4. Greg Schiano was very mediocre as Rutgers head coach.
We give Greg Schiano a pass for failing in the NFL. Lots of great college coaches did. But we can look at his college record alone to prove he doesn’t belong in Knoxville.
Betsided
One of the most overrated things in sports this century is Schiano’s tenure as head coach of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. On the surface, it looks like he did a good job.
Conventional wisdom says this team has been awful since he left and points to all the years it was awful before he arrived. But what it ignores is that Schiano coached Rutgers at a time when it was easier than ever to win there.
Remember, Schiano was at Rutgers for four years before they had a winning season. Want to know a secret? That first winning season was in 2005.
In case you forgot, that was the first year the Big East existed without the Miami Hurricanes, Virginia Tech Hokies or Boston College Eagles. So he was able to enjoy a 7-5 season in 2005 after the conference collapsed and Ray Rice, a local product, fell into his lap.
A year later, Kenny Britt, another local product, fell into his lap. Schiano was able to use a pathetic Big East schedule with just enough weapons to go 11-2.
But again, the conference was terrible during this time. In fact, it remained terrible his entire time there. And he never came close to that 11-2 record again. He finished with a 68-67 record at Rutgers with only one Top 25 finish and no conference titles in 12 years there, good for just slightly over .500.
How is that any better than Butch Jones’s tenure at Cincinnati? Oh, and by the way, he once lost to Jones 69-38.
Yes, the team has now fallen apart since he left. But they also joined the Big Ten three years later. Don’t forget, the year after they left, under Kyle Flood, they were still 9-4 in a lousy American Athletic Conference.
Taking all this into account, Schiano is a mediocre hire and another project. He has a ton of baggage, he won’t unite the fan base, and as we’ve shown here, he’s not a proven winner. His track record is highly overrated. So yes, it was a terrible move for Tennessee football to pursue him in every way. And we have just proved that without needing his connection to the Penn State scandal, which remains the biggest deal breaker.