Greg Schiano’s journey back to Rutgers has been a bit of a rollercoaster, and the low point for him was likely when he agreed to become the head coach at Tennessee only to see the deal fall through. Two years later, Schiano is willing to look back on that and laugh.
Schiano took a shot at Tennessee fans during his introductory press conference with Rutgers on Wednesday. He was asked about fans celebrating the fact that he has returned to New Jersey as opposed to when a fan revolt scuttled his hire at Tennessee.
“I think reflecting on it, just shows Jersey people are a little sharper,” Schiano quipped, per Zach Braziller of the New York Post.
Vols fans likely see things much differently. Schiano won at Rutgers in his first go-around, but he has never had an opportunity to show he can win with a program as big as Tennessee’s. In addition to having a personality that rubs a lot of people the wrong way, there are also some who believe Schiano had knowledge of what was going on with Jerry Sandusky when he was an assistant coach at Penn State. Schiano has vehemently denied ever knowing anything about it.
Tennessee was on the verge of having a press conference to announce the Schiano hiring, but fans held protests and successfully squashed the deal. Time will tell if that ended up being a good thing for Rutgers.
