32 games in his CFL career, catching 87 passes for 1,320 yards and six touchdowns.
• Underwood served as a quality control coach in 2019 for the Dolphins after beginning his coaching career working with the wide receivers at Lafayette in 2018. He helped mentor Nick Pearson to earn Second Team All-Patriot League honors by leading the team in receiving with 41 receptions for 592 yards.
• A four-year letterwinner, Underwood played in 50 games for the Scarlet Knights from 2005-08 and totaled 16 receiving touchdowns (tied for seventh in program history), 132 receptions (ninth in program history) and 1,931 receiving yards (10th in program history). He also sits seventh in the RU record book with six career 100-yard games, highlighted by a school-record 248 yards versus Buffalo in 2007.
• Underwood totaled 1,100 receiving yards on 65 receptions with seven touchdowns in 2007 to earn First Team All-Big East status. He was part of the first unit in college football history to have a 3,000-yard passer, a 2,000-yard rusher and two 1,000-yard receivers in the same season. The Scarlet Knights set school records for scoring (426), first downs (294) and total offense (5,841) that year, which ended with a 52-30 triumph over Ball State in the International Bowl. In addition, Underwood had a pair of touchdowns in the win versus No. 2 USF, the highest ranked victory in Rutgers football history.
• Underwood served as a captain for the 2008 squad that ended the season with seven consecutive wins, including the PapaJohns.com Bowl over NC State, after starting 1-5. He totaled five touchdowns on 40 catches.
• A standout at Notre Dame High School, Underwood saw action immediately as a true freshman for the Scarlet Knights in 2005. He played in all 12 games, which included returning kickoffs with a long of 59 yards. The team went 7-5 for the program's first winning season since 1992 and earned a trip to the Insight Bowl, RU's first bowl appearance since 1978.
• Underwood followed up earning a starting spot on the 2006 team went 11-2 and soared as high as No. 7 in the national rankings. He contributed 23 receptions for 290 yards and four scores.
Hometown: New Brunswick, N.J.
Alma Mater: Rutgers, 2009 (sociology)
Wife: Samantha
Children: Three daughters, Thai, Kali and Skye
2020-present: Rutgers (wide receivers)
2019: Miami Dolphins (quality control)
2018: Lafayette (wide receivers)
