The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have officially hired Greg Schiano, and that means we can now start the process of evaluating his history and his fit with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. You'll find everything you need to know about Greg Schiano right here in this story.
Schiano has been the head coach of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights since 2001, and has amassed a 68-67 record in that time. While that number may not seem impressive, keep in mind that he took over an absolutely putrid team that hadn't had a winning season since 1992. In 1997 the Scarlet Knights even went winless. Greg Schiano came in and changed the culture, going through only one losing season since 2005, making it to six bowl games and winning five of them. His best season came in 2006 when he led Rutgers to an 11-2 season and a Texas Bowl win over Josh Freeman's Kansas State Wildcats. He won seven Coach of the Year awards for that season.
The new Bucs coach has a reputation as a disciplinarian and someone who will hold his players accountable. He also has a history on the defensive side of the ball, most famously serving as the defensive coordinator for the massively successful 1999 and 2000 University of Miami teams under Larry Coker. Before that he served as a defensive assistant and defensive backs coach for the Chicago Bears, after coaching the defensive backs at Penn State. While he doesn't have extensive NFL experience, he isn't entirely unfamiliar with the environment either.
The fact that his football team achieved the nation's number one ranking in Academic Progress Rate in 2010, and the number two rating in 2011 speaks to his commitment to his students and doing things the right way. Whether that will help him win games in the NFL is yet to be seen.
Schiano has received praise from some good coaches, most notably Bill Belichick who sees him as a potentially very good pro coach per Peter King. Belichick told the Star-Ledger that he thought Schiano was a tremendous coach who always had his players prepared for the NFL.
While Schiano's in-game coaching decisions have been criticized, his ability to build a program has not come into question and he seems to be widely respected. At least two players will likely be happy to see him coach the Buccaneers: guard Jeremy Zuttah (a free agent) and defensive end George Johnson, who both played at Rutgers.
Previous Experience:
Assistant coach, Ramapo High School, 1988
Graduate assistant, Rutgers, 1989
Graduate assistant, Penn State, 1990
Defensive backfield coach, Penn State, 1991-1995
Defensive assistant, Chicago Bears, 1996-1997
Defensive backfield coach, Chicago Bears, 1998
Defensive coordinator, University of Miami, 1999-2000
Head coach, Rutgers University, 2000-2011
Personal Info
Gregory Edward Schiano. Born June 1, 1966. Hails from Wyckoff, New Jersey. Has a B.S. degree in business administration from Bucknell University (1988). Married to Christy Mitchell, has four children.
Year-by-year record with Rutgers (Big East)
| Year | Record | In-conference | Standing | Bowl Game | Result |
| 2001 | 2-9 | 0-7 | 8th | ||
| 2002 | 1-11 | 0-7 | 8th | ||
| 2003 | 5-7 | 2-5 | 7th | ||
| 2004 | 4-7 | 1-5 | 6th | ||
| 2005 | 7-5 | 4-3 | 3rd | Insight Bowl | Loss 45-40 to Arizona State |
| 2006 | 11-2 | 5-2 | T-2nd | Texas Bowl | Win 37-10 over Kansas State |
| 2007 | 8-5 | 3-4 | T-5th | International Bowl | Win 52-30 over Ball State |
| 2008 | 8-5 | 5-2 | T-2nd | Papajohns.com Bowl | Win 29-23 over NC State |
| 2009 | 9-4 | 3-4 | T-4th | St. Petersburgh Bowl | Win 45-24 over UCF |
| 2010 | 4-8 | 1-6 | 8th | ||
| 2011 | 9-4 | 4-3 | T-4th | Pinstripe Bowl | Win 27-13 over Iowa State |
| Overall | 68-67 | 28-48 | 5-1 record in Bowl games |