Greg Schiano was not hired as the new coach at Penn State. Apparently, he had better opportunities.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that Schiano, head coach at Rutgers, will be hired as the new coach of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The move came as a surprise, with Schiano’s name only emerging recently. Tampa came close to hiring Oregon coach Chip Kelly last week, but Kelly decided at the last moment to return to Eugene. The Bucs had apparently interviewed former Packers and Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman twice.
Schefter also reported that Schiano had been considered for the Rams’ coaching job this offseason.
Schiano had repeatedly been mentioned for larger college jobs, including replacing Joe Paterno at Penn State multiple times. Schiano was a graduate assistant and defensive backs coach for the Nittany Lions from 1990-1995. He also was an option at Miami, where he was offensive coordinator before taking over at Rutgers.
Schiano’s only previous NFL coaching experience came with the Chicago Bears from 1996-1998 as a defensive backs coach.
He has been at Rutgers as head coach since 2001.
Schiano took a miserable program back to relevance over his 11 years with the program. They went to six bowl games, with a 5-1 record, after not appearing in one since 1978. He also reached the top 25 in 2006 and were as high as No. 6 in the BCS standings after a program-defining win over Louisville.
His career record was 68-67.
Schiano’s star had faded slightly since 2006, as the program couldn’t seem to get over the hump and into an elite program as he desired. The team never made a BCS bowl in a very winnable Big East Conference. The team was just 8-13 in the conference over the past three seasons.
There is no question Schiano has groomed plenty of NFL talent, however. Ravens running back Ray Rice is likely the most prominent, but Titans wide receiver Kenny Britt, Patriots cornerback Devin McCourty and Colts linebacker Gary Brackett have all had success in the pros.
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