Both Whipple and Kirk ( I can’t believe I’m saying this about Kirk but to his credit he has grown quite a bit as a coach) would be better options.
But, in the end I don’t think it matters. As a preface I will say I think Schiano is as good a coach as RU could hope to have and I personally believe he will maximize the program’s potential. But, aside from a pair of years where we had 1 if not 2 NFL backs, 2 NFL WRs and an experienced starter at QB who had a cup of coffee in the NFL, along with a couple future pros on the o-line and I believe one at TE, Greg has never really had consistently productive offenses. And even the 05 through 07 offenses were predicated on running the ball and trying to beat opponents in a phone booth. He’s never going to run a wide-open/innovative offense- to his core he believes that a solid defense, special teams and an offense that doesn’t turn the ball over are enough to win games, and he’s right…when it comes to Indiana, Maryland, 2/3 of the west division and MSU in a down year. But you’re not going to beat any of the top 3 to 4 teams in division with that formula because they either have the same blueprint but with much better talent or they run prolific offenses that we won’t be able to keep up with.
If/when the B1G gets rid of divisions, RU should benefit. After watching Flood and Ash teams look like they didn’t belong in a G5 conference, I’ve gotten realistic and would be happy with consistent 6-6 or 7-5 teams that compete and occasionally pull off an upset with a special 9-3 season sprinkles in every 4 to 6 years. And I think we’re working toward that now. But unless Greg has a seismic shift in his core coaching beliefs, I don’t think we’ll see an offense at RU that can compete with the big boys and that’s a shame, because he (and the staff he hires) do a great job with the defense and ST