Schiano was an awful in-game coach. I remember when I was there, before the magical season, when the team would get clobbered by teams like Buffalo, it was painful to watch him coach. Then he started to get guys like Davis to stay in NJ and the team started to win a little. But the guy was never an elite coach and was just a bad in-game coach. Yet, like you said, he began to be treated as this elite coach. He is going to go 5-27 in 2 years, will get fired, and will go be a coordinator somewhere. This is a bad move for him. But hopefully a good move for Rutgers. I doubt they get a sexy name, but maybe they get a guy that can take this team to the enxt level.
He went from getting about 2.5 mil a year at RU with his contract and certain random bonuses to 3 mil a year at Tampa. Not a HUGE jump, but still potentially a nice chunk over time. That's the key. The sexy name does nothing, nor is it something that is even realistic. What "name" coach seriously wants to come to the Big East? It would be foolish to even consider it as a possibility. That said, this team still has talent, and just needs to find the coach that can take talent to a higher level. Schiano was good at being average, but there are players capable of much more. My top two are Mario Cristobal from FIU who has done an awesome job so far there, and has RU ties and Bobby Diaco the Notre Dame DC, a young coach who's been a coordinator around the country for some time and is a NJ native. Either one would be a great pick for the school.
Not gonna lie, I feel like losing Schiano is really going to hurt this football team. I was really hopeful Rutgers would be in contention for a BCS bowl game next year with all the leaps we've had this year. Rutgers defense was definitely where it needed to be, and the offense was still developing (very reminiscent of the Jets). I think with Schiano gone, our defense takes a big hit, and we lose some key recruits.
Many of you guys are dead-on. Schiano had to take the opportunity, with the worst that happens is a fall-back to a plum NCAA job if this doesn't work out for him. Don't forget, Miami and Michigan were willing to hire him a few years back. Regarding RU, they'll go the route of the young hungry Jersey guy - just as Greg was. The economics at the University won't allow for anything else. Bradley from Penn State is an interesting thought, though I don't know a lot about him. Remember, Penn St. will have players transferring all over the place, or so I expect. RU could land the talent that way they may lose from the Schiano exit. I was upset about the timing, but, let's be fair to the recruits who should get to come into the same program that they were pitched and know who's program they are committing to. It sucks the way coaches promise and bail all over the place in college football when the players lose a year of eligibility if they want to leave a program. Coaches should also have to sit out a year. That said, I'd rather a currently unemployed coach or someone else's assistant get the job rather than RU raiding another school's HC like the guy from Temple or even Cristobal at FIU.
