Greg Schiano's stunning departure from Rutgers to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tells us something. The only question is whether it tells us more about the NFL or the state of college football.
Schiano already has taken some heat for jumping ship a week before national signing day for recruits. According to an ESPN report, some of his assistant coaches were waiting for him at a New Jersey high school Thursday morning when news broke that Schiano wasn't just running late. He was gone.
Those who follow such things say that Schiano had perhaps his best recruiting class ever all lined up. It remains to be seen how many of those players will choose to stick with Rutgers or answer one of the many calls they began receiving from rival coaches the moment news broke of Schiano's departure. Being as alert as a vulture, and about as honorable, is part of being a big-time college coach.
No one disputes that Schiano did a terrific job at Rutgers. He built a very respectable, very consistent football program at a place that barely had a program at all. Schiano took Rutgers to six bowl games, winning five of them. The Scarlet Knights were considered contenders to win the Big East title next season.
Ah, but what does that mean? And at what cost?
The Big East has been losing teams at a traumatic rate as college athletic programs rearrange themselves in competition for almighty television revenue. The departures of Syracuse and Pittsburgh raised the real possibility the Big East could lose its status as an automatic qualifier in the BCS. The future of the conference is very hazy.
Meanwhile, the Newark Star-Ledger reported during the season that Rutgers' football program is one of the biggest money-losers in the country. According to the report, in 2010, Rutgers athletic programs spent nearly $27 million more than they brought in. The school used money from student fees and its general fund to make up the difference.
So Schiano has done a terrific job as far as coaching, recruiting, and building a program. The result has been red ink and membership in a mortally wounded conference. At the same time, Gov. Christie has been looking into the state university system, announcing a plan for massive changes just this week.
It isn't much of a mystery, then, why Schiano would consider leaving his $2.5-million-a-year gig. The real mystery is how he wound up landing one of the 32 highly coveted head coaching positions in the NFL.
