Remember that time Schiano finished 1st or 2nd in the Big East???

[BaseballFan913]

Of course you don't because it never happened.

He never could beat Rich Rod's spread. Good luck with Urban's. And Dantonio smacked him around at Cincy.

#HireNewBlood

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

If only James Townsend caught that perfect Teel pass @ WVU.

 

[Rutgers 2004]

We don't play Rich Rod, most coaches have issues with Urban Meyer teams (he's 153-27 as a coach), and RU was 1-1 against Cincy while Dantonio was there....

not saying we should rehire Schiano, but there are stronger points to be made against hiring him (and strong points to be made for hiring him)

 

[bethlehemfan]

He was tied for second twice and beat dantonios team 44-9.

 

[RUfromNJ]

You're not wrong about his record against Rich Rod, but they haven't faced off in 8 years. Also, GS was 1-1 against D'Antonio...not exactly smacked around.

 

[BaseballFan913]

The point I was making about Rich Rod was that GS never could stop that spread. You think it'll get better against Urban?

You think Schiano is in the same class as Harbaugh & Dantonio?

I get it. Those guys are hard to find. That's why they are who they are. But Schiano has certainly proven he isn't on that level of coaching.

Is Rhule? I don't know, but I'd be willing to find out.
Is Moglia? Same answer.

I'm just not looking to bringing in one of these re-treads who already proved he could underachieve. I thank Schiano for building a program, but he didn't take the program to new heights, even when he had multiple NFL pro bowlers on the same team.

 

[RUMassAlum]

Of course you don't because it never happened.

He never could beat Rich Rod's spread. Good luck with Urban's. And Dantonio smacked him around at Cincy.

#HireNewBlood

I continue to be baffled and dismayed by the Schiano critics. They just cannot seem to stop picking on his foibles (like being controlling, or making certain arguable on-field decisions) or, most of all, their constant carping about the lack of a championship or major bowl appearance during Greg's tenure. However,if you were there for the dreadful years, especially the Terry Shea teams and the early Schiano years , RU was ten times worse than we are now; we didn't lose to good teams, we were slaughtered by astonishingly lopsided scores. Probably would have lost to Piscataway H.S. A total joke. Schiano had the balls to take on this train wreck of a program and slowly, brick-by-brick, the house got constructed, soundly. He persuaded one recruit at a time to come to Rutgers. SOLID RESPECTABILITY FELT BLOODY DAMN GOOD FOR LONG SUFFERING FANS! Just to be mentioned by sportscasters in a non-derisive or snickering tone was bliss. And I'd like to emphasize that for several seasons, before a bunch of teams exited for the ACC (or Big 12), the Big East was a very respectable conference. Schiano's return would be a recruiting bonanza and instantly restore RU's battered reputation. He'd also be more likely to retain recruits and minimize transfers. Having said that, I'd still be shocked if he came here. Been there, done that to the 10th power, and for relatively short money, with a guy who I believe is still getting his Tampa Bay payout. High risk factor as well. But if it happens, I'd be the happiest fan there is.

 

[G- RUnit]

If only James Townsend caught that perfect Teel pass @ WVU.

Slaton non fumble was the infuriating play.

 

[RcoasterA]

To be fair, Urban Meyers has only lost to one game in 2 years. If we are only going to hire coaches that beat Urban, then good luck.

-Mark Dantonio..... End of list.

 

[anvilofstars]

The point I was making about Rich Rod was that GS never could stop that spread. You think it'll get better against Urban?

You think Schiano is in the same class as Harbaugh & Dantonio?

I get it. Those guys are hard to find. That's why they are who they are. But Schiano has certainly proven he isn't on that level of coaching.

Is Rhule? I don't know, but I'd be willing to find out.
Is Moglia? Same answer.

I'm just not looking to bringing in one of these re-treads who already proved he could underachieve. I thank Schiano for building a program, but he didn't take the program to new heights, even when he had multiple NFL pro bowlers on the same team.

Find me one guy on the unemployment line that can beat Urban.

 

[mal359]

Find me one guy on the unemployment line that can beat Urban.

Charlie Weis

 

[rutgersdave]

Find me one guy on the unemployment line that can beat Urban.

Some fans are just stupid.

 

[rufancoe00]

Slaton non fumble was the infuriating play.

That was the ball game right there

 

[BaseballFan913]

I continue to be baffled and dismayed by the Schiano critics. They just cannot seem to stop picking on his foibles (like being controlling, or making certain arguable on-field decisions) or, most of all, their constant carping about the lack of a championship or major bowl appearance during Greg's tenure. However,if you were there for the dreadful years, especially the Terry Shea teams and the early Schiano years , RU was ten times worse than we are now; we didn't lose to good teams, we were slaughtered by astonishingly lopsided scores. Probably would have lost to Piscataway H.S. A total joke. Schiano had the balls to take on this train wreck of a program and slowly, brick-by-brick, the house got constructed, soundly. He persuaded one recruit at a time to come to Rutgers. SOLID RESPECTABILITY FELT BLOODY DAMN GOOD FOR LONG SUFFERING FANS! Just to be mentioned by sportscasters in a non-derisive or snickering tone was bliss. And I'd like to emphasize that for several seasons, before a bunch of teams exited for the ACC (or Big 12), the Big East was a very respectable conference. Schiano's return would be a recruiting bonanza and instantly restore RU's battered reputation. He'd also be more likely to retain recruits and minimize transfers. Having said that, I'd still be shocked if he came here. Been there, done that to the 10th power, and for relatively short money, with a guy who I believe is still getting his Tampa Bay payout. High risk factor as well. But if it happens, I'd be the happiest fan there is.

If solid respectability is what you strive for, then fine, hire GS. You'll enjoy so many 7-5 seasons that you won't know what to do with yourself.

Me, I'd like to maybe win this thing. Here's a list of teams that played on a New Years Bowl while GS was at Rutgers (after the VT/Miami/BC defections): Louisville, West Virginia, Cincy, UCONN(!!!), and Pitt. But hey, at least we were solidly respectable.

 

[RP78]

NM

 

[Dr. Potato]

Remember when we sucked most of the time since the first college football game?

Remember when every top NJ recruit before 2005 went to school out of state?

 

[RUskoolie]

The point I was making about Rich Rod was that GS never could stop that spread. You think it'll get better against Urban?

You think Schiano is in the same class as Harbaugh & Dantonio?

I get it. Those guys are hard to find. That's why they are who they are. But Schiano has certainly proven he isn't on that level of coaching.

Is Rhule? I don't know, but I'd be willing to find out.
Is Moglia? Same answer.

I'm just not looking to bringing in one of these re-treads who already proved he could underachieve. I thank Schiano for building a program, but he didn't take the program to new heights, even when he had multiple NFL pro bowlers on the same team.

This is such a fallacy. GS did fine against the spread. There were a few games in his career he got smacked around against the spread and it happened to be against Brian Kelly, Rich Rodriguez and Chip Kelly, not exactly piss poor coaches. You do remember Syracuse ran a spread, right? USF, right? Cincinnati he held to 13 points in 2008, 3 points in 2011. He held WVU to a pretty low margin some years considering their offensive output.

Just because we got pimp smacked in 2009 and 2010 to Cincinnati and blown out by WVU in 2007 doesn't mean we would have no chance against the spread in 2016 with Schiano scheming things. We would have no chance because he'd be working with lightly talented personell that the prior coach brought in here.

 

[mal359]

IT WAS WORSE THEN YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO CRITICIZE SOMEONE WHO WAS IN CHARGE WHEN THINGS WERE LESS BAD

 

[MYHATINTHERING]

Greg was a good overall steward of the overall program but horrible as a coach. I know it's easy to look back and think all was rosy but he made plenty of mistakes late in his tenure at Rutgers that left many scratching their heads. I think he would give the program a shot in the arm but his inabilities to coach up were glaring.

 

[miketd1]

Schiano would be the keystone, but the coordinator positions are important too. Remember the Wild Knight and Jabu Package?

 

[rutgers4life11]

People keep bringing this up, but the Big East actually produced a couple of very good teams every year in Schiano's tenure. These teams went on to BCS bowls. It wasn't like the AAC.

In 2011:
1. Cincinnati 10-3
2. West Virginia 10-3
(we beat Cincinnati)

In 2010:
Eric LeGrand was injured, we weren't going to play well any way you sliced it

In 2009:
1. Cincinatti 12-1
2. Pittsburgh 10-3
(we beat multiple ranked teams that year)

In 2008:
1. Cincinnatti 11-3
2. Pittsburgh & WVU 9-4
(we beat Pitt)

In 2007:
1. West Virginia: 11-2
2. Cincinnatti: 10-3
(we beat ranked USF)

In 2006:
1. Louisville 12-1
2. Rutgers & West Virginia 11-2
(we beat Louisville)

Fans continue to bring up this Big East championship card, and yeah it sucks, but don't forget the reality that the Big East was a top heavy league that always produced 2 very good teams. We had a much bigger rebuild on our hand than these other teams, and we were fighting to become recruiting relevant. It wasn't the cakewalk our fans make it out to be, as if it was some 'given'.

 

[devoted2ru]

Not saying Schiano is or isn't my first choice, but I seem to recall he was the only one who got us ranked as highly as 7th in the nation. -Considering what he had to work with when he first got here in late 2000, that was no small accomplishment.

 

[Ru2bnj]

If people are expecting the next HC..no matter who it is.. to be able to effectively stop OSU's offense on a consistent basis, you are going to have a miserable short term future. It's not a realistic expectation. Also, I remember RU dismantling Cincy ..coached by Dantonio ..something like 44-9 in 2005 at home.

 

[QD43]

Perhaps Schiano is more "program builder" than ace head coach, but unless I'm missing something, this program needs some building at the B1G level. Bring Greg back with the right coordinators, please.

 

[j10oreo]

I believe GS was held back by the quality of his OC. It's always hard because I think both sides have valid arguments, but I do believe had GS had Fridge as his OC, then our season would have been much better than with KF running the show.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Fans need to be convinced that Schiano has changed and he's being considered or hired to bring RU back to it's discliplined ways that limits issues off the field and to become the face of the program and school.

It's WAY beyond Schiano vs Dantonio, who has significantly better assistant coaches working under him than Schiano was willing to delegate and hire or defer to so those coaches did their jobs.

This is not to say Schiano isn't a clear upgrade from Flood or Golden or more experienced than Fleck or Rhule, but does anyone feel like the offense will be significantly upgraded and the upside takes RU from it's 6-6 floor to a 8-4 level??

Penn State is declining rapidly and Michigan is severely overrated, so there is an opportunity next year for a very fast start that can revive things, but the schedule next year sets up nicely for whomever the next coach is. Illinois, Indiana, Penn State, New Mexico, at Maryland and 1AA is a built-in 5 wins out of 6 games on the schedule right now. RU can assuredly play more competitive in road games at Minnesota, so while that game is tough, it's not impossible with basic defense.

Rossi/Cohen and the schemes were so out of whack that it skews what we saw the last 3 years. There is very good (not elite) talent on the roster, it just needs to be corrected with basic fundamental football....schiano can do that quickly, but most any other staff should have been able to do the same thing.

 

[rutgersdave]

If solid respectability is what you strive for, then fine, hire GS. You'll enjoy so many 7-5 seasons that you won't know what to do with yourself.

Me, I'd like to maybe win this thing. Here's a list of teams that played on a New Years Bowl while GS was at Rutgers (after the VT/Miami/BC defections): Louisville, West Virginia, Cincy, UCONN(!!!), and Pitt. But hey, at least we were solidly respectable.

Some people would say they are all losing teams since they didn't win the National Championship.

 

[rutgersdave]

Fans need to be convinced that Schiano has changed and he's being considered or hired to bring RU back to it's discliplined ways that limits issues off the field and to become the face of the program and school.

It's WAY beyond Schiano vs Dantonio, who has significantly better assistant coaches working under him than Schiano was willing to delegate and hire or defer to so those coaches did their jobs.

This is not to say Schiano isn't a clear upgrade from Flood or Golden or more experienced than Fleck or Rhule, but does anyone feel like the offense will be significantly upgraded and the upside takes RU from it's 6-6 floor to a 8-4 level??

Penn State is declining rapidly and Michigan is severely overrated, so there is an opportunity next year for a very fast start that can revive things, but the schedule next year sets up nicely for whomever the next coach is. Illinois, Indiana, Penn State, New Mexico, at Maryland and 1AA is a built-in 5 wins out of 6 games on the schedule right now. RU can assuredly play more competitive in road games at Minnesota, so while that game is tough, it's not impossible with basic defense.

Rossi/Cohen and the schemes were so out of whack that it skews what we saw the last 3 years. There is very good (not elite) talent on the roster, it just needs to be corrected with basic fundamental football....schiano can do that quickly, but most any other staff should have been able to do the same thing.

You are kidding yourself. We don't have the players after 4 years of a Flood recruiting. NO matter the coach, we are rebuilding for 2-3 years.

Even Schiano recruiting was just competitive, but Flood recruiting was non competitive even if we had Meyer as coach.

 

[RUChoppin]

I liked Schiano, and I feel he did a great job here bringing us from the depths to respectability. There are some concerns, though, about bringing him back.

1. People talk about his recruiting being great, but I don't remember that - maybe it was just "great" in comparison to what we'd seen prior with Shea and the early Schiano years. From 2006-2010 (beginning when the team started to have some success in 2005, but ending before Hafley showed up), he had 13 4* guys and no 5* guys... about 2.5 per year. Half did well: Britt, Abreu, Davis, Vallone, Holmes, Ryan, Coleman (4 of 7 were defensive guys). Half didn't do so well: Robinson, Young, Forst, Stroud, Savage, Williams (all offensive guys). Our recruiting rankings over those five years were: 42, 37, 46, 38, 64.

Once Hafley showed up, the fortunes changed a bit. In 2011-12 we had 8 4* and 1 5* guy, or about 4.5/year (almost double the top prospects that Schiano had been bringing in). Our rankings in those two years were 32 and 24.

If we bring Schiano back, I really hope we're able to get Hafley back on staff, too.

2. Schiano struggled with developing quarterbacks. Teel took over in 2006, and we had effectively no backup until he graduated (the Jabu package isn't really a backup QB). After that, it was musical QBs... Natale, Savage, Dodd, Nova. Flood really wasn't any better in this arena... though Friedgen helped Nova a lot in his senior year, I think.

If we bring Schiano back, I really hope we're able to get a QB coach or OC who is able to develop QB talent.

3. The offense was usually just an extension of the defense. Schiano plays ball control offense, killing as much clock as possible and rarely airing the ball out. He kept his defense off the field as long as possible to keep them rested, but that usually meant we weren't scoring a ton of points. Without a star RB like Rice who could consistently move the chains on the ground, that type of offense doesn't always work out so well. We'd need a strong OC to pair with Schiano, who wouldn't be afraid to challenge him.... though Schiano tended to churn through OCs, so that might be hard.

4. The defense was undersized. While this worked in the Big East, the Big Ten is filled with a lot more bruisers on offense - especially in the trenches. We'd need to pivot to bigger DLinemen at the very least, but also likely bigger LBs.

 

[BaseballFan913]

Some people would say they are all losing teams since they didn't win the National Championship.

Forget national championships. We couldn't even win a championship in a weak conference! Schools came in from mid-majors and won it. UCONN built from a d-2 division and won it!

 

[BoroKnight]

Here it is, plain and simple. Since 2006, when he capped an amazing building job with a season none of us will forget, Schiano's teams finished tied for fifth, tied for second, tied for fourth, eighth and tied for fourth. That was in a mediocre Big East we couldn't wait to flee. That was with the recruiting credibility gained from 2006. That was with the improved facilities he wanted, the higher salary he commanded and much-improved academic support.

And he did nothing with it but tread water. For five years.

Why do people act like you can't appreciate the incredible job he did building the program while also acknowledging that, despite having plenty of time and all the support he could ask for, was often coaching a team that depended on a weak nonconference schedule to look good on paper?

But people seem to be divided into Greg is a God and Greg is Overrated camps.

The issue, to me, is this isn't 2000, and the Greg Schiano of 2015 is not the Greg Schiano of 2000. A better coach? Probably. But the right fit for what Rutgers needs right now? Not sure. The right guy to take Rutgers to the next level after straightening out the current mess? Evidence suggests no.

Would I take him back? Sure. Is he our best option going forward? I have significant doubts.

 

[Dr. Potato]

You just wrote a term paper why he wasn't good then said you would take him back?

Bipolar much?

 

[Caliknight]

OP fail.

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

You just wrote a term paper why he wasn't good then said you would take him back?

Bipolar much?

He is just covering all bases.

 

[RUChoppin]

Here it is, plain and simple. Since 2006, when he capped an amazing building job with a season none of us will forget, Schiano's teams finished tied for fifth, tied for second, tied for fourth, eighth and tied for fourth. That was in a mediocre Big East we couldn't wait to flee. That was with the recruiting credibility gained from 2006. That was with the improved facilities he wanted, the higher salary he commanded and much-improved academic support.

And he did nothing with it but tread water. For five years.

Why do people act like you can't appreciate the incredible job he did building the program while also acknowledging that, despite having plenty of time and all the support he could ask for, was often coaching a team that depended on a weak nonconference schedule to look good on paper?

But people seem to be divided into Greg is a God and Greg is Overrated camps.

The issue, to me, is this isn't 2000, and the Greg Schiano of 2015 is not the Greg Schiano of 2000. A better coach? Probably. But the right fit for what Rutgers needs right now? Not sure. The right guy to take Rutgers to the next level after straightening out the current mess? Evidence suggests no.

Would I take him back? Sure. Is he our best option going forward? I have significant doubts.

He's a definite step up from Flood, that's for sure. We'd be better with him than we were last year, I'd say. He'd get the program back under control from a player behavior perspective, certainly. His recruiting would probably be slightly better selling the Big Ten than the Big East (especially if we could also get Hafley back).

He's also seen a different perspective since he left. Time in the NFL, time watching/preparing outside of a HC job while Tampa Bay paid him. There's a good chance he's been able to improve some on some of the things he had been doing before he left.

On the flip side, though, he struggled to win the big game at times. His X's and O's weren't always great, usually on the offensive side of the ball. Offensive player development wasn't great (QBs, never using Rice as a receiver out of the backfield, tight ends after Harris left, FBs after Leonard left, etc).

We know his floor is higher than our current ceiling... I just don't know if his ceiling is as high as we'd want it to be.

 

[RUMountie]

Fans need to be convinced that Schiano has changed and he's being considered or hired to bring RU back to it's discliplined ways that limits issues off the field and to become the face of the program and school.

It's WAY beyond Schiano vs Dantonio, who has significantly better assistant coaches working under him than Schiano was willing to delegate and hire or defer to so those coaches did their jobs.

This is not to say Schiano isn't a clear upgrade from Flood or Golden or more experienced than Fleck or Rhule, but does anyone feel like the offense will be significantly upgraded and the upside takes RU from it's 6-6 floor to a 8-4 level??

Penn State is declining rapidly and Michigan is severely overrated, so there is an opportunity next year for a very fast start that can revive things, but the schedule next year sets up nicely for whomever the next coach is. Illinois, Indiana, Penn State, New Mexico, at Maryland and 1AA is a built-in 5 wins out of 6 games on the schedule right now. RU can assuredly play more competitive in road games at Minnesota, so while that game is tough, it's not impossible with basic defense.

Rossi/Cohen and the schemes were so out of whack that it skews what we saw the last 3 years. There is very good (not elite) talent on the roster, it just needs to be corrected with basic fundamental football....schiano can do that quickly, but most any other staff should have been able to do the same thing.

Agree with Hawk, our talent level while not elite yet (can be with the right coach/staff and beating several good teams) was not the primary cause of the defensive futility. Our players were constantly put out of position rather than into position and the results were obvious. If our next DC can just competently execute the basics of Alignment Assignment Technique we will be much better on defense very quickly.

 

[brgossRU90]

If he couldnt beat west virginia he won't be able to beat ohio state, michigan state michigan, Wisconsin or anyone else in a good year. We will forever be fighting for the top of the bottom half of the conference. It should've been obvious how low his ceiling was and probably still is. Good recruiting is not enough. We easily out recruited cincinnati and Kelly came in and destroyed schiano every time. We barely outperformed Connecticut.

 

[BaseballFan913]

OP fail.

How? Schiano was the definition of mediocrity. He failed forward into the NFL, failed there, and hasn't been able to get a job since.

If it is an "OP fail", I hope it is as successful to my future endeavors as a GS fail.

 

[NickKnight 1]

He was tied for second twice and beat dantonios team 44-9.

Not even one clean 2nd place finish, rehire him this time, with all
his experience he should get a sole 2nd place finish. Oh, we are in
the Big Ten now. Hmm I think we should let him rest in peace, with
RU's and Tampa's Millions.

 

[lighty]

Illinois, Indiana, Penn State, New Mexico, at Maryland and 1AA is a built-in 5 wins out of 6 games on the schedule right now.

Kinda crazy thinking IMO Penn State crushed us this year and the games between Indiana and Maryland were even