Gregg maximized his early contacts and breaks to build a winning program. Once he achieved respectability, he made RU a viable option if not the "go-to" school for top NJ recruits.
What if Greg had stayed at RU....Where would the program be today?
- Thread starter BROTHERSKINNY
- Start date
Gregg maximized his early contacts and breaks to build a winning program. Once he achieved respectability, he made RU a viable option if not the "go-to" school for top NJ recruits.
But the Oline and TE's didn't come from Syracuse. Watch some of those seasons, those guys were mauling people. I agree Rice and Greene falling into our lap helped a lot and the decline of Syracuse rather quickly took another recruiting foe off the board and hastened the rise from laughing stock. This time I'm not so sure, but I did say the same thing back in 2004 after that brutal 5 game losing stretch and the N. Hampshire debacle. So here's to hoping history repeats itself.
Forget Greg, what if RU hired Bill Parcells instead of Schiano?
BP was available then and without that hire, I'm doomed to read about how we need Greg back .Greg had his time and moved on.
I think Greg was good for Rutgers but also think by the time he moved on, it might have been tiime for him to leave.
BP was available then and without that hire, I'm doomed to read about how we need Greg back .Greg had his time and moved on.
I think Greg was good for Rutgers but also think by the time he moved on, it might have been tiime for him to leave.
Anyone on here who thinks RU is better off without Schiano needs to get their head examined.
Also this is a wild speculation, but does anyone think there’s a chance in hell in Belichick stepping down in NE and wanting to take over at RU for a shot at his sons school (making his son a coordinator) and knowing he won’t have to deal w professional egos as well as the possibility of bringing in loads of NJ talent?
I don’t think it’s as wild of an idea as some may think.
I don’t think it’s as wild of an idea as some may think.
Last edited:
He'll be 67 years old and would have to deal with plenty of egos (along with a shitload of travelling) on the recruiting trails. Not a snowballs chance in hell.
Yeah uh, no. He’s an X and O guy. He can barely stand to answer a reporter’s question. He has no interest in shaking hands with donors or making sure his players go to class.
The question isn't what if Greg would have stayed. The question is if Barchi never was hired. That was the first domino. He came for a job that ignored sports and made it public he didn't care about winning.
We would have never won as a team but would have continued sending individually well coached guys to Sundays.He was Buddy and Rex Ryan. He only saw one side of the field but still managed to move some O guys forward as well.
This question is like the girl who got away. A true first love that left one night to ride with the really rich guy in the expensive car. RU was brought to the highest position in its history in terms of modern football (no disrespect to the undefeated team and Frank Burns). Maybe he was tired of waiting to see if we would ever get promoted to a real league instead of the wobbly BE and the uncertainty of our future.
The bottom line is that we will probably never see him on the banks again. He is actually a lot better in the position he now has and will be in the wings for a lot of open jobs at top tier schools. Hopefully, he will not have to endure the Tenn. kind of reaction next time.
The bottom line is that we will probably never see him on the banks again. He is actually a lot better in the position he now has and will be in the wings for a lot of open jobs at top tier schools. Hopefully, he will not have to endure the Tenn. kind of reaction next time.
Greg leaving was one of my most frustrating days as a fan. I totally get the reasons he left, and would have done the same for my family in his position. But at the same time I couldnt help but feel like damnit, c'mon Greg we are finally starting to kick ass and the job wasnt completed. The Pitt meltdown had just occurred and our recruiting and coaching staff were finally peaking. A few more years of that and we might have achieved a sustainable winning atmosphere around here.
That's why I don't think it's so far fetched when people want him back. He wasnt always the best game day coach but he also never had this conference and its resources and many of us would like to see what he could do here now.
That's why I don't think it's so far fetched when people want him back. He wasnt always the best game day coach but he also never had this conference and its resources and many of us would like to see what he could do here now.
Can't blame him for leaving. Was told he would be taking a paycut next contract. Time was right. The problem has always been the administration.
I think if Greg weighs whether or not his schtick flies in the NFL v. if he sees himself as a Knute or Fielding Yost figure for New Jersey (which isn't a bad gig), he's got an Orange or Fiesta Bowl win under his belt already, and Rutgers is the fifth national power in the Big Ten East ... and Sandusky is the only reason we don't lose him to PSU when JoePa gets fired/passes away.
I honestly think he's a guy who turns Rutgers into a legit Northeast Power if he stays -- the only major power in the Northeast if he gets Barkley and Gesicki. Maybe Penn State shuffles along with the likes of Cuse, MD, BC and Pitt -- "good but not great" teams. He's 19 years in, heading to 40. Every five years, he loses 5 games and people say he's lost it, then suddenly he goes 12-1, wins the Big Ten and he's a genius.
Fan spending and gifts combined with B1G revenue and state support means we get a Douglass - CAC - Busch - Livingston - Highland Park - Cook monorail and downtown arena in 2017. Rutgers-Princeton hockey is one of the best rivalries in America. RU Pharma-Chemistry is a top-5 research center.
All if Greg just realizes he's not an NFL guy.
I honestly think he's a guy who turns Rutgers into a legit Northeast Power if he stays -- the only major power in the Northeast if he gets Barkley and Gesicki. Maybe Penn State shuffles along with the likes of Cuse, MD, BC and Pitt -- "good but not great" teams. He's 19 years in, heading to 40. Every five years, he loses 5 games and people say he's lost it, then suddenly he goes 12-1, wins the Big Ten and he's a genius.
Fan spending and gifts combined with B1G revenue and state support means we get a Douglass - CAC - Busch - Livingston - Highland Park - Cook monorail and downtown arena in 2017. Rutgers-Princeton hockey is one of the best rivalries in America. RU Pharma-Chemistry is a top-5 research center.
All if Greg just realizes he's not an NFL guy.
Like it all but Greg could be a NFL guy. Wrong team certainly wrong ownership for his first team.
Or if we didn’t get jobbed on the Slaton fumble recovery and TD by Bines. Still pi$$es me off to this day.
I just looked at Rutgers tickets on Stubhub. You can buy 5 RU game tickets for a total of $48. It costs much more to buy the parking passes. I dont think something like that happens under a Schiano (who sold around 25% more tickets a year in first 7 years).
Last edited:
I just looked at Rutgers tickets on Stubhub. You can by 5 RU game tickets for a total of $48. It costs much more to buy the parking passes. I dont think something like that happens under a Schiano (who sold around 25% more tickets a year in first 7 years).
Not a very inspiring home schedule. By the time of the Northwestern game they will pay you to take the tix.
If Rutgers is not 5-2/4-3 by the Northwestern game most of your dreams will come true. Just dont expect your Schiano wet dream to come alive though.
How do you figure? Friedgen was a better head coach than Greg and he was essentially running the team that season and we still lost that game.
We lost because Nova threw 5 picks. I don’t recall Flood making any bonehead decisions that night (I could be wrong). Nova was Greg’s recruit and Nova would have been behind center that night as a 4th year starter.
Greg landed exactly ONE top flight, game changer at QB in 11 years and he terribly mismanaged that kids RU career, leading to the kid transferring out so I have no reason to believe we would have had a better option than Nova that night.
And, Greg for the most part, coached tight in big games (save for second half of UL 2006 and USF 07) which lead to us playing tight. And let’s face it, that was a big game. I have no reason to believe Greg wins that PSU game in 2014. We can agree to disagree on this one.
I'm not trying to troll here, but, GS built RU into a well-respected and tough football program.
Flood ruined it and Ash simply cannot rebuild it.
BRING BACK GREG!
Flood ruined it and Ash simply cannot rebuild it.
BRING BACK GREG!
If Greg stayed...most years 6-7 wins with a couple of blowout and head scratching losses each year. We would all be calling for his head at this point because we would not be happy that his mostly 30 ranked classes weren’t doing better.
This has been a good thread and an interesting topic to consider.
For the sake of argument, let's say Schiano remained at Rutgers to this day. I think you'd be at a significantly higher level than you are today, somewhere around the Northwestern-to-Iowa level. Why? I don't think Schiano was a great coach (though he was better than often given credit for), but he was a terrific program CEO. I do think he had clearly plateaued at Rutgers, but that was because there was only so high he could climb in the former league. I always thought if he had a Big Ten to sell to recruits, he could've broken through to that stubbornly difficult next level.
By virtue of his inherent talent and the longevity he had by the time Rutgers entered the Big Ten, Schiano would've brought the gravitas to your program that it needed to make a successful entry into that league. Without it, the capital Rutgers football had earned by then was quickly and foolishly spent by the totally inept Flood - a true jackass in every sense of the word. By retaining him as head coach, Rutgers squandered its one and only opportunity to make a splash with its entry into the Big Ten, which can (obviously) never be regained.
Flood should've never been hired, and then it took too long to get him out, and by then, the damage was done. None of that ever would've happened with Schiano, the CEO of Rutgers football, at the helm. Rather than leveling, before plummeting and eventually flatlining, he would've had you ascending - at least to a point, but that point would be good. He never would've won a national championship, nor seriously even threatened for one, but he would've had you positioned to be a respected part of the league with a chance to compete for Big Ten titles in peak years, and rarely faced the embarrassment of 2-7 or 3-6 seasons.
For the sake of argument, let's say Schiano remained at Rutgers to this day. I think you'd be at a significantly higher level than you are today, somewhere around the Northwestern-to-Iowa level. Why? I don't think Schiano was a great coach (though he was better than often given credit for), but he was a terrific program CEO. I do think he had clearly plateaued at Rutgers, but that was because there was only so high he could climb in the former league. I always thought if he had a Big Ten to sell to recruits, he could've broken through to that stubbornly difficult next level.
By virtue of his inherent talent and the longevity he had by the time Rutgers entered the Big Ten, Schiano would've brought the gravitas to your program that it needed to make a successful entry into that league. Without it, the capital Rutgers football had earned by then was quickly and foolishly spent by the totally inept Flood - a true jackass in every sense of the word. By retaining him as head coach, Rutgers squandered its one and only opportunity to make a splash with its entry into the Big Ten, which can (obviously) never be regained.
Flood should've never been hired, and then it took too long to get him out, and by then, the damage was done. None of that ever would've happened with Schiano, the CEO of Rutgers football, at the helm. Rather than leveling, before plummeting and eventually flatlining, he would've had you ascending - at least to a point, but that point would be good. He never would've won a national championship, nor seriously even threatened for one, but he would've had you positioned to be a respected part of the league with a chance to compete for Big Ten titles in peak years, and rarely faced the embarrassment of 2-7 or 3-6 seasons.
Troll much? Who mentioned Schiano in this thread?
Hint - the world may not work the way you’d like to think it does. But that reality may disappoint you.
But carry on if that makes you happy.
I'm a troll because I dont kiss Schiano's ass? Hey numbnuts... this thread itself is called:
What if Greg had stayed at RU....Where would the program be today?
I guess your holier than thou condescending comments makes you happy.
I think we'd be at a Michigan State-level. And Penn State would have completely collapsed. I don't even think Greg is that great of a coach (I think he's a slightly below average Power 5 head football coach) ... but his recruiting ability coupled with the excitement of joining the Big 10 would have propelled Rutgers to a handful of successive monster recruiting classes. And he would have been able to win with those recruiting classes (even in our division of our conference), which would have kept the recruits coming.
