Schiano Fails To Improve Rutgers

It seems like eons ago since the Rutgers Scarlets Knights football team celebrated their signature victory in 2006, when they defeated Louisville in front of a national audience.

They ended Louisville's National Championship hopes by upsetting them at Piscataway that got the nation and the metropolitan area talking.

The Knights went to Cincinnati the following week to face the Bearcats, who pulled an upset of their own by defeating the Knights on a Saturday night.

Fast forward to this day, the Bearcats moved up to bigger and better things by beating up elite teams in the Big East in recent years, while Rutgers has failed to do the same.

Brian Kelly managed to get the Bears to two consecutive BCS Bowl bids, while Greg Schiano's Rutgers has simply failed as the program's head.

While elite universities are calling Brian Kelly to coach their program, Schiano does not get any offers.

It says a lot about the state of Schiano and his program right now.

Schiano's performance grew stale in recent years, and now everyone looks at Rutgers as irrelevant with the lack of attendance and media buzz.

No one thought it would happen after the Louisville victory three years ago. The Rutgers coach knew how to get players from New York, New Jersey, and Florida, and it looked like the university drew primetime players.

Rutgers knew they were in for a down year after the 2006 season, but by now, this team should be in a position to be even better or be similar to that team from their breakthrough season.

It hasn't happened, and one wonders why's that the case.

It comes down to couple of things. It's been a while since they received a five-star player that would be a playmaker on offense and defense.

It's also been awhile since a Scarlet Knight player developed under the coaching staff.

No one can say the same for the Bearcats coach. Kelly figures out a way to win by developing his players and putting them in a position to success.

Cincinnati will never be confused with Ohio State when it comes to resources, yet they find a way to win.

That is called coaching. It's not just Cincinnati, but it's also other small-time programs that figure out a way to play in big-time bowl games.

Former Rutgers athletic director Bob Mulcahy offered Schiano anything his coach wanted, so the football coach would not go anywhere at the expense of other programs at the school that no longer exists.

It's about time Schiano lived up to his part of the bargain and fielded a team that knows how to win, especially against the upper echelon teams of the Big East.

Rutgers needs to be contending for a BCS Bowl every year—That's the only way fans will rally around the program.

It's great the program is not at the level of Doug Graber and Terry Shea's program anymore, but mediocrity is as bad as losing every game. Folks are not going to want to pay attention to a team that teases them just to end in disappointment.

That's the case now with Rutgers, and it needs to change.

Apathy is back, and only winning can cure that disease.

It's on Schiano to change all that.