Firing Greg makes zero financial sense.

Caliknight

Hall of Famer
Sep 21, 2001
198,020
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Recall all those "Rutgers 1000" types that hated football? Those types are still out there waiting to stage a zombie attack and local NY/NJ media usually back them. "Rutgers is wasting millions of dollars and don't know what they are doing! .. Rutgers Adrift - Reaches for Straws!" That can go on for a few months. Any new coach prospect might think "Dang do I really want to go there?" Will 2 months of Kirk temping make things better? Who fills in if Kirk doesn't want job? Shaw, Brock, Vallone? What if they do good and people want to keep them. Many things can go off the rails when you pull the rug. Do research and be ready to strike as the chapter closes and it all feels like a new chapter. End the old later for the new. Don't pull the rug and watch the pots and pans come clanging down in a racket with the kids crying and media police making wellness checks.
Every school has those woke wackjobs. Just win and they will go back into their holes. They just can’t accept no one wants to see them do math.
 

RUfan1977

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Mar 24, 2024
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View attachment 1469643

Big Ten median on ticket sales is around $20 million. Just getting ticket sales to a normal B1G level would be more than enough to replace the football coaching regime.
You might want to check on stadium size before you start thinking about doubling ticket sales. Rutgers stadium is nowhere near as big as other Big Ten stadiums.
 

Shelby65

All-Conference
Apr 1, 2008
8,685
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We don't get millions in donations. Our fan base is too small and doesn't give. We're not PSU and LSU.

It makes zero financial sense to fire him. We won't get a payout.

And we will fire him and explode the deficit to take a flyer on a coach to at best go 7-5 and back to the pinstripe bowl in a few years. We're not winning the big ten with our NIL.
No one’s saying we can win the big10 except for the gruftrrBut we should occasionally beat a second tier team and the fraud hasn’t ever. Not Iowa, not Nebraska, not Wisconsin. Instead he beats an all-time-terrible Purdue team on a fluke play in the last moment and is so emotional crying tears of exuberance you’d think he just learned his entire family survived a plane crash.

We have a terrible coach who keeps his job only because the university doesn’t even aspire to football mediocrity.
 
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e5fdny

Heisman
Nov 11, 2002
115,331
55,168
102
Recall all those "Rutgers 1000" types that hated football? Those types are still out there waiting to stage a zombie attack and local NY/NJ media usually back them. "Rutgers is wasting millions of dollars and don't know what they are doing! .. Rutgers Adrift - Reaches for Straws!" That can go on for a few months. Any new coach prospect might think "Dang do I really want to go there?" Will 2 months of Kirk temping make things better? Who fills in if Kirk doesn't want job? Shaw, Brock, Vallone? What if they do good and people want to keep them. Many things can go off the rails when you pull the rug. Do research and be ready to strike as the chapter closes and it all feels like a new chapter. End the old later for the new. Don't pull the rug and watch the pots and pans come clanging down in a racket with the kids crying and media police making wellness checks.

Every school has those woke wackjobs. Just win and they will go back into their holes. They just can’t accept no one wants to see them do math.
Seriously.

All the next guy, whoever it is, has to do is win one extra game and get to 8-4.

- best record yet in the B1G
- over .500 in conference play, also a first
- probably a better bowl game/location/date/opponent

All things that are marketable and can be used to sell a progress message for the Program.

It also shows it wasn’t one guy who could do it here.
 
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Fat Koko

All-Conference
Nov 28, 2022
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You might want to check on stadium size before you start thinking about doubling ticket sales. Rutgers stadium is nowhere near as big as other Big Ten stadiums.
The seating capacity of Oregon and Rutgers stadiums are close to the same - low 50,000s. Oregon does 3x the ticket sales. Why? Oregon football is the only game in town, the team has had a winning record 19 out of 20 seasons, and Oregon jams in thousands of standing-room-only ticket buyers.

Indiana did 40% higher ticket sales than Rutgers with a similar size stadium and that was before Cignetti.
 
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T2Kplus20

Heisman
May 1, 2007
32,614
20,636
113
RU has a $5B+ annual budget. This buyout is a rounding error of a rounding error. If Tate wants him gone, money isn't the issue.
 
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e5fdny

Heisman
Nov 11, 2002
115,331
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MBB would definitely need to be the primary focus, but it shouldn’t cost that much to make other sports excel which would be important for Rutgers overall image and I am not arguing that long term success of the football program isn’t critical.
I’d agree with that considering how little was given before.

When you think about it, all of the other sports with the exception of WVolleyball, have had some sort of success without the required support.

Will be nice to see how a better funded overall Athletic program shows results in the Olympic sports.
 
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Caliknight

Hall of Famer
Sep 21, 2001
198,020
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I’d agree with that considering how little was given before.

When you think about it, all of the other sports with the exception of WVolleyball, has had some sort of success without the required support.

Will be nice to see how a better funded overall Athletic program shows results in the Olympic sports.
It’s like that across the board at Rutgers. We’ve gotten more funding but we are last in the conference in NIL/scholarships in lacrosse. It wouldn’t take much to make a huge difference. Fortunately Keli views lacrosse as a sport we can win big in and she’s not wrong.

The program competes and beats programs with far more resources. Getting even close will make a massive difference. I’m sure other sports have that same mindset.
 
Jun 7, 2001
37,207
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No one’s saying we can win the big10 except for the gruftrrBut we should occasionally beat a second tier team and the fraud hasn’t ever. Not Iowa, not Nebraska, not Wisconsin. Instead he beats an all-time-terrible Purdue team on a fluke play in the last moment and is so emotional crying tears of exuberance you’d think he just learned his entire family survived a plane crash.

We have a terrible coach who keeps his job only because the university doesn’t even aspire to football mediocrity.
As usual, You conveniently overlook that Iowa, Wisconsin, and Nebraska bring in a ton more money than Rutgers does, and this funds better players and better facilities. The revenue and donation advantage has accrued over generations.
  • Iowas stadium capacity is 69,250
  • Nebraskas stadium capacity is 85,458
  • Wisconsin’s stadium capacity is 76,057
  • Rutgers Stadium capacity is 52,454, though we can squeeze in 54K on a good day, which is rare these days
 

e5fdny

Heisman
Nov 11, 2002
115,331
55,168
102
No one’s saying we can win the big10 except for the grifter. But we should occasionally beat a second tier team and the fraud hasn’t ever. Not Iowa, not Nebraska, not Wisconsin. Instead he beats an all-time-terrible Purdue team on a fluke play in the last moment and is so emotional crying tears of exuberance you’d think he just learned his entire family survived a plane crash.

We have a terrible coach who keeps his job only because the university doesn’t even aspire to football mediocrity.

As usual, You conveniently overlook that Iowa, Wisconsin, and Nebraska bring in a ton more money than Rutgers does, and this funds better players and better facilities. The revenue and donation advantage has accrued over generations.
  • Iowas stadium capacity is 69,250
  • Nebraskas stadium capacity is 85,458
  • Wisconsin’s stadium capacity is 76,057
  • Rutgers Stadium capacity is 52,454, though we can squeeze in 54K on a good day, which is rare these days
Asked and Answered…
 

Shelby65

All-Conference
Apr 1, 2008
8,685
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You can't live your life in fear of the bad things that might happen. Especially when bad things are already happening in your current situation. Fire this man...
Nails it. Failing coaches get fired. They all have self-serving excuses until the end, but only here is the coach’s failure tolerated for so long.

It’s big time football. Act like it. Fire him yesterday. It’s beyond ridiculous to defend him and his endless excuse list and “bright future” bs.

His 6+ year conference winning percentage is pathetic and cause for firing on its own…and then also UMass and BC in top of that . JFC it can’t be any more obvious that 2.0 is a hot garbage failure whose forced retirement shouldn’t be delayed another second.
 
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RU0917

Junior
Jul 21, 2025
172
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You can't live your life in fear of the bad things that might happen. Especially when bad things are already happening in your current situation. Fire this man...
Yeah this is where I am. I'd be wary of making a change if GS were still putting up competitive/bowl seasons, but to paraphrase the man himself, the arrow's pointing down.
 

MADHAT1

Heisman
Apr 1, 2003
32,044
16,848
113
A Schiano must go article I can agree with

>Where are the wealthy donors going to come from for Rutgers? Who knows, but it is clear that Schiano did not bring in a coaching staff capable of doing the job right, despite his belief. And he did not build a team in the offseason capable of competing in the Big Ten — and probably not in other smaller conferences either.

Step one for Rutgers, a new head coach needs to be hired next season.<



https://www.onthebanks.com/rutgers-...stadium-in-rout-what-does-it-mean-for-rutgers
 
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Fat Koko

All-Conference
Nov 28, 2022
4,567
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A Schiano must go article I can agree with

>Where are the wealthy donors going to come from for Rutgers? Who knows, but it is clear that Schiano did not bring in a coaching staff capable of doing the job right, despite his belief. And he did not build a team in the offseason capable of competing in the Big Ten — and probably not in other smaller conferences either.

Step one for Rutgers, a new head coach needs to be hired next season.<



https://www.onthebanks.com/rutgers-...stadium-in-rout-what-does-it-mean-for-rutgers

Below are donation figures for B1G athletic departments, not football specifically, because schools allocate donation dollars to sports or non-sport-specific differently.

Rutgers has not made much progress with 2.0. The gap between Rutgers and the conference median is running $30 million per year. These numbers pre-date Keli.

How does Rutgers eliminate this gap? I don't have ideas. Maybe Rutgers gets to UCLA and Maryland levels but that won't be enough to be a game changer for Rutgers athletics.
1791222250194.png
 

Knight Shift

Heisman
May 19, 2011
91,185
89,356
113
A Schiano must go article I can agree with

>Where are the wealthy donors going to come from for Rutgers? Who knows, but it is clear that Schiano did not bring in a coaching staff capable of doing the job right, despite his belief. And he did not build a team in the offseason capable of competing in the Big Ten — and probably not in other smaller conferences either.

Step one for Rutgers, a new head coach needs to be hired next season.<



https://www.onthebanks.com/rutgers-...stadium-in-rout-what-does-it-mean-for-rutgers
In year seven under Greg Schiano, Rutgers is losing games by 30+ and is 1-4 with teams like UMass and Boston College on the schedule.

but it is clear that Schiano did not bring in a coaching staff capable of doing the job right, despite his belief. And he did not build a team in the offseason capable of competing in the Big Ten — and probably not in other smaller conferences either

Frustrated World Cup GIF
 

patk89

All-Conference
Jul 25, 2001
6,370
2,499
78
During most of the last 30 years, beating BC would be a crowning moment for a season. Now it is looked at like a bad loss. Cuse beat us like a drum for 30 years as well. Bottom line, we have advanced in the hierarchy of college football simply by GS getting us invited to the B1G. Has his time passed? Kind of looks like it. But I enjoy his players throwing a TD pass in the NFL while another goes over 100 yards. I remember the days when there was 1 RU player in the NFL, period.
 

Nycrusupporter

All-American
Jun 8, 2021
5,427
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During most of the last 30 years, beating BC would be a crowning moment for a season. Now it is looked at like a bad loss. Cuse beat us like a drum for 30 years as well. Bottom line, we have advanced in the hierarchy of college football simply by GS getting us invited to the B1G. Has his time passed? Kind of looks like it. But I enjoy his players throwing a TD pass in the NFL while another goes over 100 yards. I remember the days when there was 1 RU player in the NFL, period.
The NY Media market got us invited into the BIG, nothing else.
 
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newell138

Heisman
Aug 1, 2001
38,352
50,605
112
Firing Greg makes zero financial sense.

We would have to pay $25 million to him and his staff to go away plus pay to hire a new staff.

The athletic department burned $78 mil
last year and has lost half a billion since joining big ten.

NJ and many towns are facing huge deficits and struggling in the face of rising costs.

We will spend all of this for the opportunity to take a flyer on a new coach with the hope they can go 6-6 or so at best with limited NIL.

Our issue is mostly NIL not coaching.

The opportunity cost of "missed revenue" is minimal and Rutgers atheithic donors have a history of not giving.
OK Mrs Schiano,
 
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eddynyse

Freshman
Jul 7, 2025
56
67
18
Anyone actually thinking our fans will pony up more cash if Schiano gets canned is totally delusional. Look at what just happened with hoops. we literally had Harper and Ace, two top-five lottery picks on the floor together, and people still wouldn't open their wallets to buy a decent supporting cast. We missed the damn tournament because the NIL pot was bone dry.
Zinn has to be smarter than that. We’re Rutgers, not LSU. This fanbase is either cheap, broke, or stuck in 2006 thinking passion pays the bills. She didn't hire Greg, so it’s not her mess, but if she fires him without having the buyout and NIL checks already cleared in the bank, that’s on her.
 

Nycrusupporter

All-American
Jun 8, 2021
5,427
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Anyone actually thinking our fans will pony up more cash if Schiano gets canned is totally delusional. Look at what just happened with hoops. we literally had Harper and Ace, two top-five lottery picks on the floor together, and people still wouldn't open their wallets to buy a decent supporting cast. We missed the damn tournament because the NIL pot was bone dry.
Zinn has to be smarter than that. We’re Rutgers, not LSU. This fanbase is either cheap, broke, or stuck in 2006 thinking passion pays the bills. She didn't hire Greg, so it’s not her mess, but if she fires him without having the buyout and NIL checks already cleared in the bank, that’s on her.
Indiana, UCLA and Virginia Tech all suffered from low NIL support, and were able to completely change the trajectory by firing their coaches. We need to do the same.
 

Caliknight

Hall of Famer
Sep 21, 2001
198,020
150,464
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Anyone actually thinking our fans will pony up more cash if Schiano gets canned is totally delusional. Look at what just happened with hoops. we literally had Harper and Ace, two top-five lottery picks on the floor together, and people still wouldn't open their wallets to buy a decent supporting cast. We missed the damn tournament because the NIL pot was bone dry.
Zinn has to be smarter than that. We’re Rutgers, not LSU. This fanbase is either cheap, broke, or stuck in 2006 thinking passion pays the bills. She didn't hire Greg, so it’s not her mess, but if she fires him without having the buyout and NIL checks already cleared in the bank, that’s on her.
Our fanbase obviously needs to donate more but the NIL mechanics are driven by almost exclusively the athletic department itself. We had no NIL then because the AD (Hobbs) didn’t know what he was doing in that space. So he did nothing.
 
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Shelby65

All-Conference
Apr 1, 2008
8,685
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RU has a $5B+ annual budget. This buyout is a rounding error of a rounding error. If Tate wants him gone, money isn't the issue.
That’s not how it works. It’s not a bank account. That budget covers specific things: salaries (professors, other union jobs), contracts, equipment, etc. And a big chunk of it is state funding from taxes.

So sure, the university can take the $$ from other buckets but the negative impact would be significant, and PR wise it would be catastrophic. Athletics racked up more than half a billion in the red over the last decade and hemorrhaging money exponentially. It’s not sustainable.

Firing him needs to come from new, private funds, not current budget.

Tate is the university president, remember. Football is important but is not his #1 priority.
 
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Jun 7, 2001
37,207
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Indiana, UCLA and Virginia Tech all suffered from low NIL support, and were able to completely change the trajectory by firing their coaches. We need to do the same.
The aforementioned changed the trajectory because donors stepped up. We would need $20M minimum to change the trajectory. Can we do it?

Penn State spent $32M total, and their class and season is a disaster. Too many needs, too little money. We are likely to replicate same, if people don’t step up.
 
Jun 7, 2001
37,207
44,756
113
Anyone actually thinking our fans will pony up more cash if Schiano gets canned is totally delusional. Look at what just happened with hoops. we literally had Harper and Ace, two top-five lottery picks on the floor together, and people still wouldn't open their wallets to buy a decent supporting cast. We missed the damn tournament because the NIL pot was bone dry.
Zinn has to be smarter than that. We’re Rutgers, not LSU. This fanbase is either cheap, broke, or stuck in 2006 thinking passion pays the bills. She didn't hire Greg, so it’s not her mess, but if she fires him without having the buyout and NIL checks already cleared in the bank, that’s on her.
You need to have a viable, actionable plan for success, if you make a change. If you don’t have the money, you can’t make the change. Pretty simple.

Penn State is paying for two coaches and their season is still a disaster. And Matt Campbell has a 10 year contract, so they’re stuck.

LSU spent ~$50M on NIL this year. We don’t even have half.
 

NickRU714

Heisman
Aug 18, 2009
14,346
13,173
113
You need to have a viable, actionable plan for success, if you make a change. If you don’t have the money, you can’t make the change. Pretty simple.

Penn State is paying for two coaches and their season is still a disaster. And Matt Campbell has a 10 year contract, so they’re stuck.

LSU spent ~$50M on NIL this year. We don’t even have half.

What is the viable, actionable plan for success, if no change is made?

Pray for donors is the same for both scenarios.

What's the worse that happens if a change is made and the "pray for donors doesn't happen"?
We have a disaster season and lose to a MAC and low level ACC team?

Still waiting for the defense of keeping Schiano that includes winning games.
 
Jun 7, 2001
37,207
44,756
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What is the viable, actionable plan for success, if no change is made?

Pray for donors is the same for both scenarios.

What's the worse that happens if a change is made and the "pray for donors doesn't happen"?
We have a disaster season and lose to a MAC and low level ACC team?

Still waiting for the defense of keeping Schiano that includes winning games.
Get a General Manager that can improve portal outcomes. You’d hope we can land more quality players who could augment the players that are developing this year. This is probably the most likely route to success next year.

if a change is made, it looks like the Academic side is going to have to pay for it, because the AD sure doesn’t have the funds, and no matter how much game people talk here, they aren’t stepping up. So the professors won’t be able to get a raise because we’ll be paying Schiano’s buyout.

The worst outcome would be to get a new coach who still loses to MAC and low level teams ACC teams. See Chris Ash.

if Schiano were to be wacked, it would be open season on the roster, which would be picked dry of all good players. And we’d be starting from ground zero, with inadequate NIL support. And a new coach that would need to learn how to effectively recruit Rutgers, something most haven’t considered. A situation that has inadequate NIL, inadequate facilities, and an unappealing campus. Chris Ash was here four years and he still didn’t figure it out.

The #53 recruiting classes aren’t good enough. We need the #99 recruiting classes of yesteryear. Just looks like a 💩show waiting to happen.
 
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T2Kplus20

Heisman
May 1, 2007
32,614
20,636
113
That’s not how it works. It’s not a bank account. That budget covers specific things: salaries (professors, other union jobs), contracts, equipment, etc. And a big chunk of it is state funding from taxes.

So sure, the university can take the $$ from other buckets but the negative impact would be significant, and PR wise it would be catastrophic. Athletics racked up more than half a billion in the red over the last decade and hemorrhaging money exponentially. It’s not sustainable.

Firing him needs to come from new, private funds, not current budget.

Tate is the university president, remember. Football is important but is not his #1 priority.
It's not significant, especially since it will be spread out over several years.
 

-RUFAN4LIFE-

Heisman
Feb 28, 2015
35,062
54,361
113
That’s not how it works. It’s not a bank account. That budget covers specific things: salaries (professors, other union jobs), contracts, equipment, etc. And a big chunk of it is state funding from taxes.

So sure, the university can take the $$ from other buckets but the negative impact would be significant, and PR wise it would be catastrophic. Athletics racked up more than half a billion in the red over the last decade and hemorrhaging money exponentially. It’s not sustainable.

Firing him needs to come from new, private funds, not current budget.

Tate is the university president, remember. Football is important but is not his #1 priority.
State only funds 20% of RU’s budget. This buyout is Pennie’s on the dollar to the taxpayers since it’s paid out over 3 years.
 
Jun 7, 2001
37,207
44,756
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It's not significant, especially since it will be spread out over several years.
$18M over 4 years is significant unless you’re going to cover it. That is contractually obligated, unless they negotiate another arrangement.

Should the professors forgo their wage increases? Because that’s the budget it’s going to be paid from, the academic side.
 
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-RUFAN4LIFE-

Heisman
Feb 28, 2015
35,062
54,361
113
Stop gaslighting Al, you know what’s been discussed on the premium side. So you are trying to take advantage of those that don’t have access to the information by spinning what you want them to hear.
 
Jun 7, 2001
37,207
44,756
113
Stop gaslighting Al, you know what’s been discussed on the premium side. So you are trying to take advantage of those that don’t have access to the information by spinning what you want them to hear.
The premium side discusses speculation not facts.
It’s not the Bible you want to believe it is. It’s simply a viewpoint. I’m allowed to speculate too.
 
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