Former Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano is no longer a candidate for the Scarlet Knights’ current coaching vacancy, sources told Stadium.
Schiano, along with Alabama offensive analyst and former Tennessee coach Butch Jones, were among three finalists for the job, sources said.
Rutgers was prepared to offer Schiano an eight-year, $32 million deal – of which $25.2 million was fully-guaranteed – and an additional $7.5 million annually for his assistant coaches and support staff, a source said. This would have put Rutgers in the upper-half of the Big Ten in salaries, but a significant gap remained between Schiano and Rutgers, a source said.
Schiano was considered a fan favorite from the school’s glory days in the Big East. During his time at Rutgers from 2001-11, he had a 68-67 record, including a 56-33 mark in his final seven seasons. Schiano was reportedly lukewarm about returning to the Scarlet Knights, sources said.
“The timing wasn’t right for Schiano, and this is the Big Ten: Whether it’s Rutgers, Penn State or Michigan, head coaches need to be all-in for their job if they’re going to have success,” a source said.
“You can’t take this position with ‘the glass is half empty’ culture. Rutgers fans deserve more.”
It was reported that Rutgers AD Pat Hobbs, the school’s Board of Governors and even public officials had met with Schiano to discuss the job. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy spoke to Schiano about returning to Rutgers, Rutgers Sports Insider reported.
“You can’t blame Rutgers for not allocating more money or the Board of Governors for being concerned about his unprecedented request and the financial impact of the contract,” a source said. “And you can’t blame Schiano for not wanting to go back to a job he’s already done. Been there, done that. No one wants a New England Patriots situation.”
In February, Schiano was hired to be New England’s new defensive coordinator. However, he resigned a few weeks later, stating, “I need to spend more time on my faith and family.”
“Can you imagine if Schiano reconsidered and resigned from Rutgers after accepting the job?” a source said. “It wouldn’t be good for the kids, coaches, recruiting or winning. It’s good, everyone was all above-board.”
Schiano left Rutgers after the 2011 season to become head coach of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He spent two seasons with Tampa Bay, then was fired following the 2013 season.
After the Bucs, Schiano was a volunteer assistant coach for his son’s high school team in Tampa, Florida, until Ohio State lured him back to the college game, where he became the defensive coordinator for the Buckeyes.
In November of 2017, Schiano was offered the Tennessee head coaching job and signed a memorandum of understanding to become the Vols’ new coach. However, when news broke of the impending press conference to introduce Schiano at UT, a social media mob resurfaced allegations of Schiano’s link to the Penn State scandal involving Jerry Sandusky. The backlash from Vols fans caused UT officials to panic and withdraw their offer.
Schiano has previously repeatedly denied the allegations.
Schiano remained at Ohio State, where he was defensive coordinator from 2016-18, until Urban Meyer resigned after the 2018 season.