Greg Schiano

Gregory Edward Schiano (born June 1, 1966) is an American football coach. He is currently the head football coach at Rutgers University, a position he held from 2001 to 2011 and resumed before the 2020 season. Schiano has the most wins in program history as head football coach of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team. He also served as the head coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL) from 2012 to 2013.

Early life and education

Schiano was born and grew up in Wyckoff, New Jersey, and attended Ramapo High School. He then attended Bucknell University, where he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, and graduated in 1988 with a B.S. in business administration. Despite being a 190-pound linebacker in high school, Bucknell assistant Joe Susan felt he was a perfect fit for the defense. Susan would later join Schiano at Rutgers.

Playing career

Playing at linebacker, Schiano was a three-year letterman at Bucknell. In his junior year, he led the team with 114 tackles and was named to the All-Conference team. In his senior year, he was named team captain, and was named to the Sporting News Pre-season All-America Team.

Coaching career

Schiano began his coaching career in 1988 as an assistant coach at Ramapo High School for the Raiders football team. In 1989, he served as a graduate assistant at Rutgers. In 1990, he took the same position at Penn State, and later served as the defensive backfield coach there from 1991 until 1995. From 1996 to 1998, Schiano was an assistant coach in the NFL with the Chicago Bears. For his first two seasons there, he was a defensive assistant, and then was promoted in his third and final season with the Bears to defensive backfield coach.

University of Miami

Schiano served as defensive coordinator for the University of Miami Hurricanes from 1999 to 2000. In 1999, Miami finished the year ranked 12th in the NCAA's Division I-A in points allowed per game (17.2), and in 2000 moved up to 5th (15.5 points allowed per game). His brief 18-month stint at Miami and his roots in New Jersey made him a candidate for his next position as head coach at Rutgers University.

While at the University of Miami, Schiano coached NFL Pro Bowlers Dan Morgan, Jonathan Vilma, and Ed Reed.

Rutgers

On December 1, 2000, Schiano accepted the head coaching position at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. He was given the task of turning around a struggling program that had been without a bowl game appearance since the 1978 Garden State Bowl, and had just four winning seasons since 1980. Although Schiano was producing solid recruiting classes, especially by Rutgers standards, the Scarlet Knights struggled to losing records in his first four seasons as head coach. It was believed coming into the 2005 season that Schiano was on the hot seat and would need to take Rutgers to a bowl game to keep his job.

2005

Despite the rough start to his tenure at Rutgers, Schiano began to turn around the program during the 2005 season. Schiano recruited New York native Ray Rice, who was considered the top running back in the tri-state area. He coached Rutgers to a 7–4 record that season. The highlight of their season came in a nationally televised 37–29 upset win over Pittsburgh and their coach Dave Wannstedt, a long-time friend of Schiano's, who hired him while coaching the Chicago Bears. At season's end, Schiano and the Scarlet Knights accepted a bid to play in the Insight Bowl against Arizona State, which Rutgers lost by a score of 45–40.

Just prior to the game, Schiano was offered a new contract, extending his contract through the 2012 season. The 2005 season laid the foundation for a rebirth of the Rutgers football program.

2006

In the 2006 season, Schiano's Scarlet Knights raced off to a 9–0 record, highlighted by their November 9 victory over the third-ranked, undefeated Louisville Cardinals. After this game, Rutgers jumped to seventh in the national AP Poll, which was their highest ranking in school history and first Top 25 ranking since 1976. The euphoria from the win and high ranking quickly faded the following week with a loss to Cincinnati, but the Scarlet Knights bounced back to finish 11–2 and qualify for the inaugural Texas Bowl. There, they would defeat the Kansas State Wildcats 37–10, capturing their first-ever bowl game win in school history.

Throughout the season, coach Schiano and Rutgers were featured prominently in both the local and national media, and Schiano's motivational phrase "keep choppin'" became part of the lexicon of college football. Rutgers finished the season ranked 12th in the national poll, their best finish in school history. For his work in the 2006 season, Coach Schiano was awarded several Coach of the Year honors, including the Home Depot Coach of the Year award and the inaugural Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award.

With high expectations after their "Cinderella" season, Schiano coached Rutgers to respectable finishes and three more bowl game victories to give them four in a row. Schiano's team experienced tragedy in 2010, when defensive tackle Eric LeGrand suffered a spinal cord injury. This clearly affected the team's play: when the extent of LeGrand's injury became apparent, it contributed to sending Rutgers into a funk that resulted in a six-game losing streak to end the season.

Schiano has been credited for his involvement in LeGrand's recovery, essentially treating LeGrand's family like his own and assisting the family in any way needed, and being with LeGrand every day he was in the hospital. Though LeGrand was initially given a diagnosis of lifetime paralysis, he has since regained movement in his arms and shoulders and sensation throughout his body.

2011

In 2011, Rutgers rebounded from the previous season to post a 9–4 record and once again earn a bowl game berth. In the Pinstripe Bowl, they defeated Iowa State 27–13, which would be his final game as Rutgers coach. He led the team to winning seasons and bowl game berths in six of his final seven seasons, with wins in the final five bowl games.

NFL players who played under Schiano at Rutgers: 2001—2011 (All have retired)

• San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Mohamed Sanu
• Cincinnati Bengals long snapper/tight end Clark Harris
• Tennessee Titans cornerback Jason McCourty
• Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice
• Tennessee Titans wide receiver Kenny Britt
• New England Patriots wide receiver Tiquan Underwood
• New England Patriots free safety Devin McCourty
• New England Patriots free safety Logan Ryan
• New England Patriots linebacker Jonathan Freeny
• New England Patriots safety Duron Harmon
• Seattle Seahawks quarterback Mike Teel
• Baltimore Ravens center Jeremy Zuttah
• Pittsburgh Steelers center Darnell Stapleton
• Cincinnati Bengals fullback Brian Leonard
• San Francisco 49ers right Tackle Anthony Davis
• Minnesota Vikings fullback Ryan D’Imperio

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On January 26, 2012, Schiano accepted his first head coaching opportunity at the professional level, with the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers ended the 2012 regular season with a 7–9 record, missing the playoffs in the process. In the 2013 season, the team regressed to 4–12. On December 30, 2013, the Buccaneers fired Schiano along with Mark Dominik, the general manager who had selected him.

Schiano's tenure with Tampa Bay contained many controversies, including his directive for players to dive at opposing team's legs while in victory formation, allegations that Schiano rigged a vote for team captains, Schiano launching into a tirade at special teams coordinator Bob Ligashesky during a team drill for walking, "onto the wrong area of the practice field" and threatening to fire him, a contentious relationship with quarterback Josh Freeman, an outbreak of MRSA and the subsequent injury designation of one of the infected players, Lawrence Tynes. Defensive end E. J. Wilson left the game of football in part due to Schiano's treatment of players. Another player quipped that playing under Schiano was, "like being in Cuba."

Ohio State

In 2016, after two seasons coaching Berkeley Preparatory School and sending two players to Davidson College in North Carolina, Schiano was hired by head coach Urban Meyer to serve as defensive coordinator/associate head coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes football program, replacing Chris Ash who, coincidentally, left Ohio State to accept the head coaching position at Rutgers.

Following two successful seasons with top ten defenses as Ohio State's defensive coordinator, Schiano became a target for several coaching jobs both in the NCAA and NFL. On November 26, 2017, it was reported that he was going to be the next head coach for the Tennessee Volunteers. However fan disapproval due to his connection with the Penn State sexual abuse case led Tennessee to back out of the deal and he remained at Ohio State. Less than six weeks later, it was once again reported that Schiano would be leaving, but this time he would be going back to the NFL as the New England Patriots' defensive coordinator. On February 7, 2018, Schiano decided to turn down the Patriots job and stay with the Buckeyes.