Greg Schiano to Tampa Bay: Twitter Erupts After Buccaneers' Surprise Hire

Greg Schiano has turned down countless rumors and/or opportunities to leave Rutgers in the past few years.

The head coaching job at Michigan. The head coaching job at Miami. The head coaching job at Penn State.

Now he is actually leaving Rutgers, but not for a college job.

According to Brett McMurphy of CBS, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will hire Schiano as their next head coach:

The report has also been confirmed by ESPN's Adam Schefter:

Naturally, the reaction to Schiano's departure has people on both sides of the fence, but in this particular instance nearly everyone is on the fence. There hasn't been nearly as much hate as there is confusion, surprise or skepticism. 

People simply don't know what to make of the Bucs hiring Schiano.

Here's what some of the Twitter fallout looks like.

Current NFL superstar and former Rutgers standout Ray Rice kicks things off with some of the rare, overflowing positivity:

Rice's collegiate performance is what helped bring Schiano's name to prominence in first place during Rutgers' 2006 season and it is hardly surprising to see him share in the excitement of his former coach's new job.

Others in the community are shocked by the news. 

Eric LeGrand, the Scarlet Knights player who was paralyzed last season, had few words to offer other than shock:

North Carolina Central QB Jordan Reid had a similar reaction:

The ones that weren't shocked had legitimate beef about the timing of Schiano's move, though. We are less than a week away from national signing day in college football and Rutgers' strong recruiting class is in danger of falling apart faster than their short-lived success came on in the last few years.

Scott Stump, a long-time writer of all things sports on the Jersey Shore and an NBC contributor, tweets:

MSG Varsity writer Brian Fitzsimmons expands even further, tweeting:

But the New York Post's Bart Hubbuch finally starts bringing some of the animosity:

Rutgers did everything in its power—including paying a hefty salary—to keep Schiano and his family happy in New Jersey.

The recruiting fallout is going to be brutal. In fact, some of it is already underway.

According to Varsity Aces:

And Stump again:

Still, there isn't a ton of hatred out there for Schiano's move. It is tough to be mad, even as a Rutgers fan, at a guy who turned around a program the way Schiano did. He may leave with "unfinished business." but he completely changed the culture of Rutgers football.

Kunal Chothani tweets:

While Joel Salvino was hardly impressed with the accomplishments during Schiano's tenure:

There are actually even more people angry with the Bucs. Tampa Bay is an organization just finishing an awful season that netted it the No. 5 pick in the draft, and a coach with no head coaching experience at the NFL level isn't going to please everyone.

T.J., a Rutgers kid, tweets:

Writer Barry Petchesky echoes the skepticism tweeting:

While Rob Slater is straight-up pissed off:

All in all, people really don't know what to make of the Schiano hiring. It wasn't on the radar much at all and there are as many people talking about what he did for Rutgers...

Like Bucs beat writer Stephen Holder:

And John Archibald:

...as there are those who are mad about him leaving.

One thing is for sure, whoever replaces Schiano at Rutgers is going to have some big shoes to fill. Rutgers fans can be mad if they want, but the 45-year-old coach leaves the banks of the Raritan much better than when he got there.