Paul Finebaum: Karma caught up with Tennessee after Greg Schiano debacle

Both the Tennessee Volunteers and Rutgers Scarlet Knights enter the final week of the season looking for victories and subsequent bowl games. It took a lot to get both teams to this moment. Still, one decision sticks out as one that changed the future of both programs — Tennessee reversing their decision to hire Greg Schiano.

Back in 2017, Tennessee decided on Schiano as their next head coach. They offered the then Ohio State defensive coordinator the job. However, they reversed their decision due to public outcry — instead pivoting to Jeremy Pruitt.

Since then, Pruitt left the program in disgrace. As for Schiano, he returned to the school he made his name at originally — leading the charge once again for Rutgers.

Prior to each team gearing up to end their season on a high note, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum told Rutgers Wire that karma caught up with Tennessee for the Schiano debacle.

“I’m a big fan of Greg Schiano, I think he’s done a really good job of Greg Schiano in resurrecting a program that was comatose,” Finebaum stated. “I’ve become a bigger fan of Schiano today than before because of what happened at Tennessee.

“I’m an alum – I thought that was one of the great travesties in modern college football history. I’m not an expert on karma but karma has definitely had an effect on what happened there.”

Finebaum on Schiano and Tennessee: ‘They made the man an offer, they should have stood by it.’

Moreover, Finebaum continued to eviscerate Tennessee for the way they botched the Schiano situation.

“They hired Jeremy Pruitt who went down in disgrace, the program is under NCAA investigation. How did that work out? You had an angry mob led by some people on social media who destroyed a man’s chance to get a job and without not one scintilla of evidence,” Finebaum stated. “It was totally preposterous.

“And Tennessee as well, they made the man an offer, they should have stood by it.”

After Schiano was spurned by Tennessee, he continued to help the Ohio State Buckeyes on Urban Meyer’s staff. After accepting a job with the New England Patriots, Schiano decided to take some time off prior to returning to Rutgers.

On the other hand, it finally seems like the Tennessee Volunteers are on the right path with Josh Heupel as their head coach. However, one has to wonder how far they’d be along if they stuck with their guns and hired Greg Schiano.