2016 Purdue Football Coaching Search: Greg Schiano
Candidate Tier #2
Category: Old(ish) Candidates
Who Is He?
J Money: Greg Schiano, current co-DC at Ohio State, former Rutgers head coach, washout as NFL coach who was voted most likely to be smothered in his sleep by his players.
Schiano is a name brand because of the admittedly impressive success he had at Rutgers from 2006-2011, when he won 49 games over six seasons, including a 5-0 bowl record in that span. He was actually at RU starting in 2001 and after a 3-20 start, began to pull things together. This is no small feat, given just how bad Rutgers had been for a long time. Schiano was expected to be a candidate for the Penn State job once Paterno retired but this was before the revelations about Paterno harboring a child rapist surfaced. Whether he was not considered or chose to steer clear, this worked out well for Schiano.
As HC of Tampa Bay in the NFL, he actually wasn’t dreadful – 7-9 his first year was decent, but that was followed up by 4-12 and in the impatient NFL where everyone expects their coach to do what Bill Belichick does, he was let go.
He sort of has that old man vibe but he’s just 50 years old, which really is plenty young to remain a head coach at the collegiate level.
Boilerdowd: Schiano built Rutgers out of nothing, raised expectations there, lowered his stock by failing in the NFL as an HC before landing at the comfortable, enviable and successful aOSU, Urban Meyer-led program. He and Meyer seem to like working together, and he seems pleased, for now, to be second fiddle as he overshadows the seemingly empty headed Luke Finkle.
Why would he be successful at Purdue?
J Money: He won 11 games at Rutgers in 2006, climbing to #7 in the country. He also won eight games twice and nine twice. He truly built that football program from ruins into not just a bowl team, but a conference contender and one where talking about the BCS (at the time) wasn’t completely crazy.
Boilerdowd: Building something out of dust, spit, grit and crappy facilities is what Schiano did at Rutgers...why not do it again in God's country. He's a hardnosed, old school football guy, who I think Purdue fans would love.
His deep connections in the football world would help him build a great staff...the fact that he doesn't have a buyout will make him a favorite for Purdue's decision makers.
Why could he flop at Purdue?
J Money: Schiano’s somewhat abrasive personality probably doesn’t work for long if you’re not winning. Of course, that’s more true in the NFL than in college. His schtick worked well in NJ. He also has now been out of the college head coaching game for five years and lot changes. Sure he’s got an associate head coach title at OSU but how much can we really learn from his time there? It seems they steamroll along as long as Urbz is at the helm.
Boilerdowd: It's been a while since he has been the head of a program, and the cradle of QBs crowd will grow impatient as the defense gets built. That said, nothing succeeds like success...and defense wins something something.
Would he come to Purdue?
J Money: Possibly, but I’d lean towards not likely. I think Schiano has a fairly high opinion of himself and he’s already “done his time” at a nobody (Rutgers). Starting over at the bottom of a conference again may feel “beneath” him and he may be holding out for a bit more of a plum job. The optimistic way of looking at it, though, would be that he’s eager to re-prove himself and take another doormat to the top ten.
Boilerdowd: I'm not sure I would leave that position at aOSU for Purdue. But if he wants the challenge, like some football guys just revel in, he'll get that at Purdue. Like all of these guys, the first impression with Bobinski matters greatly. We all know he wouldn't come to coach under the former AD.
