Rutgers Football: Time for Scarlet Nation to Move on from Greg Schiano

The time for the Rutgers faithful to move on from the surprising/shocking developments of this past week is now.

It's time to welcome the thought of a new coach with a new system and new ideas.  It's time to forget that Greg Schiano ever worked for Rutgers.

Schiano had some great abilities, and he restored respectability to a program that was trapped in the doldrums of college football. He brought back the kind of success Rutgers briefly enjoyed 30 years ago under coach Frank Burns.

Schiano was an outstanding recruiter who brought more talent to Piscataway than anyone imagined.

He developed the talent; 25 of his players have jobs in the NFL.

He had a great defensive brain, and he prided himself in the great APR ratings Rutgers reached under his leadership.

But let's be honest: It's really hard to imagine the next coach having worse game management skills than Schiano.

Let's Be Honest About Schiano's Record

Rutgers fans should remember that Schiano's Big East record was 28-48, and even after the "magical year" of 2006, when it looked like the program had turned the corner, he went a dismal 16-19 in the Big East over his last five seasons.

Schiano won 40 games against non-conference teams, 30 of them coming against teams from non-BCS conferences.

Against non-conference teams from BCS conferences, he went 10-12.  The man never won a non-conference game against a ranked team.

In order to leave Rutgers with a 68-67 record, Schiano feasted on Mac teams (7-1), Army and Navy (13-2) and FBS teams (8-2).

And Schiano certainly had the reputation for having some of the softest schedules of any coach in the country. During his 11 years at Rutgers, not once did any of his teams have an SOS (strength of schedule) in the top 50.  Even with seven Big East games each season, his average SOS was 69.

About the Six Bowl Games

In 1978, Rutgers went to the Garden State Bowl, where it lost to Arizona State, 34-18. It was its first bowl appearance in its 122 years of football.  It wasn't until 2005 that it went to its second bowl game.

Schiano's 2005 Rutgers team (7-5) lost again to Arizona State, 45-40.

One year later, the Scarlet Knights won their first bowl game ever, and they've appeared in four more bowl games since, winning them all..

If one watched this year's Pinstripe Bowl, a game in which Rutgers defeated Iowa State, they would have been reminded that Rutgers now owns the nation's longest consecutive bowl-winning streak of five games.

This may sound important, but truth be told, these five wins all came in insignificant bowls, all games Rutgers was favored to win. 

In 2006, Rutgers faced Kansas Sate (6-6) in the Texas Bowl.  In 2007, Rutgers faced Ball State (6-6) in the International Bowl and in 2008, Rutgers faced North Carolina State (6-6) in the Papa John's Bowl.

In 2009, it faced Central Florida (8-4) in the St. Petersburg Bowl, and in 2011, Rutgers faced Iowa State (6-6) in the Pinstripe Bowl.

Schiano Struggled in Early-Season Games

Greg Schiano seem to have trouble preparing his teams for early-season games.  In his first season as coach (2001), he did mange to defeat Buffalo but went on to lose nine of his next 10 games.

The early-season trouble started the following year when Rutgers lost its opener to FCS Villanova, one of two games Schiano lost to FCS teams in his career with Rutgers.

In 2003, after another opening win over Buffalo, Rutgers failed badly in its first real test the following week.  In a road game at Michigan State, it lost 44-28.

The next season (2004), Rutgers turned the tables on Michigan State in the Scarlet Knights' home opener, but the following weak it suffered a disappointing home loss to New Hampshire, 35-24. 

This was the second FCS team that defeated a Schiano-coached Rutgers team.

In 2005, Rutgers opened its season on the road with a weak Illinois team (2-9).  Rutgers was leading 27-10 late in the game but gave up 17 fourth-quarter points and lost 33-30 in overtime.  It was one of its worst losses ever.

In 2006, the miracle year, Rutgers won its first nine games but struggled to barely beat a very average North Carolina (3-9) team in its opener, 21-16.

Rutgers entered the 2007 season ranked in the Top 25, and after three early games against Buffalo, Navy and Norfolk State, it hosted Maryland (6-7) in its first real test with a chance to start the season 4-0.

Rutgers wasn't ready for Maryland and was upset, 34-24.

In 2008, Rutgers opened its season at home as a touchdown favorite against Fresno State (7-6) and got embarrassed, 24-7.  The Scarlet Knights hosted North Carolina the following week and lost, 44-12.

In 2009, Rutgers opened at home against fellow Big East member Cincinnati.  In front of a huge crowd to celebrate its first stadium expansion, Rutgers got blown out, 47-15.

In 2010, Rutgers struggled in its opener against FCS Norfolk State and only took a 6-0 halftime lead.  In its next game, it struggled again against FIU and squeaked out a 19-14 win, and in its first real test, it lost at home to North Carolina, 17-13.

Rutgers followed up this loss by getting upset at home to Tulane (4-8), 17-14, in a game the Scarlet Knights were a 17-point favorite.

This past season, Rutgers opened against FBS North Carolina State and couldn't run the ball.  In its first real test the following week, it lost a mistake-filled game at North Carolina (7-6), 24-22.

It was time for a change.

When Schiano arrived at Rutgers, he promised a national championship. Eleven years later, Rutgers is still waiting for its first Big East title.

How much longer could this go on?  With his huge top-20 salary and a slew of talent, how much longer could this go on?

No one every really challenged him on why, in 2007, with Kenny Britt, Ray Rice, Kevin Brock, Ryan De'Imperio, Eric Foster, Courtney Greene, the McCourtey brothers, Tiquan Underwood, Jamaal Westerman, Jeremy Zuttah and Anthony Davis—11 players who either appeared or starred on many of the 2011 NFL rosters—he only produced a 3-4 Big East record and a spot in a bowl as meaningless as the International Bowl?

So, it was time.

Rutgers Was Good to Schiano

We're all grateful for what Schiano did for Rutgers football—he made it relevant.  He changed the culture, and Rutgers was good to him.

In 2001, Rutgers took a risk when it hired the nation's youngest Division 1A football coach.  Rutgers gave him everything he asked for: a huge salary, the most modern facilities and the stadium expansion.

But there's one thing Rutgers gave him that changed his coaching fortunes, as well as the fortunes of Rutgers football—a fifth year.

Schiano was on his way to the hot seat after his first three years.  In his third year, he showed some slight improvement over a horrible 2001 (2-9) and 2002 (1-11).

In 2003, Schiano won his first Big East game and finished 5-7.  In 2004, his fourth year, Rutgers only won four games and finished the season with a five-game losing streak.

But Rutgers gave him a fifth year. 

On Schaino's Departure

We all know there's no right time to leave.  We also know it's part of the business known as college football.

So, good luck, Greg Schiano.  Just one thing: If you do it again, give your employer two weeks' notice.