Rutgers Football

Fifteen Rutgers football players tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the entire team into a two-week quarantine period. 

Keith Sargeant of NJ.com reported the outbreak may be tied to several players attending a party. 

"There's been an outbreak of Rutgers football players, with 15 of them currently testing positive," New Jersey State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said. "These examples that we shared today account for 125 new cases of COVID-19 in our state. Every single one of those cases has the potential to infect other people. Their grandparents, parents, siblings, friends, loved ones, and if any of one of them have underlying conditions ... the result could be fatal."

Rutgers indefinitely halted player workouts Saturday as positive tests began rolling in. The school is the fifth among Big Ten schools (Michigan State, Ohio State, Maryland and Indiana) to have to stop workouts because of a COVID-19 outbreak.

The Big Ten has already canceled its entire non-conference slate, with hopes of playing a conference-only schedule in 2020. Conference commissioner Kevin Warren acknowledged the conference may not be able to hold a season earlier this month. 

"This is not a fait accompli that we're going to have sports in the fall," Warren said on Big Ten Network. "We may not have sports in the fall. We may not have a college football season in the Big Ten.

"We just wanted to make sure this was the next logical step to try and rely on our medical experts to keep our student-athletes at the center of all of our decisions and make sure they are as healthy as they can possibly be from a mental, physical and emotional wellness standpoint."

The NCAA has maintained it will not play fall sports unless it is deemed safe for students to be on campus. Many campuses are set to welcome back students in the coming weeks, though a large number are also offering online-only learning options. Some are only offering online learning for the fall semester.

Conferences also have to navigate difficult waters because they do not consider student-athletes employees. There are clear optics issues in having unpaid laborers on the field to preserve billions in revenue, none of which currently goes directly to the players, during a nationwide pandemic.

The Rutgers Board of Governors officially approved contract terms Tuesday for Greg Schiano's return to the program as head football coach. 

Schiano said the following after being announced as the Scarlet Knights' new head coach:

"Rutgers University and this football program have meant the world to me and my family. I arrived here in 2000 with the goal to build a program that would be a source of pride for the state of New Jersey and develop great young men. I look forward to embracing that challenge once again. This is a great opportunity for all of Rutgers to pull together to get us back to where we all know we belong. It will take everyone on this campus and in the State of Rutgers to get this done."

Athletic director Pat Hobbs shared a statement regarding the hiring:

"The next great chapter for Rutgers Football is about to begin. There are many people to thank for where we are today, particularly Coach Schiano and his team, as well as everyone here at Rutgers. They all played important roles in bringing these complex negotiations to a close. It wouldn't be appropriate to prejudge any action that the Board of Governors may take, but I believe today that Rutgers Football is on the path to greatness."

The Athletic's Bruce Feldman reported Saturday the two sides reached an agreement on an eight-year, $32 million deal. According to Feldman, the school also "promised to look into building a football-only facility."

A deal between Schiano and Rutgers initially fell apart, and NJ Advance Media's Keith Sargeant reported the program's facilities were a sticking point for the coach:

"Schiano stressed the importance of a massive facilities upgrade. Rutgers officials and Schiano agreed that a structure was needed to replace the outdated indoor practice bubble, but Schiano, according to four individuals, wasn't satisfied with Rutgers' plan to upgrade the 32-year-old Hale Center, which received a $1.65 million renovation of the weight room in 2016 and a $4 million locker-room upgrade in August thanks to a gift from [Board of Governors member Greg Brown].

"According to a term sheet obtained by NJ Advance Media, Schiano wanted a new football-only facility 'to encompass program‐related functions for dining, strength and conditioning, recruiting operations, team meeting space, and overall football operations' and 'a dedicated indoor practice facility.' In addition, the contract called for unspecified 'redevelopments to SHI Stadium.'"

Schiano spent the 2019 season without a team after Ohio State brought in Greg Mattison and Jeff Hafley as co-defensive coordinators to work under first-year head coach Ryan Day.

He was tabbed as the New England Patriots' defensive coordinator before he abruptly stepped down in March.

Schiano replaced Chris Ash as the Buckeyes' defensive coordinator and associate head coach in 2016 after Ash became Rutgers' head coach. In his three years at Ohio State, the team ranked fifth, seventh and 26th in S&P+ defense rating, according to Football Outsiders.

Schiano's coaching reputation is built largely on the success he enjoyed with Rutgers over an 11-season tenure from 2001 until 2011.

Before Schiano's arrival, the Scarlet Knights had reached one bowl game in program history.

Rutgers went 12-34 in his first four years, but Schiano rewarded the school's faith by going 7-5 and reaching the Insight Bowl in 2005. Most memorably, Rutgers upset the third-ranked Louisville Cardinals at home to help start the 2006 season 9-0 and climbed to seventh in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, which remains its highest-ever AP ranking.

The Scarlet Knights lost two of their final three regular-season games that year but beat the Kansas State Wildcats in the Texas Bowl, which started a streak of four straight bowl victories.

Schiano left after the 2011 season to coach the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in what proved to be two forgettable years. The Buccaneers went 11-21 under Schiano.

In addition to the team's poor record, Schiano received plenty of criticism for his handling of quarterback Josh Freeman, who went from a burgeoning franchise quarterback in 2010 to being released in 2013. The term "Schiano Man" also became part of the vernacular around the team after Sports Illustrated's Andrew Brandt described the culture inside the Buccaneers during the Schiano era.

Schiano's time in Tampa is likely coloring the perception around his hire at Rutgers. 

Tennessee had a deal with Schiano lined up before Volunteer fans vociferously protested the hire. The school backed off and hired Jeremy Pruitt instead.

Not all of the negativity toward Schiano was based on his record with Tampa Bay.

According to the Washington Post's Cindy Boren, former Penn State Nittany Lions assistant coach Mike McQueary testified in 2012 he told fellow Penn State assistant Tom Bradley of having witnessed Jerry Sandusky sexually abuse a boy. McQueary added that Bradley mentioned how Schiano had discussed a similar story with him in the 1990s.

Schiano denied the claim.

With his move to Rutgers, his connection to Penn State and the Sandusky scandal could become an issue once again.

In terms of his on-field accomplishments, Rutgers' rise under Schiano shouldn't be forgotten. The Scarlet Knights have fallen off significantly following his departure, which further highlights how impressive it was for him to make Rutgers a Top 10 team—if only briefly.

Greg Schiano has "agreed in principle" to return to Rutgers for his second stint as its head football coach, according to Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports.

Per Bruce Feldman of The Athletic, the deal is for eight years and $32 million:

SOURCE: #Rutgers and Greg Schiano have agreed to an 8-year, $32 million deal with $25.2 million guaranteed, and RU promise to look into building a football-only facility: https://t.co/kVFDe1s1ls

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 1, 2019

The Scarlet Knights finished a 2-10 season with a 27-6 loss to Penn State on Saturday.

Rutgers fired head coach Chris Ash after a 1-3 start, and Nunzio Campanile took over as the interim head coach, going 1-7. Rutgers went 0-9 in Big Ten play.

Schiano, 53, went 68-67 for Rutgers from 2001-11. The record is mediocre on paper, but the Scarlet Knights won just 24 games from 1993-2000 and markedly improved under him.

Rutgers won five bowl games from 2006-11 after having appeared in only one postseason game prior to his era.

Rutgers' best season under Schiano occurred in 2006, when the Scarlet Knights started 9-0 and reached No. 7 in the Associated Press poll. They finished 11-2 with a win over Kansas State in the Texas Bowl.

Schiano left Rutgers for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012 but did not find the same success in the NFL, going 11-21 over two seasons before his dismissal.

He coached at Berkeley Preparatory School from 2014-15 before joining Urban Meyer's Ohio State staff as a defensive coordinator and associate head coach. He was there for three seasons, helping guide the program to three Top Six finishes in the AP poll. He was replaced after the season when Ryan Day took over as head coach, and Schiano has not coached in 2019.

Schiano has undoubtedly enjoyed success on the collegiate level, but his record is not without controversy. He received much criticism for his time with the Bucs, with NFL.com's Michael Silver reporting he "lost his locker room" with an "autocratic" style.

In 2017, Des Bieler and Cindy Boren of the Washington Post reported:

"In a 2015 deposition that was unsealed last year, former Nittany Lions assistant coach Mike McQueary testified that another Penn State coach had told him that Schiano had talked of seeing [Jerry] Sandusky abusing a boy in the early 1990s.

"'Greg had come into his office white as a ghost and said he just saw Jerry doing something to a boy in the shower,' McQueary said he heard of Schiano, who worked under Sandusky at Penn State from 1990 to 1995, according to the court document."

Schiano responded to the allegation, saying, via ESPN's Adam Schefter, "I never saw any abuse, nor had reason to suspect any abuse, during my time at Penn State."

At the time, Schiano was up for the University of Tennessee head coaching job and had a memorandum of understanding with the school, but "public outcry" caused the Vols to rescind their offer, per ESPN.

The head coach will soon be back on collegiate sidelines, as he returns to the program with which he found much success in the 2000s.

Greg Schiano is no longer a candidate to be the next Rutgers head football coach, according to Brett McMurphy of Stadium.

The school was reportedly willing to offer Schiano an eight-year, $32 million deal to return to Rutgers, which would have included $25.2 million in guarantees. But Schiano was "lukewarm" about returning to the school, and a gap remained between the parties in negotiations.

"The timing wasn't right for Schiano, and this is the Big Ten: Whether it's Rutgers, Penn State or Michigan, head coaches need to be all-in for their job if they're going to have success," a source told McMurphy. "You can't take this position with 'the glass is half empty' culture. Rutgers fans deserve more."

SOURCE: Greg Schiano is not taking the #Rutgers job. These terms that @Brett_McMurphy reported are similar to what I’ve heard. RU has moved on to its back-up plan I’m told. Names to keep an eye on now: Anthony Campanile, Jeff Hafley, Butch Jones, Bret Bielema & Joe Moorhead. https://t.co/N9e8wwLP8F

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) November 24, 2019

Schiano, 53, served as Rutgers head coach from 2001 to '11, going 68-67 at the school and leading them to six bowl games. 

He left the Scarlet Knights to take a head coaching position with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, though that lasted just two seasons after the team was just 11-21 on his watch. He then spent three seasons (2016-18) with the Ohio State Buckeyes as the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. 

"You can't blame Rutgers for not allocating more money or the Board of Governors for being concerned about his unprecedented request and the financial impact of the contract," a source told McMurphy. "And you can't blame Schiano for not wanting to go back to a job he’s already done. Been there, done that. No one wants a New England Patriots situation."

That was in reference to Schiano taking the Patriots defensive coordinator position in February, only to resign from the post in March. 

"Can you imagine if Schiano reconsidered and resigned from Rutgers after accepting the job?" a source told McMurphy. "It wouldn't be good for the kids, coaches, recruiting or winning. It's good, everyone was all above-board."

So the search continues at Rutgers. 

Rutgers has failed to replicate the success it enjoyed when Greg Schiano was its head football coach, and it reportedly could look to turn back the clock and hire him for the vacant position.

Sources confirmed to Mark Schlabach of ESPN.com that Schiano met with Rutgers officials on Tuesday, although he did not accept the job that is open after the Big Ten team fired Chris Ash. Instead, he requested facility upgrades, including a brand-new indoor facility, and increases for assistant coaches' salaries in negotiations.

Schlabach also cited a source who said the program has a "very short list" of candidates, including former Tennessee head coach and current Alabama offensive analyst Butch Jones.

Schiano was the head coach at Rutgers from 2001-11 and has since been the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and defensive coordinator of the Ohio State Buckeyes. He was set to be an assistant on the New England Patriots staff but resigned in March just two months after he was hired.

Yet, his success with the Scarlet Knights is what stands out.

He went 68-67 in his 11 seasons at the helm, making bowl games in six of his final seven seasons after a rough start. Rutgers, which was competing in the Big East at the time, found itself ranked in the Top 10 of the Associated Press poll during the 2006 and 2007 seasons and won five of those six bowl games.

That level of consistency is a far cry from the current-day Rutgers that is often seen as a punchline as it struggles at the bottom of the Big Ten East standings. The Scarlet Knights are just 13-44 since the start of the 2015 campaign and haven't won a conference game since November 2017.

It is no surprise the program would want to harken back to the success of the Schiano era and bring in the coach who helped generate it.

Rutgers has fired head football coach Chris Ash after a 1-3 start to the 2019 season, as first reported by Bruce Feldman of The Athletic.

The team confirmed the news in a statement, announcing tight ends coach Nunzio Campanile will take over as the team's acting head coach.

Ash released a statement on his firing:

"I’d like to thank Dr. Barchi and Pat Hobbbs for the opportunity to serve as Rutgers Head Football coach. Thank you to the fans and the state of New Jeresy for all of your support. I’ve had the pleasure of coaching so many outstanding young men during my time here. I loved all our players and appreciate the effort they gave everyday on and off the field."

The Scarlet Knights suffered a 52-0 loss to Michigan Saturday, the team's second shutout loss so far this season. Over their last three games, they have been outscored 112-16 with two of the losses coming against conference opponents.

Ash was in his fourth year with the program, producing just seven wins in his first three years combined. This included a 1-11 campaign in 2018, which likely put him on thin ice to begin this season.

The blowout losses to kick off 2019, with the squad ranking outside the top 100 in both points scored and points allowed per game, didn't help his prospects.

"Progress has been achieved in many areas, but, unfortunately, that progress has not been realized on the field of play," athletics director Pat Hobbs said in the statement. "As such, it is in the best interest of the program to make a change."

Ash joined the team after serving as defensive coordinator at Ohio State and could be tapped for a similar role after an unsuccessful head coaching stint.

Meanwhile, Rutgers will try to find someone who can at least replicate the success of previous head coaches Kyle Flood (27-24) or Greg Schiano (68-67).

For Rutgers, having two weeks to prepare for a game after a 30-0 loss apparently leads to a lot of pent-up energy that can come out in the most inopportune ways. 

When the Scarlet Knights got on the board in the first quarter thanks to Artur Sitkowski's 74-yard pass to Raheem Blackshear, offensive lineman Michael Maietti shared a unique moment with his quarterback:

Easy on the QB celebration, @RFootball. 😂 pic.twitter.com/QbKmb2V73O

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) September 21, 2019

Although one could suggest Rutgers' shutout loss to Iowa on Sept. 7 led to a lot of hard feelings and Maietti simply picked the perfect opportunity to unload, it seems a lot more likely he was just trying to pat the side of Sitkowski's helmet—if you want to be logical about it. 

In any event, Sitkowski came out of the ordeal perfectly OK.  

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are receiving some much-needed help at quarterback after an abysmal 1-11 season in 2018.

On Sunday, graduate transfer McLane Carter announced he will join the Big Ten program after playing two seasons with the Texas Tech Red Raiders:

Excited to start this next chapter at Rutgers University @RFootball #JerseyStrong #GoRU pic.twitter.com/FUHVFXN4rO

— McLane Carter (@McLaneC4) May 6, 2019

Bobby Deren of 247Sports noted he will be one of four scholarship quarterbacks on the Rutgers roster and is expected to compete with sophomore Artur Sitkowski for the starting job.

Carter arrived at Texas Tech as a 3-star junior college transfer in the class of 2017, per 247Sports' composite rankings. He appeared in 10 different games for the Red Raiders and put up pedestrian stats at best by completing 51 of 97 passes (52.6 percent) for 677 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions while adding negative-three rushing yards.

Still, those are improvements over the totals Sitkowski posted in 2018.

The incumbent completed just 49.1 percent of his passes for 1,158 yards, four touchdowns and a stunning 18 interceptions. He threw multiple picks in five different games, including four against Maryland, three against Illinois, three against Kansas and three against Texas State. He also had negative-66 rushing yards last year.

Rutgers still has plenty of ground to make up in a Big Ten East that includes the likes of Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan and Michigan State, but it at least has a chance to foster some quarterback competition and perhaps improve on the aerial attack heading into the 2019 campaign.