Monday, December 1, 2014

Coaching Candidate: Greg Schiano

Greg Schiano
Greg Schiano
Age: 48
Current position: None
Head coaching experience: 68-67 at Rutgers (2001-2011), 11-21 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2012-2013)
History: Schiano grew up in New Jersey and attended Bucknell, a D-II school in Pennsylvania. He was a linebacker and named team captain as a senior. He coached defensive backs at Penn State in the early 1990's under Joe Paterno before becoming an assistant for the Chicago Bears, then moved on to be the Miami Hurricanes' defensive coordinator for the 1999-2000 seasons. Those defenses at Miami helped him earn the head coaching job at Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights' head job had typically been a black hole, but he took them from a 3-20 record in his first two seasons to a peak of 11-2 (and a win over Texas) in the 2006 season, culminating in a #12 overall ranking. His 9-4 season in 2011 launched him to the Buccaneers' head job, but a slightly promising 7-9 season in 2012 turned into a disappointing 4-12 record in 2013, after which he was fired.
My thoughts: The job Schiano did at Rutgers was impressive because of how far he took them, but he never really showed an ability to get them over the hump. New Jersey does have a good amount of talent within the state, and while he did get some solid seasons out of guys like Ray Rice and Kenny Britt, nobody really developed into a huge star; the closest was Ray Rice, who - for reasons presumably unrelated to Schiano - would not exactly be a good reference when sitting in recruits' living rooms with mom and/or dad. I might hire Schiano as a defensive coordinator, but he's not head coach material for an elite program yet.
Likelihood of coming to Michigan: Schiano would probably jump at the chance to coach in the Big Ten at a place like Michigan. As a guy with roots in Big Ten country (or at least what is now Big Ten country), this could be a crowning achievement. He's an Option B type of candidate with Jim Harbaugh, Les Miles, and perhaps others ahead of him, but Michigan ended up with a seemingly fringe candidate in 2011, too.

My wish list:
1. Bob Stoops
2. Les Miles
3. Greg Schiano
4. Mike Shanahan

21 comments:

  1. what about Pat Narduzzi?

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    1. That would enormously hilarious.

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  2. Your wish list doesn't have either Harbaugh on it. I would probably put Greg Shiano below John Harbaugh, with Jim at the top spot.

    And don't you dare take away my hope by telling me how Jim definitely isn't coming. There's always a chance.

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    1. The only people on the list are the ones he has written about. Once he does a profile on Harbaugh you will see him on the list.

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  3. We need to give Hoke one more year. He is better then anyone on this list and his players believe in him. He will improve...guarantee'd.

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    1. Disagree. He's been given 4 seasons and the team has regressed every year. Do you expect to see a sudden turnaround in year 5? Michigan canned Rodriguez after only 3 seasons, with a trend of improving every year.

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    2. Only way I could live with this is if he handed over the keys to the offense entirely. Similar to Belloti/Kelly at Oregon or Chizik/Malzhan.

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  4. wow. I actually think Schiano is about as good as Michigan can reasonably expect. There are not a lot of proven head coaches who are willing and able to come to Michigan, let alone with NFL experience.

    I'm not in love with the guy at all, but I've heard a lot of "we need a proven head coach" comments and if that's your attitude, the available pool is very small.

    I would much rather have him than Miles (who has been underachieving with elite talent for many years.) If we're going to have an unimaginative underacheiving head coach he might as well be Hoke -- at least he has likability.

    What I don't know is if Schiano is available. Tampa Bay is paying him a ton of money to not coach and I think that is a significant obstacle to his taking another job.

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    1. Sorry. He is an option G kind of guy. He just isn't a winner. I'd rather hire a lot of other people before hiring him.

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    2. Perfect, the two geniuses who for some inexplicable reason hate Les Miles.

      I really don't see why, look at the records of the coaches you've put more faith in. Lank with Schiano here, and suduri with Mullen.

      Schiano, can't even be placed in the same breath as Les, maybe with Mullen. And Mullen has had, what, one really successful year and several mediocre. Meanwhile Miles has racked up a career .728 win percentage in the toughest division of the toughest conference.
      Looking at that, people must be either dumb or ignorant not to want Les Miles as their head coach.

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    3. @Blog

      You seem like a swell guy.

      If it was as simple as counting up wins there wouldn't be all these coaches getting fired. Context matters - and turning Rutgers or Stanford around is a whole lot more impressive than maintaining an already successful program. That's why Lloyd Carr will never be considered a great coach in the way that Bo was.

      Rich Rodriguez won a ton of games elsewhere - it didn't work at Michigan.

      There are no sure things. Furthermore, it's important HOW we win. The Miles backstory is well documented. He is a cheater and he's not going to bring the state of Louisiana with him. Now if Michigan wants to open up a UofM-New Orleans branch, it might make sense...

      Apparently you think Lloyd Carr, Dave Brandon, Jim Hackett, and everybody else around the program who seems to be saying "over my dead body" are idiots. You're entitled to your opinion no matter how it sounds...

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    4. I'll keep this quick, it's a pain to do this on the phone.

      I'd like to agree that wins arent all that matter. However, RR was fired because of wins/administration interference(Lloyd influence)

      Hoke, about to be fired because of wins. One of the most genuine, and respected coaches around according to some.

      I compared Les to Mullen/Schiano, not Harbugh. Id prefer Harbaugh first.

      Schiano didn't really turn Rutgers around, if he did then they would probably be better now. The true sign you've turned a program around, sustained success even after you leave. Think Chip Kelly, he's gone and they have had little to no drop off. Same with Stanford and harbaugh. Schiano? Nope. And if Mullen left I bet they would become the sec whipping boy again. Which btw, that has only not been the case for all of one year with Mullen at the helm. Idk how you can argue that either of them would be a better option.

      And yes, if they would rather turn Miles away then hire him and make sure he's playing by the university rules and whatever else standards they want. Then yes, they are a bunch of idiots. Hell, one of them blatantly sabotaged another coach and helped chase him out of town. How smart is that? Would you listen to that person?

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    5. @Blog

      Rutgers is a team that is in the middle of the big10 and beat Michigan. If you don't think they'd be happy to hear this fate in the year 2000 you are nuts. Rutgers was a low level Big East expansion program in the 90s that is now a mid-level Big Ten program. I know the Big 10 stinks right now, but that's a massive turnaround.

      Schiano is not Chip Kelly or Harbaugh. Obviously. Michigan isn't getting Chip Kelly. Harbaugh will probably stick to the NFL. Schiano was not as good in the NFL, but FWIW Schiano got an NFL job before Kelly did. The shine is off after Tampa Bay but he's still a coach with some significant accomplishments at Rutgers.

      Anyway Schiano turned Michigan down before, when he looked even more attractive as a candidate. The idea that Michigan is too good for him is curious to me.

      Regarding Miles....look at how Nussmeir did at Alabama vs how he did at Michigan. His success at Alabama doesn't make him a great coach necessarily. Same goes for Miles. If you like playing dirty and you like underachieving relative to your talent -- Miles is your guy.

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    6. Schiano with midline success at Rutgers and Tampa bay
      Or
      Miles with years of success in the SEC....hmm let me think about that one.

      One has three conference championships, and a national title, and coaches in the toughest conference, and with a win percentage over 70%. Schiano has? What, compare the two again for me because I really don't see how Schiano can be in the same breath as Miles.

      And I'm sure the administration that hires him, will make it abundantly clear what can or can not happen while he is here. Idk why people think the school would let him get away with it if everybody was so against over signing, I assume thats mostly what you are referencing.

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    7. @Blog

      You do recognize the difference in how hard it is to coach at LSU compared to Rutgers right? I think that's a starting point for any discussion. You do recognize that Nussmeir didn't just become a worse coach when he hopped on the place from Alabama to Ann Arbor right?

      WRT to off-field stuff on Miles, it's far more than oversigning. Read the sports illustrated series about misconduct at OK State. Read all the rumors of hatred from Michigan football family wrt to ethics. Read all the rumors of cheating and pay for play at LSU today. Miles hasn't been busted yet, but there sure is a lot of smoke everywhere he goes.

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  5. Jus throwing this out there what about Lane kiffen

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  6. The funny thing is, Schiano actually turned us down 7 years ago, no? Funny how forturnes change and candidates become more or less attractive over time. For what it's worth, I really liked him as a candidate 7 years ago.

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  7. I think this is a real possibility, as I don't think either Harbaugh is realistic, nor do I think Stoops is either, and after that, it's Miles -- who I don't know if UM administrations is OK with. After that small group, Schiano is reasonably top of "Group B."

    FWIW, here's a real interesting article about him. Still not sure about him as UM's coach, but the thing I liked is he realized some of his "old school" (e.g., learned from Paterno) ways were not the best and that he vowed to do things differently at his next job (e.g., the need to open up his practices more for NFL scouts). That sounds good to me, esp with a program as stuck in the past at UM.
    http://mmqb.si.com/2014/11/04/nfl-greg-schiano-year-off/

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  8. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  9. The Tampa Bay experience may not mean anything as far as winning in College. Look at Spurrier and Saban. Neither was a great NFL coach but . . .
    As far as Miles he has no reason to move. Harbaugh wants to play in the NFL. We need a rebuilder. This guy built up Rutgers who was in a much worse place than Michigan. I think he just might work.

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