Greg Schiano’s reputation took a huge hit after Tennessee fans scuttled his hiring by the Volunteers, but Bill Belichick may be there to rescue him.
NBC Sports Boston’s Gary Tanguay reports that Schiano is expected to interview for the New England Patriots’ defensive coordinator job after Matt Patricia goes to Detroit.
Per source, Greg Schiano is expected to interview for the Patriot’s defensive coordinator position when Patricia goes to Detroit.
— Gary Tanguay (@Gary_Tanguay) February 2, 2018
Patricia, the team’s current defensive coordinator, is expected to leave to take the Lions’ head coaching job, which would create a vacancy.
Schiano, 51, just completed his second season as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator. He had tremendous success as Rutgers’ coach from 2001-2011 and turned the Scarlet Knights into winners. Then he became the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ head coach, which didn’t go well. He was fired after two seasons.
After a few years off, Schiano returned to coaching as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator. He is part of a friendly coaching circle that includes Belichick and Urban Meyer.
Schiano was set to become Tennessee’s next football coach, but fans protested so hard that the school backed away. Fans had cited Schiano’s involvement in the Jerry Sandusky scandal as a reason for not wanting him.
Despite the negative publicity at the time, Belichick stood by Schiano.
“He’s one of the very best coaches I think in our profession. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Greg and the way he runs his program and the job that he does,” Belichick told reporters. “I would say the most impressive thing for me is the way that our players, which we’ve had a lot of Rutgers players come through here, the loyalty and the I would say love of the program, the college program that they were in at Rutgers when he was there, how they maintained that for years and years after they had left. Not taking anything away from any other school, but I would just say that it’s extremely strong.”
Schiano would be extremely qualified for the job, so it would make sense for him to be interviewed for the position given his relationship with Belichick. Schiano is also pursuing compensation from Tennessee for the debacle.
