OT: Greg Schiano to Tampa Bay
Via Rick Stroud (Bucs writer for the Tampa Bay Times) on Twitter:
620 WDAE in Tampa is reporting Rutgers coach Greg Schiano is possibly going to be the Bucs next HC. No confirmation of that from Bucs.
Interesting to say the least...
EDIT, sounds all but official:
Via Adam Schefter:
Filed to ESPN: Tampa Bay plans to hire Rutgers coach Greg Schiano as the next Buccaneers head coach. Two sides trying to finalize contract.
January 26th, 2012 at 10:22 AM ^
Schiano snake oiled the kid to get him from Wisky, and now he leaves for the NFL. Note to kids, do not change schools this late in the game.
January 26th, 2012 at 10:30 AM ^
IIRC, Denman was a Penn State commit (and left because of the incident), then committed to Wisconsin (then left because Cryst went to Pitt) and then committed to Rutgers (and now this)
Dang.... I hope he doesn't come to UM because I don't want Borges or Hoke leaving
January 26th, 2012 at 10:50 AM ^
You forgot to add "unless you are changing to UofM."
January 26th, 2012 at 10:23 AM ^
January 26th, 2012 at 10:46 AM ^
C'mon down to Ann Arbor (only if there's a spot left after Garnett and Diamond commit).
January 26th, 2012 at 10:54 AM ^
I'd rather us get Leonte Carroo.
January 26th, 2012 at 10:24 AM ^
January 26th, 2012 at 10:29 AM ^
Just did his thing on Sportscenter, looks like a done deal.
January 26th, 2012 at 10:33 AM ^
Heard Urban was spotted leaving Happy Valley to head to New Jersey.
January 26th, 2012 at 10:34 AM ^
Was Bill Martin a part of this process? Anyone try calling him on his new cell phone?
January 26th, 2012 at 10:45 AM ^
Martin should have just said it was a burner phone and that after one call everyone in the terroroist cell just gets rid of it. "I got a call from Schiano so I couldn't take Miles call - those are the rules here at Al Queda"
Schiano is a bad hire. If Saban can't crack the NFL - Schiano is toast. Harbaugh had the ingredients to make the jump (an understanding of run first offense and a phenomenal DC he could take with him - mark my words somebody is going to make Fangio a head coach). Saban, Spurrier, etc - the annals are littered.
When Marty Schottenheimer and Bill Cowher are out there and you pick Schiano - your days are numbered. Remember this as a team that was 4-2 and had beaten Atlanta in Atlanta. The lose Gerald McCoy and Brian Price for the year, can't stop anyone from running on the interior of their D-Line which exposed an aging/underwhelming secondary and their offense wasn't good enough to combat it. They are not that far from being competitive. Hiring Schiano is just stupid...
January 26th, 2012 at 11:14 AM ^
'Greg Schiano as a candidate' wasn't something that Bill Martin dreamed up on his own. Schiano was recommended to Martin by Martin's own hand-picked committee of former football players and insiders. Desmond Howard was, I believe, part of that. There is something about Schiano that guys in the football business like. I'm not sure what it is, but those guys know a lot more than I do.
January 26th, 2012 at 10:39 AM ^
Maybe Bill can take Greg out on his sailboat for a sunset cruise. No cell phones on the boat!
January 26th, 2012 at 10:42 AM ^
Shit. As a NJ native, Rutgers has always been my (distant) second-favorite team. I've enjoyed the rise to semi-respectability under Schiano, and the current team was filled with promising young players, leading me to believe the next few years could be special.
They're probably all going to transfer now.
January 26th, 2012 at 10:44 AM ^
we should try to poach leonte carroo, a big WR.
January 26th, 2012 at 10:49 AM ^
We'll see if the Glazers pony up enough cash to sign him. They don't have to pay Chucky $5 million a year to laugh at them from a TV booth now, so maybe they will pay NFL money. Schiano won't have nearly the price tag that Chip Kelly would have demanded, but they aren't going to get away with offering him what they paid Raheem Morris and expect him to jump.
On the positive side of the ledger, Schiano fits into the NFL mold better than Kelly would have. On the negative side, he has no idea what he is in for down here.
January 26th, 2012 at 10:59 AM ^
Didn't we recently lose a commit to Rutgers?
January 26th, 2012 at 11:09 AM ^
Not to my knowledge. Chris Muller was rumored to be visiting but the rumor was debunked.
January 26th, 2012 at 10:59 AM ^
I am season ticket holder for the Bucs and I can tell you that the fan base is going to roll their eyes and moan. They want the big name but don't realize that Tampa isn't a prime coaching destination. This team hasn't been built on leadership. The most seasoned defensive quality is Ronde Barber who is in his late 30's and not a voice in the locker room. The DL is extremely young and the most talented defensive player is a thug that can't be counted on to play every game (Talib).
The offense should be better. Josh Freeman is in the top half of the NFL QB club concerning talent but they lack an explosive play-maker (note: Blount rambling down the field at a 4.8 forty clip is not explosive) or someone to take the top off a defense. The stadium and facilities are great along with the weather; however, these are not passionate fans at all. Detroit fans show more support during a 4-12 season than the Bucs do at 10-6. IMHO they pulled the plug on Chucky too soon without a viable replacement. If Lions fans ever want to complain about the Fords....just look down here at the Glazers.
January 26th, 2012 at 11:04 AM ^
Blount needs a speed RB to compliment his.
Blount needs Javid Best, Best needs Blount.
January 26th, 2012 at 11:28 AM ^
I disagree with your assesment of Blount not being explosive. Did you see theat Boise State lineman go down with one punch? Now THAT was explosive.
January 26th, 2012 at 11:02 AM ^
Devin Fuller was supposed to be a Rutgers lean...I'd call him up and see if he has any interest.
He'd be insurance at QB and would make a great WR down the road. He'd allow us to still keep parts of the spread/read-option and compliment Shane Morris very well in a few years.
With all that said, I'm sure he goes to Arizona or somewhere where he can have an impact. Rich Rod is probably jumping for joy.
January 26th, 2012 at 11:03 AM ^
Stolen from someone at EDSBS: "at least he's used to be playing in front of half full stadiums"
January 26th, 2012 at 11:06 AM ^
Schiano...wow, they are really reaching for the stars.
January 26th, 2012 at 11:09 AM ^
Rutgers is my #2 team and I'm not happy about this. He's not an amazing coach but I like the direction they were headed in. He got some assistants from Pitt last year that can really recruit and it was showing in this class. The worst part of this is that it's happening a week before signing day. They were expected to finish the class with Devin Fuller and Darius Hamilton. The best NJ kids were just starting to warm to the idea of staying home. Just terrible timing.
January 26th, 2012 at 11:10 AM ^
Why fire Raheem Morris if this is where you're going? Tampa Bay is going to get lost in the shuffle in the NFC South with New Orleans, Atlanta and Carolina (Cam Newton looked decent his rookie year).
January 26th, 2012 at 11:17 AM ^
but over the course of their entire histories, i would say that Tampa is the Rutgers of the NFL.
January 26th, 2012 at 11:31 AM ^
try the lions, pal. give the bucs a little credit. at least theyve won a super bowl.
January 26th, 2012 at 11:23 AM ^
Gruden to Rutgers
January 26th, 2012 at 11:25 AM ^
Maybe it finally sunk in for Greg that he would not be getting the Penn St. gig. Interesting decision for him...his relative sucess at Rutgers could have made him a de facto tenured coach there. A true Jersey legend. But when the greater Tampa/St. Pete's metro area beckons, you have to listen.
January 26th, 2012 at 11:28 AM ^
Here's a list of the Rutgers commits/leans that Michigan pursued in the 2012 class.
January 26th, 2012 at 11:31 AM ^
Wonder what the ramifications will be because of this
January 26th, 2012 at 11:48 AM ^
I would expect Muller to be in play, maybe a good possibility for us if we get bad news tonight.
January 26th, 2012 at 11:41 AM ^
Don't get me wrong, Schiano is not a bad coach, but a candidate for a head coaching job in the NFL??? His head coaching record is 68–67.....in the Big Easy. I realize that a lot of the losses came at the beginning of his career at Rutgers, although he did go 4-8 in 2010. Minus that anomaly, I guess he has decent season from 2006 on. Albeit, again, it is in the Big Least. Hmm, ok. Well, I guess if no one else wants the position. Maybe they can get Chucky to come back out of retirement??
January 26th, 2012 at 11:43 AM ^
True, it's the Big East, but Rutgers SUCKED before he got there. They're not a big program and they're in the crappy, crappy state of New Jersey, so they haven't exactly had the best talent. They've pulled in some decent recruits lately, but he was playing from behind for awhile.
January 26th, 2012 at 12:22 PM ^
I agree with almost everything except that New Jersey actually produces good high school talent. Unless you are saying that the talented recruits want to get out of the crappy state of New Jersey then I agree with you.
January 26th, 2012 at 12:58 PM ^
New Jersey does produce pretty good talent, but the state itself is not that pleasant.
January 26th, 2012 at 11:45 AM ^
By that logic, Brady Hoke should never have been hired at Michigan because he had a shitty combined record at Ball State and San Diego State, neither of which are power conferences.
We've already been over why that is a stupid analysis, right?
January 26th, 2012 at 12:14 PM ^
be all end all....albeit, for a head coaching NFL job....?...I don't know. I figure you try to get guys with strong suscess on the college level, guys like Harbaugh, Saban, Pete Caroll (granted, college success does not always equal success on the professional level....Caroll, Saban, Spurier, etc.) As I said, I think Schiano is a decent coach, and he seems like a decent guy. With him the best.
January 26th, 2012 at 12:00 PM ^
get darius hamilton up here for a visit. haha
January 26th, 2012 at 12:05 PM ^
This seems like a random hire. Schiano's star has been dimmed in past years, and maybe that means the Bucs will get him on the "cheap", but this is not the type of team you want a first-year coach to cut his teeth with - no real identity, questions at most positions, and an ownership group that seems more interested in the pitch and the field.
I guess the bar is pretty low with the Bucs and that should help with the transition, but this is a head-scratcher in my opinion.
January 26th, 2012 at 12:29 PM ^
He was considered to be going Rutgers, but also has Wisky in there....that would not be good.
Our hope would be that RR could sway the kid to AZ....funny RR now recruiting a kid to keep him away from Wisky to help UM....things that make you go hmmmmmm.
January 26th, 2012 at 12:41 PM ^
January 26th, 2012 at 1:11 PM ^
I meant to say Nebraska....I knew it had red in it.
January 26th, 2012 at 12:49 PM ^
The usual caveats about 'business decisions' and all that, but if I recall correctly, Rutgers invested heavily in Schiano to build up their football program. Those investments might help them hire another coach (stadium, &c.), but the talk out of Schiano was to build Rutgers up. It's true he was a middling coach, but Rutgers used to be way worse than middling.
On the other hand, there's some overlap between Schiano and the traditional Michigan recruiting footprint (especially Pennsylvania), so no big deal.
January 26th, 2012 at 1:04 PM ^
FWIW:
Leonte Carroo committed to Rutgers months ago, now going to visit Miami & "he’s still undecided at this point" -Don Bosco coach Greg Toal
January 26th, 2012 at 1:36 PM ^
Also, Mike Farrell just tweeted that Chris Muller has already been contacted by Michigan.
January 26th, 2012 at 1:55 PM ^
No hints. Work this out yourself.
January 26th, 2012 at 1:56 PM ^
As a Tampa fan, I guess I'm happy, but then again, anyone's better than Raheem Morris. The guy had no control over his team, and they were absolutely embarressing to watch in the last half of the year.
They've got a lot more talent on that team than people realize; our defensive line has the potential to become one of the best with Clayborn, Bowers and McCoy (if he can find a way to stay healthy). Freeman can be really good, but I will admit he had a piss poor year.
Hopefully Schiano's the guy to turn the ship around. I'm tired of going to games and being outnumbered by opposing fans. Hard to believe it was less than 5 years ago that we sold out for every game.