Greg Schiano details ‘tough start’ at Rutgers, pursuit of championship

Greg Schiano knew it was a challenge when he took the Rutgers job in 2001 and again in 2020. But the goal remained the same: to pursue a championship.

Rutgers came awfully close back in 2006, rising to as high as No. 7 in the country during the program’s crown jewel of a season. Schiano coached the Scarlet Knights to a lot of postseason success and has since rebuilt the program within the confines of the Big Ten this time around, leading them back to the postseason two years in a row.

But, Schiano came back to Rutgers to do one thing: win it all. As he said, that may be a ridiculous statement to some, if not everyone outside of Piscataway, but the New Jersey native and noted lunch pail worker type of coach will do everything possible to try.

“We came back to Rutgers, this will be our sixth season back,” Schiano said at Big Ten Media Days. “We were dead last and we could hardly see it from there. It was a tough start, but we’ve kind of step by step climbed our way to the middle of the league. I didn’t come back to do that. I came back to win the championship. That may sound funny to some that have followed college football, but that’s what we’re going to do.

“I can’t tell you when that’s going to happen, but that’s why we’re back. I have the staff to do it. We’re constantly getting better and better players, and we’re constantly growing as a program. Our fan base is growing. All the things that you need to climb the ladder, and that’s what we do. We just come in every day and try to get a little bit better. Can’t have any backslides. Have to keep getting better and better, and eventually you’ll get there. That’s really what we focus on.”

Greg Schiano continues pursuit of championship at Rutgers

Schiano is 94-101 overall at Rutgers and in 2001, took over arguably the worst Division 1 program in the country. After four seasons, Schiano had just 12 wins under his belt. He had 18 in the next two seasons and finished No. 12 in the country in 2006.

Other than the 2010 season, Rutgers won a bowl game every year following 2005 until Schiano left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Sure, there were times where he opened up about changing the past and staying long term, but he’s back now.

In the five previous seasons, Rutgers appeared in three bowl games and have had 7-6 seasons. The improvement is there, but Schiano doesn’t want to settle for steady six to eight-win seasons.“NIL, revenue share, all those things, it still comes down to finding the right fit for your program,” Schiano said. “What is fit? Fit is culture. Fit is athletic ability. Fit is student-athlete. What kind of student, can he fit in, do the work in the classroom? That’s always going our primary focus. Do I wish we had some more money when the NIL stuff was going on? Absolutely. Who doesn’t …

“We have to be very, very careful when we go into the portal at a place like Rutgers. You need to make sure your culture is the driving force. If we’re going to bring a guy in from the transfer portal, not only does he have to be able to help us right now, but he has to be a cultural fit because if you are recruiting the good players in the transfer portal, they’re going to help you; but if they help you and they’re not a cultural fit, they’re going to lead people in the wrong direction, and we can’t have that … That’s the mission, to keep upgrading little by little, net upgrades, until you have a championship football team.”