Can still make a bowl

[SHUSource]

This 100%
Schiano 2.0 is 13-34 in B1G Conference games since his return. Painfully we are potentially looking at 40 B1G Conference losses after 6 years of 2.0
Think about that for a minute. Any other B1G program would have found a way to terminate this HC and move on. Hopefully we don't have to endure 5 more years of this futility and Keli can raise the funds needed to make the correct change that is long overdue.

Right about on par with everything he's ever done at Rutgers. He was 28-48 in conference games in1.0.

Even if you want to be generous and throw out those first two seasons, 2001 and 2002, in which he went 0-14 while building an actual major-conference infrastructure, his conference record was still 28-34.

Notably, beginning the week after the 2006 Louisville game, he was just 17-21 in Big East conference games for the remainder of 1.0. That shows that beyond some basic level of program competence, no corner was ever turned and that one game seems like more and more of an aberration with each middling season, as electric as that night was for Rutgers fans. So it seems like waiting for him to turn a corner in 2.0, when he faces external headwinds he didn't need to battle the first time, such as pay-to-play, is akin to waiting for Godot.

 

[DHajekRC1984]

Right and what was the record at the end of Oct when the obituaries were written? Give me a break.

Ok so sorry ..didn't realize IN oct meant END of October.

So last year RU was 4 -0 and still had to play Nebby, whisky, Minny, ucla., USC, Illinois, Mary, and MSu. They went 4 - 4 losing all 4 in Oct winning the last 4 a fter October ( which was impressive and probably drove a lot of excitement for ability to beat those types of teams this year.

Now we have @Wash, #2 Oregon, @purdue, @22 Illinois, Mary, @#1 OSU, and #7PSU.

4 of our last 5 are ranked and three in the top 10 lol.

Look. I've been on this forum for 30 years and I know you're a loyal, optimistic. Never say die fan but for your own credibility i would suggest seeing things for what they are.

I get suckered in every season myself but it doesnt take long to see the emporer isn't wearing clothes again.

 

[rutgersguy2]

This 100%
Schiano 2.0 is 13-34 in B1G Conference games since his return. Painfully we are potentially looking at 40 B1G Conference losses after 6 years of 2.0
Think about that for a minute. Any other B1G program would have found a way to terminate this HC and move on. Hopefully we don't have to endure 5 more years of this futility and Keli can raise the funds needed to make the correct change that is long overdue.

I’ve always said conference record (for any coach in any conference)is my gauge because the large majority of the schedule comes for there. To do anything of real note or better you have to do okay or well within your conference.

 

[Knight Shift]

I’ve always said conference record (for any coach in any conference)is my gauge because the large majority of the schedule comes for there. To do anything of real note or better you have to do okay or well within your conference.

Call it cherry picking, but excusing the first 4 years of Greg 1.0: 25-24 in conference in 7 years.

In 2.0, he's 7-11 in years four and five. Ash decimated the place. It was dumpster fire when Greg got here.

Everybody's hero, Lance Leipold is 9-9 in years 3 and 4.
Bielema had a terrible year 3 (2024) in the watered down B1G west and recovered in year 4 with a cake schedule. If Rutgers had not handed him the win, Greg would have one more win and Bielema one more loss. I do think Bielema is a better head coach thouth.

The vaunted Luke Fickell is 8-10 at once blue blood Wisconsin in his first 2 years.

Progress is not linear, and there are no easy one on one comparisons. Cignetti seems to be a unicorn for now.

 

[LeapinLou]

Tidy Bowl

The company that owns Ty-D-Bol should buy naming rights to the Bahamas Bowl or some other rinky dink bowl game for one year. It would be hilarious and it could end up being a good investment.

 

[rutgersguy2]

Call it cherry picking, but excusing the first 4 years of Greg 1.0: 25-24 in conference in 7 years.

In 2.0, he's 7-11 in years four and five. Ash decimated the place. It was dumpster fire when Greg got here.

Everybody's hero, Lance Leipold is 9-9 in years 3 and 4.
Bielema had a terrible year 3 (2024) in the watered down B1G west and recovered in year 4 with a cake schedule. If Rutgers had not handed him the win, Greg would have one more win and Bielema one more loss. I do think Bielema is a better head coach thouth.

The vaunted Luke Fickell is 8-10 at once blue blood Wisconsin in his first 2 years.

Progress is not linear, and there are no easy one on one comparisons. Cignetti seems to be a unicorn for now.

I’ve checked the record against B10 west or former B10 west teams through this year. It’s not good either like 4-14 or something like that.

 

[LeapinLou]

In the 45 years since Rutgers upgraded to a big time schedule, only two coaches have won 8 or more games in a season.

- Greg Schiano
- The guy that inherited Greg Schiano's team after he left.

Is he the best head coach in the country? Not by a long shot. But you guys that want him replaced need to be awfully careful what you wish for.

 

[LotusAggressor_rivals]

The company that owns Ty-D-Bol should buy naming rights to the Bahamas Bowl or some other rinky dink bowl game for one year. It would be hilarious and it could end up being a good investment.

Glenn Foley could be the Master of Ceremonies.

 

[RUTGERS95]

In the 45 years since Rutgers upgraded to a big time schedule, only two coaches have won 8 or more games in a season.

- Greg Schiano
- The guy that inherited Greg Schiano's team after he left.

Is he the best head coach in the country? Not by a long shot. But you guys that want him replaced need to be awfully careful what you wish for.

One guy had a watered down BE and achieved some success but never won the conference
the guy that replaced him went 9-4 with the previous guys' team and won a share of the conference. He also went 8-5 in the BIG

Kyle also had a fraction of the support that the guy he replaced had and his contract alone told recruits he was lame duck.

point is, your post is a very bad example as there are wins and losses and then there are wins and losses

Kyle Flood would be 5-0 right now but the program would be downward sloping imho

 

[RUTGERS95]

I’ve checked the record against B10 west or former B10 west teams through this year. It’s not good either like 4-14 or something like that.

yes the EAST is the BEAST

 

[Knight Shift]

One guy had a watered down BE and achieved some success but never won the conference
the guy that replaced him went 9-4 with the previous guys' team and won a share of the conference. He also went 8-5 in the BIG

Kyle also had a fraction of the support that the guy he replaced had and his contract alone told recruits he was lame duck.

point is, your post is a very bad example as there are wins and losses and then there are wins and losses

Kyle Flood would be 5-0 right now but the program would be downward sloping imho

I was the Chief Floodie during his term. Guy had a target on his back from day one and zero support. He mailed it in, leaving early, going to Counting Crow concerts. He still won, until the walls he eroded started caving in. After each loss since he was fired, I cling to my Kyle Flood bobblehead after each loss like a tattered security blanket.

 

[RUTGERS95]

I was the Chief Floodie during his term. Guy had a target on his back from day one and zero support. He mailed it in, leaving early, going to Counting Crow concerts. He still won, until the walls he eroded started caving in. After each loss since he was fired, I cling to my Kyle Flood bobblehead after each loss like a tattered security blanket.

it's not his fault, it was the administration/terrible Tim and Greg. Greg said less than 24hrs before he was not leaving. Terrible Timmy had no back up plan and then Flood get's the call and the whole time the school was wanting someone else. Flood was destined to fail. He was not the right guy for the job but he did much better with Greg's recruits than Greg did. like him or not, that is not debatable

Greg blows, we knew when he came here that at some point, we'd need to turn the program over to someone better. funny how that chorus is silent now

 

[LeapinLou]

One guy had a watered down BE

2006 final AP top 25:
6 - Louisville
10 - West Virginia
12 - Rutgers

Here is our full schedule from that season:

2026 Football Schedule - Rutgers University Athletics

The official 2026 Football schedule for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights

scarletknights.com

"Watered Down" is a subjective term. Compared to being in the Big 10? Surte. But a google search says for the 2006 season, Rutgers had the 44th most difficult schedule out of 119 NCAA teams or top 37%. I get that by then, Miami, BC, and Virginia Tech were gone. But I think most would agree that's not watered down.

 

[Knight Shift]

it's not his fault, it was the administration/terrible Tim and Greg. Greg said less than 24hrs before he was not leaving. Terrible Timmy had no back up plan and then Flood get's the call and the whole time the school was wanting someone else. Flood was destined to fail. He was not the right guy for the job but he did much better with Greg's recruits than Greg did. like him or not, that is not debatable

Greg blows, we knew when he came here that at some point, we'd need to turn the program over to someone better. funny how that chorus is silent now

I would not say Greg blows. He's a builder of solid foundations and first floors. Has shown he can build the next level only once in 17 years of coaching. But because others chipped away and destroyed his solid foundations with floods and fire, leaving a pile of wet ashes and crumbling infrastructure that he rebuilt a second time, the big donors and many fans run scared thinking about turning over the program to someone else. He's the least worst of the last 5 Rutgers football coaches. And yes, Flood did what Greg did not do with Greg's recruits, but Flood was living in Greg's house off of his solid foundation, all while chipping away at that foundation.

Never thought we would be looking at a Greg-coached team where the offense is the best phase of the team and the defense and special teams are a mess.

 

[RUTGERS95]

I would not say Greg blows. He's a builder of solid foundations and first floors. Has shown he can build the next level only once in 17 years of coaching. But because others chipped away and destroyed his solid foundations with floods and fire, leaving a pile of wet ashes and crumbling infrastructure that he rebuilt a second time, the big donors and many fans run scared thinking about turning over the program to someone else. He's the least worst of the last 5 Rutgers football coaches. And yes, Flood did what Greg did not do with Greg's recruits, but Flood was living in Greg's house off of his solid foundation, all while chipping away at that foundation.

Never thought we would be looking at a Greg-coached team where the offense is the best phase of the team and the defense and special teams are a mess.

agree, and blows is harsh as I've always said he's great at stabilizing the bad.

in any world where results matter, he'd be canned. the last two games should have everyone outraged and yet half the people here are looking for excuses. Rutgers will never be more than this because no one demands more

 

[MADHAT1]

agree, and blows is harsh as I've always said he's great at stabilizing the bad.

in any world where results matter, he'd be canned. the last two games should have everyone outraged and yet half the people here are looking for excuses. Rutgers will never be more than this because no one demands more

The fear is, when it comes to replacing Schiano, will RU pay what it takes to bring in better'
Will the better ones come with Rutgers offers them
If one comes, will he be given what it takes to succeed.
I said when Greg was mentioned as a contender to replace Ash,there are better candidates that should be available,
but with what Rutgers is probably offering, he's the best RU can get .
Schiano will not make Rutgers a top program, but keep it one that fights for a place in the middle of pack.
Past history proves Rutgers won't spend what it takes to bring in someone that can bring RU even close to elite status and that makes Schiano still better than the one Rutgers probably would hire to replace him.
The extension Hobbs gave Schiano ties Keli Zinns hands for a couple more years.
Hopefully in the meantime her and President Tate will be glad-handing current boosters and trying to get the type of deep pocket donors previous administrations found hard to find.

I'm a Schiano supporter because I feel, for now, he's the best Rutgers can expect the way Rutgers financially supports the program and the type of small pocket donors that make up the booster that are willing to put their money in the program. .
I would love to see Greg be replaced with someone more capable than he is when it comes to making Rutgers into an elite program.But how it stands, in my opinion, Schiano is the best we can have, for what support Rutgers is wiling to give the football program right now.

 

[RUbacker]

Respectfully disagree on 2 points.
3 winnable games are Purdue, Maryland and Illinois, with Washington an distant fourth.

Every game is a different entity. Look at Iowa, which gave up a lot of points to Rutgers, and held Indiana to 15. Does that mean RU offense is better than Indiana? Of course not.

I do agree the defense is terrible, but it is fixable. Sure hope that Robb is shown the door asap.

Also, you may be off the mark in NIL. Keli Zinn has done more on that front in 1 month than previously done at Rutgers. More money will be there. RU could certainly use more depth on defense.

My biggest concern is special teams and the stubbornness of not having a special teams coach. The regression of special teams was highlighted on the Final Drive this week. That's not an NIL issue, it's a coaching issue.

In sum, has the margin for error gotten tighter? Yup. RU has to execute with near perfection going forward or hope their opponents choke. Not a great position to be in, but there is still a chance to win 6.

we have a special teams coach

 

[Knight Shift]

we have a special teams coach

That is incorrect. This person is not listed as a "coach." Under football support staff.

Eddie Allen - Special Teams Coordinator - Football Support Staff - Rutgers University Athletics

Eddie Allen is in his fifth season back with Rutgers football in 2026 and serves as special teams coordinator. Allen, who was also on staff in Piscataway und...

scarletknights.com

 

[Shelby65]

Respectfully disagree on 2 points.
3 winnable games are Purdue, Maryland and Illinois, with Washington an distant fourth.

Every game is a different entity. Look at Iowa, which gave up a lot of points to Rutgers, and held Indiana to 15. Does that mean RU offense is better than Indiana? Of course not.

I do agree the defense is terrible, but it is fixable. Sure hope that Robb is shown the door asap.

Also, you may be off the mark in NIL. Keli Zinn has done more on that front in 1 month than previously done at Rutgers. More money will be there. RU could certainly use more depth on defense.

My biggest concern is special teams and the stubbornness of not having a special teams coach. The regression of special teams was highlighted on the Final Drive this week. That's not an NIL issue, it's a coaching issue.

In sum, has the margin for error gotten tighter? Yup. RU has to execute with near perfection going forward or hope their opponents choke. Not a great position to be in, but there is still a chance to win 6.

Shelby wants some of what you’re smoking. With this defense, even Purdue is a toss up. Illinois and Washington on the road, no chance. covering a 12+ pt spread, maybe. These are certain losses.

 

[Shelby65]

agree, and blows is harsh as I've always said he's great at stabilizing the bad.

in any world where results matter, he'd be canned. the last two games should have everyone outraged and yet half the people here are looking for excuses. Rutgers will never be more than this because no one demands more

Including the administration. Schools that care wouldn’t have extended him and would fire him after this season. But we have at least 5 more years of conference-sucking with him

 

[RUforester72]

Where the heck is RutgersAl when we need him????

 

[MADHAT1]

Where the heck is RutgersAl when we need him????

Maybe he got tired of all the hate towards him for being overly positive and trying to bring in the light, even when everyone seen darkness and didn't want to be told the light is there if you want to look for it
Now he doesn't bother trying

 

[Knight Shift]

Some interesting posts/replies on X:

Disagree on this- look up his record.


Patience is a virtue at Mizzou:



Not at NC State:



5 years to hit paydirt for Clark Lea at Vanderbilt:


Fair points:


Wut?:

 

[REDRICH65]

No, I get your points. You're generally going to split your winnable/toss up games over the course of year. We're 0-2 now in toss up game, but if we can end the year at 2-2, then all we need is one upset for bowl eligibility, which conceivable since we can at least score points. Couple plays here and there and we're 5-0, I get it, we're not that far off. The last two prove we're relatively comparable t those programs, but you've find a way win those close games. I'm concerned that we seem "win" much of the first half but then "lose" the second half, but don't know if that's lack of adjustments, talent, depth or a combination. Not expecting some miraculous improvement on D this year, but we'll see how the rest of the schedule shakes out.

The

 

[Colbert17!]

Nick Pivetta is making a million this year and back loading next three years.
Thats better then 17.5 for Montas , TJ surgery will get mets 75% of the money back for next year


Nick Pivetta's contract is a four-year, $55 million deal with the San Diego Padres, which includes a $3 million signing bonus, a $1 million salary in 2025, and escalating salaries of $19 million in 2026, $14 million in 2027, and $18 million in 2028. The contract also contains opt-out clauses for Pivetta after the 2026 and 2027 seasons,

Right about on par with everything he's ever done at Rutgers. He was 28-48 in conference games in1.0.

Even if you want to be generous and throw out those first two seasons, 2001 and 2002, in which he went 0-14 while building an actual major-conference infrastructure, his conference record was still 28-34.

Notably, beginning the week after the 2006 Louisville game, he was just 17-21 in Big East conference games for the remainder of 1.0. That s is akin to waiting for Godot.

 

[RU#1fan]

Call it cherry picking, but excusing the first 4 years of Greg 1.0: 25-24 in conference in 7 years.

In 2.0, he's 7-11 in years four and five. Ash decimated the place. It was dumpster fire when Greg got here.

Everybody's hero, Lance Leipold is 9-9 in years 3 and 4.
Bielema had a terrible year 3 (2024) in the watered down B1G west and recovered in year 4 with a cake schedule. If Rutgers had not handed him the win, Greg would have one more win and Bielema one more loss. I do think Bielema is a better head coach thouth.

The vaunted Luke Fickell is 8-10 at once blue blood Wisconsin in his first 2 years.

Progress is not linear, and there are no easy one on one comparisons. Cignetti seems to be a unicorn for now.

Who cares about Leipold and Fickell?????
We have our own Coaching disaster on our hands with lame duck SchIano. Another 5 long painful years.

 

[Knight Shift]

Who cares about Leipold and Fickell?????
We have our own Coaching disaster on our hands with lame duck SchIano. Another 5 long painful years.

I see you are off the groovy train, and off the rails.
Don't give up, don't ever give up!

 

[NotInRHouse]

Ok so sorry ..didn't realize IN oct meant END of October.

So last year RU was 4 -0 and still had to play Nebby, whisky, Minny, ucla., USC, Illinois, Mary, and MSu. They went 4 - 4 losing all 4 in Oct winning the last 4 a fter October ( which was impressive and probably drove a lot of excitement for ability to beat those types of teams this year.

Now we have @Wash, #2 Oregon, @purdue, @22 Illinois, Mary, @#1 OSU, and #7PSU.

4 of our last 5 are ranked and three in the top 10 lol.

Look. I've been on this forum for 30 years and I know you're a loyal, optimistic. Never say die fan but for your own credibility i would suggest seeing things for what they are.

I get suckered in every season myself but it doesnt take long to see the emporer isn't wearing clothes again.

I could say 08 too. Weird stuff happens. There is no need for the meltdowns we have been subject to on this board. Concern is one thing but that's not a lot of what I see.

 

[Mb5789]

Remember the obituaries written for this team in October last year?

I sometimes wonder if people forget so quickly.

And there we actually lost against bad teams (Wisconsin and UCLA).

There's a lot of football left to play, fixable problems and a bye week.

After the bye last year we were 4-4 with 4 winnable games left on the schedule.

After the bye this year we're 3-2 with 3 top 10 opponents (Oregon, tOSU and PSU), 2 games we'll be double digit road dogs in (Illinois and Washington) and 2 winnable games (UMD and Purdue). Apples to oranges

 

[NotInRHouse]

Who cares about Leipold and Fickell?????
We have our own Coaching disaster on our hands with lame duck SchIano. Another 5 long painful years.

It matters because the GS haters need to have an actual solution.

Every coach that his haters point to either has a similar or worse record (Leipold, Sanders, Brown) or has NIL money coming out the wazoo (IU).

We saw the road of the assistant here before. It sucked.

This isn't like a divorce where maybe we break up and I meet someone hotter so let's gamble. Just firing people isn't a solution. I don't how many real world examples there are of that for it to get through.

IF it was, "well we have NIL money and a former P4 SUCCESSFUL HC knocking down the door" it's one thing. But you and I know we do not.

 

[NotInRHouse]

After the bye last year we were 4-4 with 4 winnable games left on the schedule.

After the bye this year we're 3-2 with 3 top 10 opponents (Oregon, tOSU and PSU), 2 games we'll be double digit road dogs in (Illinois and Washington) and 2 winnable games (UMD and Purdue). Apples to oranges

The search function is crap but I wish we could find threads post UCLA game and you could see them. Remember, we performed really terribly versus bad UCLA and Wisconsin teams at home versus the close games we just had against bowl teams.

 

[RUTGERS95]

 

[rutgersguy2]

Some interesting posts/replies on X:

Disagree on this- look up his record.


Patience is a virtue at Mizzou:



Not at NC State:



5 years to hit paydirt for Clark Lea at Vanderbilt:


Fair points:


Wut?:

I’m surprised Freeze has struggled so much with the offense and qbs at Auburn. You wouldn’t think that given his time at Ole Miss and Liberty. Arnold always struck me as a runner rather than passer. Not sure why he took him and that’s after a few misses prior to him. Maybe no one of a higher caliber wanted to come and play for him with some of the back and forth he’s had with prior qbs at Auburn. His buyout is mid double digits so I could see Auburn make a move if things don’t improve.

Lea had life injected into Vandy because of Pavia and Kill. That’s the beauty of the portal and NIL that people complain about. It was much harder to see similar kind of stories prior.

Drinkwitz had a nice jump in year 4. I heard on a pod they’re like the quiet good team in the SEC. I’d agree with that, they’re formidable but don’t get much attention compared to other SEC schools.

 

[rutgersguy2]

The fear is, when it comes to replacing Schiano, will RU pay what it takes to bring in better'
Will the better ones come with Rutgers offers them
If one comes, will he be given what it takes to succeed.
I said when Greg was mentioned as a contender to replace Ash,there are better candidates that should be available,
but with what Rutgers is probably offering, he's the best RU can get .
Schiano will not make Rutgers a top program, but keep it one that fights for a place in the middle of pack.
Past history proves Rutgers won't spend what it takes to bring in someone that can bring RU even close to elite status and that makes Schiano still better than the one Rutgers probably would hire to replace him.
The extension Hobbs gave Schiano ties Keli Zinns hands for a couple more years.
Hopefully in the meantime her and President Tate will be glad-handing current boosters and trying to get the type of deep pocket donors previous administrations found hard to find.

I'm a Schiano supporter because I feel, for now, he's the best Rutgers can expect the way Rutgers financially supports the program and the type of small pocket donors that make up the booster that are willing to put their money in the program. .
I would love to see Greg be replaced with someone more capable than he is when it comes to making Rutgers into an elite program.But how it stands, in my opinion, Schiano is the best we can have, for what support Rutgers is wiling to give the football program right now.

Posted this in the other the thread but it applies to your post

Anyone not named Saban or Myer is a crap shoot. Look at Riley at USC or Kelly at LSU, they haven’t lived up to billing or salary yet.

It’s just fooling yourself if you think oh if we paid this much or oh if we hired this person it’s a slam dunk. It pretty much never is. You make your best guess at who might be good and if he isn’t you try again and again..etc…

And I’ll add this to it:

if anything if/when a change is made I’d lean more on the conservative side knowing it’s essentially always a crap shoot. Don’t bet the farm on anyone and always have a manageable out..and really that goes for most schools not just us. It’s prudent imo.

 

[Mb5789]

The search function is crap but I wish we could find threads post UCLA game and you could see them. Remember, we performed really terribly versus bad UCLA and Wisconsin teams at home versus the close games we just had against bowl teams.

Oh it was certainly doom and gloom around here, but that will happen after starting 4-0 and falling to 4-4 when you lose 2 of those games as a home favorite and 3 of the games were not competitive.

I just don't think the path to getting out of a tailspin is there as it was last season

 

[Knight Shift]

Oh it was certainly doom and gloom around here, but that will happen after starting 4-0 and falling to 4-4 when you lose 2 of those games as a home favorite and 3 of the games were not competitive.

I just don't think the path to getting out of a tailspin is there as it was last season

I think special teams FG/XP and return coverage is most certainly fixable.

Defense- not too confident it is fixable.

 

[Rutgers Chris]

Posted this in the other the thread but it applies to your post

Anyone not named Saban or Myer is a crap shoot. Look at Riley at USC or Kelly at LSU, they haven’t lived up to billing or salary yet.

It’s just fooling yourself if you think oh if we paid this much or oh if we hired this person it’s a slam dunk. It pretty much never is. You make your best guess at who might be good and if he isn’t you try again and again..etc…

And I’ll add this to it:

if anything if/when a change is made I’d lean more on the conservative side knowing it’s essentially always a crap shoot. Don’t bet the farm on anyone and always have a manageable out..and really that goes for most schools not just us. It’s prudent imo.

I asked a friend who is a PSU fan how he feels about Franklin and his answer was in line with this thinking. Who’s to say the next guy even gets you to where they are today, let alone over the hump

 

[LotusAggressor_rivals]

we have a special teams coach

Do we?

 

[LotusAggressor_rivals]

Who cares about Leipold and Fickell?????
We have our own Coaching disaster on our hands with lame duck SchIano. Another 5 long painful years.

There is a wide gap between mediocrity and disaster. Ash and Shea were disasters. Schiano has been mediocre.

 

[RU#1fan]

I see you are off the groovy train, and off the rails.
Don't give up, don't ever give up!

I see you are off the groovy train, and off the rails.
Don't give up, don't ever give up!

Off the Rails ?
We have a HC that's approaching 40 Conference losses by the end of Year 6. Don't see how highlighting other struggling Coaches will do us any good. Oh course I will never give up. Hey... while leaving the game in Minneapolis many of their fans sitting around me were high Fiving me and thanking us for their Win. Pretty sad indictment of how poorly managed our Program is.