For me, it’s Schiano or Bust

[hiwater]

I would only want GS back if there is no other proven HC that would take the job. That probably means that he will be the only one available for less than $5 million or even $6 million per year . Because of local political reasons, I don't see the university going for that kind of money even if boosters paid the full tab. I think that we may be able to get him back for somewhere in the $3 million per year range.

GS has a lot of warts on some of the years that he was coaching here in the past.

The worst part of if would have been how he handled OLine recruitment after his 2006 season. That was all on him although the ignorant here still want to blame Kyle Flood for that. GS got a little too arrogant when he went for broke by only allowing offers to tier one OL prospects and not even cultivating relationships with tier 2 and 3 type of prospects. Tier 1 OL recruits typically commit close to LOI day so when they all fell through, if was too late to get back in on respectable tier 2 and 3 prospects. RU was forced to scramble late to accept too many OL recruits that had no other D1 prospects. That GS arrogance shot RU in the foot for a few years in a row.

His QB handling was terrible as well as his failure to recognize the importance of having a QB coach to help develop the QB's. Mike Teel was a very good QB for RU for his last 3 years. He had his first experience working with a QB coach that taught him to read defenses when he went to the Seahawks. Reading the quote from him where he he wished that he had this kind of coaching at RU and he said he was just thinking how much more he could have done at RU had he been taught to read defenses like this.

His interfering with the offenses too much was also a problem.

His inability to hire many respected position coaches for assistants was also an issue. Some would not work for him. The unwillingness of RU to pay a competitive salary for assistants was probably a bigger factor here though. RU seems to have corrected that to some extent with the last 2 HC's so that should not be a factor that holds GS back if he comes back.

GS's obnoxiousness in the way he handled assistants and the press was a problem too, but I have to believe that he was humbled quite a bit with his experiences over the last 7 years. Several people that know him have said as much, and they have said that he wished that he had handle things differently when he was here and at Tamps. It sounds like he has grown a bit. Because of that, I think that would probably do better his second time around if he came back.

Outside of Urban Meyer (who is not coming here) I don't think there would be any AVAILABLE coach that could come in here and turn things around relatively quickly other than GS.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

I didn’t realize college Ave is filled with jazz clubs, rock clubs, micro breweries and great eating spots

You really need to visit downtown New Brunswick.. just a few steps away from College Ave. It was a great town in the 80s even though it sucked a lot more. The Melody, Roxy, Court Tavern.. the time you could have there rivaled anything, anywhere. Add in the college bars.. FUN was all around you.

 

[Knight Shift]

I've never understood the Rhule hype. Guy is an average coach at best.

You seem to shoot down every other option and are not even open-minded about considering other candidates. Glad you are not making the decision.

 

[Knight Shift]

Kyk brought up a point that I was going to mention. Thinking about Ash in a room with Franklin, Harbaugh, Meyer is embarrassing. Ash is a milquetoast as far as personality. Rutgers needs a charismatic HC. I have seen Schiano speak multiple times and I would leave the room wanting to put pads on and run onto the field. Shea, Flood, Ash, Anderson are/were boring as hell to listen to (I saw them all speak). I can just imagine what they are like in a recruit's home.
I don't know what the circumstances regarding Schiano's exit from the Patriots, he may be done with football. Anyone who says they know for sure he'd come back is full of BS, unless they've spoken to him or a family member. I also don't know the personalities of some of the other names mentioned (Narduzzi is boring as hell, heard him speak too) but charisma would be one of the more important traits I'd be looking for if I was interviewing the next candidate. Whether its Schiano or someone else, it will ultimately depend on how much will RU pay for its next coach.
I have heard, directly, from sources within the administration, both a member of the BOG and very close to Barchi, that there will be money to pay the next coach AND that the search committee will be looking for a presidential candidate that is more athletic-friendly. In his words, "Big Ten sports are very important and they know that it can't be pushed aside." This goes directly against what the mods on this and TOS have said regarding paying the next coach. I don't know who their sources are so I'm hoping my source is right and theirs is wrong.
Fingers crossed.

The problem we have here and I know you understand it fully, Rutgers is NOT going to pay for a top guy. That is why Schiano is the realistic option.
If we were willing to pay...The guy I think would come and would tear it up here would be Rhule
We just wouldn’t pay enough to do it.

The above two posts are somewhat contradictory.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

offer GS 2.5M with incentives to 3M (5 year deal with increases) and insist on (and budget for) a great OC and coach-in-waiting. I doubt GS wants to put in another 10 years at this point and we don't want to be left with a Flood when he leaves.

 

[50 yd line RR]

offer GS 2.5M with incentives to 3M (5 year deal with increases) and insist on (and budget for) a great OC and coach-in-waiting. I doubt GS wants to put in another 10 years at this point and we don't want to be left with a Flood when he leaves.

Would you keep Mcnulty? I would!

 

[MoobyCow]

Would you keep Mcnulty? I would!

Imagine McNulty's resume, but he was a former Pitt coach and not RU coach. Would you still keep him/look to hire him away form his current stop?

 

[bigmatt718]

Would you keep Mcnulty? I would!

Depends on what style of offense he runs. Is it pro set from the 1950s like last time? Nope. Is it an offense that resembles an elite NFL offense like the Chiefs, Eagles, Saints, or Rams? Okay.

 

[ScarletNut]

The above two posts are somewhat contradictory.

Knight Shift,
As much as I respect yesrutgers1, that's his opinion. My statement is a direct conversation. Now yesrutgers1's opinion may turn out to be factual and mine may not pan out but that is today's status.

 

[RUskoolie]

I've never understood the Rhule hype. Guy is an average coach at best.

Rhule and is staff are studs, seriously. Guy went bowling in Year 2 at Baylor and brought in a nice class off a gang rape scandal. He's good dude, just has no interest in RU. He's a PSU snob.

 

[REDRICH65]

I would be in line for season tix again.

 

[hiwater]

I’d take Partridge over Schiano.

Greg is done.

He has no qualifications for an HC job. Let him run a smaller college program somewhere first. Paterson Catholic does not qualify. Neither does being a position coach at UM. I know that you are going to site his recruiting prowess, but recruiting at UM (which recruits itself) and RU are not even remotely in the same galaxy.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Would you keep Mcnulty? I would!

I would leave that to GS. It will take GS 3-4 years to recruit enough talent to make a big difference. GS can legitimately say that when enough of the top recruits in NJ choose Rutgers over Ohio State and Michigan, then he can promise championships. That is up to New Jersey's sons to bring championships back home.

 

[Upstream]

I understand the rationale for wanting to bring Schiano back: His is a known quantity, He has already shown he can get it done here. He has the respect of a large portion of the fan base, local coaches, and community. Even if Schiano doesn't win a national championship, his upside is way better than what we have now under Ash. Picking someone else would either be a bigger risk, or much more expensive.

I also understand the rationale for objecting to Schiano. We know what his ceiling is, and other than capturing lightning in a bottle in 2006, his ceiling is not as good as we want to be. Being better than Ash is a low bar. There are plenty of examples of other coaches returning to where they had previous success, only to fail to achieve that success.

Assuming Schiano wants to return, I think those arguments balance out slightly toward hiring Schiano. But there is another huge risk: What happens if Schiano fails, or plateaus.

If we bring Schiano back, how long do we give him to succeed? What guarantees would we have to provide. And if he fails, how do we fire him. And if we fire him, does that relegate Rutgers to "coach's graveyard" status. I think if we end up firing Schiano, does that create the reputation that no one can make Rutgers a winner in the Big Ten, not even someone who was previously successful here.

When you factor in that risk, I think the pendulum swings back against hiring Schiano. I think it is much better to roll the dice on another coach, who most likely would be better than Ash, and if not the level of winner we want, can at least be a stepping stone on the path the high level success.

 

[tico brown]

Mcnulty has actually run some good shit, he just doesnt have a qb because of ash

Didnt McClane Carter here come here after McNulty?

 

[Knight Shift]

Knight Shift,
As much as I respect yesrutgers1, that's his opinion. My statement is a direct conversation. Now yesrutgers1's opinion may turn out to be factual and mine may not pan out but that is today's status.

I was actually favoring your direct conversation over @yesrutgers01 's opinion, not because I don't trust him, but he was giving his opinion, while you were relating a direct conversation. I appreciate your post and give it a lot of credence. The multi-million dollar question is how much money will there be to pay the next coach. $3.5 million should be the floor, with a ceiling of $5 or $6 million for an Urban Meyer type. In my opinion, I doubt RU will go to or near the ceiling.

After all, unless one of the top 3-5 donors, Barchi, Hobbs or a BOG member is posting here, 99% of what is posted on these boards is speculation and based on what people have heard from someone else. That's why I don't give a lot of credence to anybody's version of the decision to retain Ash last year. Just pure speculation on my part, but I believe it was a consensus decision to see what Ash would bring in year 4 and get the buyout down below 8 figures. Again, just all speculation and opinion.

 

[tico brown]

This is so insane.
Were you not here for the atmosphere and excitement of Louisville 2006.
Good god our fans are nuts

That's like saying that the Mets should bring back Willie Randolph because he got them to the 2006 NLCS. Still a LONNNNNNGGGG time ago. This was when the Air Raid was considered a fad. Now it's been in the NFL for years.

 

[ScarletNut]

I understand the rationale for wanting to bring Schiano back: His is a known quantity, He has already shown he can get it done here. He has the respect of a large portion of the fan base, local coaches, and community. Even if Schiano doesn't win a national championship, his upside is way better than what we have now under Ash. Picking someone else would either be a bigger risk, or much more expensive.

I also understand the rationale for objecting to Schiano. We know what his ceiling is, and other than capturing lightning in a bottle in 2006, his ceiling is not as good as we want to be. Being better than Ash is a low bar. There are plenty of examples of other coaches returning to where they had previous success, only to fail to achieve that success.

Assuming Schiano wants to return, I think those arguments balance out slightly toward hiring Schiano. But there is another huge risk: What happens if Schiano fails, or plateaus.

If we bring Schiano back, how long do we give him to succeed? What guarantees would we have to provide. And if he fails, how do we fire him. And if we fire him, does that relegate Rutgers to "coach's graveyard" status. I think if we end up firing Schiano, does that create the reputation that no one can make Rutgers a winner in the Big Ten, not even someone who was previously successful here.

When you factor in that risk, I think the pendulum swings back against hiring Schiano. I think it is much better to roll the dice on another coach, who most likely would be better than Ash, and if not the level of winner we want, can at least be a stepping stone on the path the high level success.

You bring up good points about Schiano failing. I thought about that too and it would probably be disastrous if he failed. I think that Schiano wouldn't come back unless he gets his list of requirements agreed to before he agrees to return, just as he did when he was first hired.

 

[TonyVolt]

I want Schiano to come back badly. That said, his daughter is a junior in high school and a soccer recruit an Ohio prep school. Would he really uplift his family in the midst of that, or wait until she is done with school? I guess another way of asking this is - do we really know that he is interested? Is his interest actually viable, or just pure conjecture?

 

[Knight Shift]

I would leave that to GS. It will take GS 3-4 years to recruit enough talent to make a big difference. GS can legitimately say that when enough of the top recruits in NJ choose Rutgers over Ohio State and Michigan, then he can promise championships. That is up to New Jersey's sons to bring championships back home.

Isn't it always left to the new coach on who to retain? That's what Ash did, but he kept nobody from Flood's staff.

And I am of the view that our talent level is not that bad, except at QB, which is a real Achilles heel to a football team.

I would rather see an offensive-minded coach like Brohm over another defensive-minded coach, unless that coach was going to bring an exciting OC with him.

 

[yesrutgers01]

I was actually favoring your direct conversation over @yesrutgers01 's opinion, not because I don't trust him, but he was giving his opinion, while you were relating a direct conversation. I appreciate your post and give it a lot of credence. The multi-million dollar question is how much money will there be to pay the next coach. $3.5 million should be the floor, with a ceiling of $5 or $6 million for an Urban Meyer type. In my opinion, I doubt RU will go to or near the ceiling.

After all, unless one of the top 3-5 donors, Barchi, Hobbs or a BOG member is posting here, 99% of what is posted on these boards is speculation and based on what people have heard from someone else. That's why I don't give a lot of credence to anybody's version of the decision to retain Ash last year. Just pure speculation on my part, but I believe it was a consensus decision to see what Ash would bring in year 4 and get the buyout down below 8 figures. Again, just all speculation and opinion.

I would also like to favor the direct conversation too as like you said, mine is only my opinion...On the other hand...I had many other direct conversations when I was closer to the program that said the checkbook would be opened up on the previous hire. Money would not be an issue.
So, my opinion is based on...fool me once. So, until I see 4.5 per or better for a HC and nearly 8mil for a staff, I stick with, we are not going to pay. And if that is the case- Greg is my choice. If we go 4.5+ plus staff, my first choice to go after is Rhule. I tend to side with skoolie on this one.

 

[yesrutgers01]

I want Schiano to come back badly. That said, his daughter is a junior in high school and a soccer recruit an Ohio prep school. Would he really uplift his family in the midst of that, or wait until she is done with school? I guess another way of asking this is - do we really know that he is interested? Is his interest actually viable, or just pure conjecture?

A coach in this business uproots his family.

 

[Knight Shift]

I would also like to favor the direct conversation too as like you said, mine is only my opinion...On the other hand...I had many other direct conversations when I was closer to the program that said the checkbook would be opened up on the previous hire. Money would not be an issue.
So, my opinion is based on...fool me once. So, until I see 4.5 per or better for a HC and nearly 8mil for a staff, I stick with, we are not going to pay. And if that is the case- Greg is my choice. If we go 4.5+ plus staff, my first choice to go after is Rhule. I tend to side with skoolie on this one.

But @RUskoolie said Rhule would not come here, and while I do not agree with some of what he says, I think he is 100% right on this.

 

[Knightmoves]

“And I am of the view that our talent level is not that bad, except at QB, which is a real Achilles heel to a football team.”

Other than having a bad heart, the health of the deceased was not that bad.

Failure to find and develop a QB the past 4 years will be the biggest reason that Ash has failed at RU imo.

There are other reasons. But the futility at the QB position is the biggest reason imo.

 

[TonyVolt]

A coach in this business uproots his family.

After he declined the New England position to purportedly focus on family? Or was that just subterfuge?

 

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

Didnt McClane Carter here come here after McNulty?

Yeah mcnulty has coached him for a whooping 6 weeks at this point. Guys not a miracle worker

 

[KT8813]

How many BE Champ rings did he win? How many times has he beat WVU? Going to the Pinstripe Bowl at 7-5 playing 5 bum OOC teams and winning 2-3 BE games isn't my definition of success. Plus how many times has he choked to trash like UConn?

Bet you would give your left nut to even sniff the Pinstripe Bowl now! So keep it down squawker!

 

[RURM85]

I understand the rationale for wanting to bring Schiano back: His is a known quantity, He has already shown he can get it done here. He has the respect of a large portion of the fan base, local coaches, and community. Even if Schiano doesn't win a national championship, his upside is way better than what we have now under Ash. Picking someone else would either be a bigger risk, or much more expensive.

I also understand the rationale for objecting to Schiano. We know what his ceiling is, and other than capturing lightning in a bottle in 2006, his ceiling is not as good as we want to be. Being better than Ash is a low bar. There are plenty of examples of other coaches returning to where they had previous success, only to fail to achieve that success.

Assuming Schiano wants to return, I think those arguments balance out slightly toward hiring Schiano. But there is another huge risk: What happens if Schiano fails, or plateaus.

If we bring Schiano back, how long do we give him to succeed? What guarantees would we have to provide. And if he fails, how do we fire him. And if we fire him, does that relegate Rutgers to "coach's graveyard" status. I think if we end up firing Schiano, does that create the reputation that no one can make Rutgers a winner in the Big Ten, not even someone who was previously successful here.

When you factor in that risk, I think the pendulum swings back against hiring Schiano. I think it is much better to roll the dice on another coach, who most likely would be better than Ash, and if not the level of winner we want, can at least be a stepping stone on the path the high level success.

I understand this. However, when I think back of the Schiano years, what he did best was provide vision and more importantly, he provided the fanbase with Hope. Hope of a better future, of being able to compete within Conference and across the country. Hope of better recruits including within the NJ landscape. After the dismal 2010 season with the Eric Legrand injury, he went back to the drawing board and made changes that once again provided a glimpse of being on the uptrend. I never once felt that he had failed or plateaued in his 11 seasons at Rutgers, regardless of record. He was born to coach Rutgers. That's really difficult to replace regardless of how many years go by. Now my hope is he returns and as a better Coach then when he left.

 

[DJ Spanky]

Sorry folks, that State Penn troll slipped in under his new name which he registered in August. The thread, and the board, have been sanitized.

 

[Goku]

I wrote a post about how there is no hope left. I'd have the most amount of hope with Schiano. He would get me watching games again. He would get me actually thinking about paying my own money to go to the games and bring my son to a game. I don't think any other coach would do that.

If you are happy with some 6-6 seasons and maybe an 8-4 season from time to time (and most of you would be), I think Schiano can accomplish that.

He is our best option right now.

This school must make a big splash and bring him back. This would get national attention. This would be talked about on PTI and college gameday. No other hire would do that.

 

[hiwater]

Imagine McNulty's resume, but he was a former Pitt coach and not RU coach. Would you still keep him/look to hire him away form his current stop?

Probably! He seems to be very well respected as an NFL assistant too. Having coached in the NFL helps with HS recruiting too.He has had no problem staying employed in the NFL after leaving RU.

We could have probably kept him here during his first stint had RU been willing to pay a competitive salary to keep a top notch OC. He was paid just shy of $400k per year by the Cardinals when he left here to return to the NFL as a WR position coach. He left for pay. He was making in the $220k range as our DC. He had already been an NFL position coach so he did not need the resume builder to back to the NFL.

GS was not underpaid in comparison to other HC's at the time, but most of our assistants were. RU could have help out GS quite a bit if they did not ham string him on assistants pay.

 

[yesrutgers01]

But @RUskoolie said Rhule would not come here, and while I do not agree with some of what he says, I think he is 100% right on this.

I couldn’t answer that but if PSU is his dream job, he isn’t getting it for a while...but he would be the guy I would target.

 

[yesrutgers01]

After he declined the New England position to purportedly focus on family? Or was that just subterfuge?

None of us have any idea what the focus was or the actual circumstance but if he wants back into coaching- he is going to uproot. OSU isn’t hiring him and I don’t think he wants to coach Ohio...

 

[krup]

I couldn’t answer that but if PSU is his dream job, he isn’t getting it for a while...but he would be the guy I would target.

Aren’t there a lot of rumors that Franklin would be USC’s top target after they get rid of Helton?

I could see him taking that job, Winning the Pac12 South is a lot easier than dealing with OSU, Michigan and Michigan St every year.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

I would be in line for season tix again.

I'll drink to that

Actually, I'll drink to anything, but bring back Greg

 

[newell138]

Greg is a man on a mission?

Then why did he fail with the Pats in about a month?

Has Greg shown any interest in returning to RU, or are we just throwing his name around because he is all we know?

He left the Pats so he could spend a year with his family knowing Ash will be fired at the end of the year and he can take the reins. :)

 

[newell138]

Hey if you want to be 5-7 to 7-5 for eternity, that's cool. Just don't ever let me catch you bitching about it. If Schiano couldn't beat his daddy WVU, how the hell is he supposed to beat PSU or Wisconsin or Michigan?

Hell even Flood beat Michigan and should have beaten PSU

 

[MADHAT1]

A coach in this business uproots his family.

That might be the reason for Schiano's quick exit from New England.
Didn't want to uproot them by moving closer to his job so he could be near them, or travel back and forth between stated to be with them while coaching the Pats.
But that's just a guess and Schiano might have other reasons for leaving the coaching profession .

 

[BlockR]

I want Schiano to come back badly. That said, his daughter is a junior in high school and a soccer recruit an Ohio prep school. Would he really uplift his family in the midst of that, or wait until she is done with school? I guess another way of asking this is - do we really know that he is interested? Is his interest actually viable, or just pure conjecture?

I was told by someone who knows him and family,
Yes, is the answer under certain conditions.
Its why he stepped away from Pats because he wants to Coach again,like in H.C.

 

[graystork]

There is no one else who has his qualifications and experience that would even consider Rutgers. I will renew tix if he's hired. I can't think of anyone else that Rutgers is likely to hire that I would consider renewing for.