Greg has one of the lowest win percentages of any active coach
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Calling him a “bad guy” is just silly. He clearly cares about his players and their families and Rutgers. He’s put his heart and soul into everything he’s done at RU - there’s nobody who would describe him as “lazy” that’s for sure. But he’s made costly mistakes that have prevented him from taking the critical next step he would’ve needed to make to have forward looking job security - this off season he did finally take the step most of us felt all among he’d need to do to have a chance at success - he finally stepped “out of the way” on both offense and defense. But is it too little too late? We’ll find out soon enough.
Drayton already got the boot after 2024. KC Keeler's the Temple HC now, and based on his track record I expect him to build a winner there.
Temple is a tough place to win, but that's why coaches are hired-to win games, and win championships in their conferences. Matt Rhule and Al Golden secured first place finishes for Temple in their divisions, but they both found out that doing the same in certain P4 conferences and situations is much harder. Golden got the boot at Miami. Rhule did well at Baylor, but he has not yet been able to do well at Nebraska. For that matter, Bielema did well at Wisconsin, not well at Arkansas, but he has done quite well at Illinois.
And on that score, given his track record at Cincinnati, Fickell has been a disaster at Wisconsin. Sometimes the coach does not fit the location, culture, and/or dynamics of a program regardless of his success at other teams and/or levels. We know this-it is difficult to win in the B1G- would be an interesting study of what caused Bielema to do poorly at Arkansas, but to do well at Illinois.
I love when the likes of RU Division make a statement about Schiano being a bad guy for no apparent reason!
This exposes a difference- a few posters have lashed out at posters for discussing Greg's record. The posters discussing the W-L record are not haters, they just want the team to do better, even if that means changing coaches. Many of these same posters have also said they love how Greg runs a clean program, takes care of his players, teaches about life after football, and is a great ambassador for Rutgers.
The post you flagged, on the other hand, seems to be a person who has an axe to grind. Greg Schiano is the furthest thing from a "bad guy." He's a good guy. And we want to see good guys win for the team and for the fans and alumni!!!
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Wow, now he’s a bad guy. The guys who have played for him don’t think so.
Negatoids are the bad guys!
Go Coach Schiano and Go RU!!
The "bad guy" comments is difficult for me...in his own words - he was a "bad guy" to my son and wished to apologize after he came back. Bad human- not at all- he does many wonderful things. He does create an environment for good kids to get a base on life and feel safe. But there are many that would agree to my last statement who played for guy and who would also say that he is just "a bad guy" Others that played for him that love him.
Usually- these broke into two categories- players that love him to no fault- they were players, good or bad, that never challenged him.
The players that really do not respect him- are the players that did challenge him.
GS 1.0 - often would just run onto a practice field completely unhinged at a player- try to embarrass them but, never even tell them what they may have done wrong. He did many good things but he really wasn't always just tough to teach, he would be tough for his own ego.
As for what he is to Rutgers as a HC- he has done what maybe, no one else could have. He got us interested and fought against everyone that blindly just wanted Rutgers football gone- twice.
Perfect hire for 1.0 and 2.0
He can also bring the team to "respect"
But he just can't get over the hump.
The man most likely deserves an honor here at Rutgers for what he has done- but he also, should not be the HC any longer.
Yeah this is where I get annoyed with the merry go round. There are plenty of legitimate gripes about gut wrenching mistakes Greg has made through the years - it’s unnecessary to say things that aren’t true. There’s nothing wrong with complaining about the mistakes Greg’s made although at this point, he’s strategically set himself up in a way where it doesn’t seem most of that will have much impact on his future anyway (for better or worse). His post 2026 fate will be all about what happens this season and whether or not Johansen can pull off a miracle.
That certainly may be the case, I don’t have that kind of inside info for sure. I’d imagine what you describe is the case with any coach, teacher or similar. Some kids love them while other do not mesh well. That doesn’t make him a straight out “bad guy” though. His style might’ve put some kids off through the years. No doubt. That doesn’t mean he intended to hurt anyone along the way.
I can tell you this, he's not very well thought of throughout the athletic dept. From other coaches to support staff people, you won't find a lot of people with nice things to say about him. What he likes to portray to outside world is very different than what goes on when the camera isn't rolling. It wouldn't be an issue if he won at an acceptable level. But when you don't? He's very lucky Hobbs gave him that golden parachute contract that's for sure.
I've never even met GS, much less know him personally, but from what I've seen publicly I tend to agree. One reason I really wanted the GS 2.0 era to succeed was because early on after he got re-hired, it seemed like he really *had* changed at least somewhat over the years.
Not that he was a bad guy before, but as I remember it, back in early 1.0 GS would constantly just trash the state the program was in before he got there, how pathetic everything and everyone was, whereas this time he (again, at least publicly) adopted a much more positive attitude, even though the program he was inheriting was clearly once again a disaster on the field. He was way more upbeat early on this time - if not about the level of talent, then at least about the players and people in the program. Who actually knows, but I always wondered if that positive energy played a role in the 2020 team being more competitive than expected, even if the main reason for that was probably just that it was the extremely weird COVID year.
As for now, it's wait and see. On the surface he has what he needs: leadership alignment, investment in NIL, revamped defensive staff. I just worry that the stars will never exactly align the way they need to for him to break through - and maybe more importantly, that the whole problem is the stars need to be perfectly aligned for the breakthrough to happen to begin with. In '23 we had the defense but not the offense, in '24 it was the reverse (with a ton of injuries not helping). In '25 we had the offense and a great defensive portal haul on paper, but not the defensive staff we needed. Now we might have that staff, but the portal haul was underwhelming and the offense has some questions with a new QB. GS has done a lot of good for the program, but an elite coach shouldn't need everything to break just right to, say, finish nationally ranked once in a while. We shall see.
But was a better game day coach, had far fewer resources and was constantly on the watch for Julie to fire him.
That last paragraph is outstanding. Very well-written of where the program is at, and I agree 100%.
As for the second paragraph, don't remember the 1.0 parts you indicated, but Greg is certainly a more seasoned head coach, and he has a lot of varied experience in the NFL and coaching at Ohio State under Urban Meyer to reflect upon. As I have said multiple times before, I want to see everything click for him and for him to win.
nail meets head
many here really have zero idea what they're talking about. He's not a 'bad' man but he's definitely not a panacea of greatness that many here think.
He wasn’t as bad as some people make it out to be, but it’s hard to imagine his recruiting classes wouldn’t have caught up with him.
All of his (counting) Crows would have eventually come home to roost.
The Big Ten Build was credited to Ash and Pike.
"Chris Ash and Steve Pikiell gifts push campaign to $100M as the build continues."
The fact is the money came from taxpayers, not donors.
"Launched on Jan. 20, 2016, the campaign was kick-started by $25 million in tax credits under an Economic Redevelopment and Growth Grant co-sponsored by Senators Raymond Lesniak and Tom Kean, Jr., supported by Senator Stephen Sweeney and Assemblyman Vincent Prieto, and signed by Governor Chris Christie."
Not sure what you are saying is consistent when you say the money came from taxpayers, not donors.
The linked article in your post says: "The largest gift in Rutgers Athletics history - $15 million – was made toward R Big Ten Build to enable construction of The Gary and Barbara Rodkin Academic Success Center by the namesake benefactors."
"The contribution followed record-setting major gifts to support Rutgers' approximately 650 student-athletes from Rutgers Board of Governors member and Motorola Solutions CEO Greg Brown and his wife Anna, noted real estate developer Steven Plofker and makeup mogul Bobbi Brown, and business leaders and philanthropists Jeff and Amy Towers."
"The Fred Hill Baseball and Softball Training Complex, The Ron and Joanna Garutti Strength and Conditioning Center, The Abe Suydam Men's Basketball Locker room, and The Harriett and Bob Druskin Strength and Conditioning Center have also risen through the generosity of donors via the R Big Ten Build campaign. "
"The RWJBarnabas Health Athletic Performance Center at Rutgers University will welcome occupants this summer, with a grand opening slated for September. "
There is a plaque in the lobby of the RWJ Barnabas Health Athletic Performance Center Listing significant donors beyond the donors mentioned above. You should see it sometime.
Here is a list of the donors- You will find the names of Mr. and Mrs. Shift on the list:
Thank you for your donations.
The RWJ Barnabas Health Athletics Performance Center was mostly funded by debt incurred by Rutgers and tax credits given by the state.
The academic success center too. Donors helped to fund, and their generosity is awesome, and mostly built using university borrowing and state tax credits.
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Read about his time in Tampa! How he treated everyone from the players to the people who worked in the dinning hall!
Learn about why he was passed over and fired at OSU.
Understand why he was fired before even starting at Tennessee.
Read the information of both the Free report and the independent investigation done by PSU itself.
His first go around how he treated his staff and RU staff connected to the program.
Dont be a sheep! Use your RU education and educate your self.
Hes a terrible X and O coach and bad to everyone around him!
Educate your self ! Read about all his stops and why he was consistently fired. Understand why NO ONE would hire him but us in his second go around.
I responded why! You’re just too lazy or have your head buried in the sand.to educate yourself. Spend the time to understand wjat happened in Tampa, OSU, and yes PSU. Take the time to understand Tennessee fired him before he even started. Why did NO ONE want to hire him when RU caved to his demands in his second stop. Understand the constant scape goating.
Don’t be a sheep
More than happy to simply discuss W/L and on field coaching which is Awful btw. Bottom 5 in the county.
I was simply responding to someone who took it off the field and referred to him as a good guy.
You have someone with first hand knowledge telling you he was a bad guy. Telling you that he himself was admitting to his bad behavior. You’re getting an account that a lot of players and staff felt the same. Yet you seem to down play and ignore because it does not fit your narrative.
Find anyone in the Athletic department and talk to them about how they feel.
Educate yourself on his previous stops.
Don’t be blinded by the R on the coaches polo.
Could of nominated Cignetti if Hobbs didn’t give Greggy the most undeserved contract extension of all time.
@RUDivision I wish you were on the round table as I'd love to see this thread after your posts. LOL, the dichotomy between the two boards is black and white
Paywall’d, but given he’s come up a few times in the thread thought it was worth posting for the headline alone
Winning record everywhere he coached - Grand Valley, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, LSU. Winning conference records at GV, CM, Cincy, and LSU.
At Cincinnati in 2006, crushed the best Rutgers team ever when Rutgers was ranked #7. Brian was 4-0 against Greg's best teams. Objectively, Brian is a superior coach to Greg. Tate and Keli should hire Brian to replace Greg today. Tate hired Brian four years ago, why not hire him at Rutgers.
From article:
For Kelly, this fall will be about watching and listening. Kelly said he wouldn’t rule out being an assistant coach for the first time in 30-plus years. He also said he didn’t need to take a job offer from one of the few programs with a realistic chance of winning a national title.
“I don’t think I’ve closed any doors in my own mind,” Kelly said. “And I think that’s the most important thing. I’m very open-minded about what the opportunities might be for me. I have a lot more to give.”
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Maybe because winning in football is more than just the coach. Maybe it's a combination of coaching, the AD, the schedule, the strength of the conference at the time and luck. A quick look at Belema's time at Ark. he looks like he has the team on an upswing entering the 2016 season, but then goes 7-6 and 3-5 in the conference but he plays 6 ranked teams. At that point maybe the big donors start to get grumbly. Then looking at his schedules at Illinois they seem much easier and maybe in a game or two he get's lucky and the opposing coach gifts him a win or two. Great coaches can overcome a lot. But maybe some good coaches just get lucky sometimes and sometimes not.
He did good at Wisky and seems to be doing well at Illinois.
The man admitted the stop in Arkansas wasn’t a good fit. Some of what you said about the donors is probably true…SEC West expectations are, realistic or not in the Razorbacks eyes, higher than the B1G West.