Rutgers broke off head coaching talks with Greg Schiano over the weekend after the two sides were unable to come to an agreement, but the deal may not be dead just yet.
Schiano is still willing to negotiate with Rutgers and there is optimism that a deal can be salvaged, according to a report from NJ.com. Rutgers is facing a great deal of pressure from fans and boosters to bring Schiano back as head coach, so perhaps they will be willing to meet more of his demands given all the negative reaction.
Several prominent boosters have threatened to stop supporting the program over the Schiano debacle, and some have been calling for athletic director Pat Hobbs to be fired. NJ.com reports that some of them are convinced Hobbs never wanted to hire Schiano in the first place and sabotaged the contract negotiations after being forced to interview him.
Schiano is said to have made some significant demands in talks with Rutgers, which include a fully guaranteed contract worth $32 million over eight years in addition to a guarantee that the school will upgrade its football facilities. Schiano also reportedly wants an indoor practice facility like ones other Big Ten schools have, and that type of plan would need to be approved by high-ranking university officials.
Schiano enjoyed tremendous success as the head coach at Rutgers from 2001 to 2011, so you can understand why boosters and season ticket holders want him back. He resigned as the defensive coordinator of the New England Patriots back in March in a move that was reportedly designed to assure he was available if the Rutgers job opened up, so some viewed it as a foregone conclusion that he would be returning to the program.
Ironically, Schiano was on the verge of being hired as the head coach at Tennessee two years ago before backlash from fans squashed the deal. Now, he could end up getting his old job back due to a different kind of pressure.
