Greg Schiano may be about to prove that you can always come home.
NJ Advance Media reported on Sunday night that a meeting between Rutgers and Schiano is imminent and that the search for a new head football coach is trending towards the return of Schiano. In fact, they say the hiring of Schiano could come by Wednesday.
Schiano resigned as the New England Patriots’ defensive coordinator in March. A report in late September said Schiano resigned so that he would be available in case Rutgers fired Chris Ash. Ash was fired after a 52-0 loss to Michigan on September 28. He had gone 8-32 in four seasons as the program’s head coach.
Schiano was the head coach at Rutgers from 2001-2011, back when they were in the Big East. He turned a perennial loser into a winning program and was 49-28 during his final six seasons. He led the Scarlet Knights to five bowl wins during that span and peaked with an 11-2 season in 2006. Schiano left to take a job as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and was fired after two seasons.
The 53-year-old got back into coaching on Urban Meyer’s staff from 2016-2018 and actually was hired to take the Tennessee job, but a fan revolt scuttled the hire, leading Schiano back to the Buckeyes last year. Schiano had planned a return to the NFL until resigning earlier this year, perhaps with the idea of returning to Rutgers.
Though Schiano had great success at Rutgers previously, winning in the Big Ten compared to the Big East is much more difficult, and Rutgers is so far behind the other programs in the conference, it will likely take any coach a long time to catch up.
NJ Advance Media says Butch Jones would be the backup option for Rutgers if they can’t land Schiano.
