Greg Schiano

Gregory Edward Schiano (born June 1, 1966) is the head coach of the National Football League's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a position he assumed in January 2012. Schiano served as the head football coach at Rutgers University from 2001 to 2012.

Early life and education
Schiano was born and grew up in Wyckoff, New Jersey, and attended Ramapo High School. He then attended Bucknell University, where he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity, and graduated in 1988 with a B.S. in business administration.

Playing career
In his playing career at Bucknell University, he was a three-year letterman at linebacker. In his junior year, he led his team with 114 tackles and was named to the All-Conference team. In his senior year, he was named team captain, and was named to The Sporting News Pre-season All-American Team.

Personal life
He and his wife Christy have four children: Joey, John, Matt, and Katie.

Coaching career
Schiano began his coaching career in 1988 as an assistant coach at Ramapo High School. In 1989, he served as a graduate assistant at Rutgers. In 1990, he took the same position at Penn State, and later served as the defensive backfield coach there from 1991 until 1995.

From 1996 to 1998, Schiano was an assistant coach in the NFL with the Chicago Bears. For his first two seasons there, he was a defensive assistant, and then was promoted in his third and final season with the Bears to defensive backfield coach.

University of Miami
Schiano served as defensive coordinator for the University of Miami from 1999 to 2000. In 1999, UM finished the year ranked 12th in the NCAA's Division I-A in points allowed per game (17.2), and in 2000 moved up to 5th (15.5 points allowed per game). His brief 18 month stint at Miami and his roots in New Jersey, made him a candidate for his next position as Rutgers head coach.

While at the University of Miami, Schiano coached: NFL Pro Bowlers Dan Morgan, linebacker, retired; Jonathan Vilma, linebacker, New Orleans Saints; and Ed Reed, free safety, Baltimore Ravens.

Rutgers
On December 1, 2000, Schiano accepted the head coaching position at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. In 2001, his first season as head coach, the Scarlet Knights posted a 2–9 record (0–7 in the Big East), followed by a 1–11 mark (0–7 Big East) in 2002. This was followed by a 5–7 record (2–5 Big East) in 2003. In 2004, Schiano took on defensive coordinator responsibilities as well, and the team finished 4–7 (1–5 Big East). Although Schiano was producing solid recruiting classes, especially by Rutgers standards, his 3–24 record in conference games and 4–17 record in road games in those first four years were a cause for concern for some fans.

But things began to turn around for the program during the 2005 season. That year, the team finished with a 7–4 record, including a 4–3 conference record, and a nationally-televised 37–29 upset win over Pittsburgh and their coach Dave Wannstedt, a long-time friend of Schiano's who hired him while coaching Chicago. At season's end, Schiano and the Scarlet Knights accepted a bid to play in the Insight Bowl against Arizona State University, their first bowl game appearance since the 1978 Garden State Bowl. (Coincidentally, that game was also against Arizona State, and a then-12-year-old Schiano was among the attendees.) During preparations for the Insight Bowl, Schiano signed a new contract, extending his contract through the 2012 season.

In the 2006 season, Schiano's Scarlet Knights achieved their first Top 25 ranking since 1976. Following week four of the college football season, Rutgers with a record of 4–0 was ranked #23 in the Associated Press and Coaches Polls. The team was ranked as high as #6 in the country (BCS standings) with a 9–0 record after a historic win against the Louisville Cardinals, beating them 28–25 in Piscataway. Throughout the season, coach Schiano and Rutgers were featured prominently in both the local and national media, and Schiano's motivational phrase "keep choppin'" became part of the lexicon of college football. Rutgers finished the season with a 10–2 record, the first time they had won ten games since 1976. Following the season, Schiano and the Scarlet Knights accepted an invitation to play Kansas State in the inaugural Texas Bowl, where they would go on to defeat Kansas State 37–10, capturing their first ever bowl win. For his work in the 2006 season, Coach Schiano was awarded several Coach of the Year honors, including the Home Depot Coach of the Year award and the inaugural Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award.

Current NFL players who played under Schiano at Rutgers include: Tennessee Titans cornerback Jason McCourty.
 * Indianapolis Colts linebacker Gary Brackett
 * Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle Eric Foster
 * Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Gary Gibson
 * 2010 NFL Draft 1st round pick San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Anthony Davis
 * 2009 NFL Draft 1st round pick Tennessee Titans WR Kenny Britt
 * Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Tiquan Underwood
 * 2008 NFL Draft 2nd round pick Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice
 * Miami Dolphins cornerback Nathan Jones
 * Baltimore Ravens tight end L.J. Smith.
 * Cincinnati Bengals running back Brian Leonard.
 * Buffalo Bills defensive end/long snapper Ryan Neill.
 * Pittsburgh Steeler guard Darnell Stapleton.
 * 2010 NFL Draft 1st round pick New England Patriots cornerback Devin McCourty and his twin 2009 NFL Draft 6th round pick
 * New England Patriots defensive end Justin Francis (American football)
 * 2008 NFL Draft 3rd round pick Tampa Bay Buccaneers guard Jeremy Zuttah.
 * 2007 NFL Draft 5th round pick Jacksonville Jaguars guard Cameron Stephenson.
 * Cincinnati Bengals long snapper/tight end Clark Harris.
 * Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Mohamed Sanu.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
On January 26, 2012, Schiano agreed to become the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As head coach of the Buccaneers, Schiano has already created a swirl of controversy with his decision to have his team attempt to disrupt the snap on the final play of the game against the New York Giants.

Awards and bowl bids
Schiano received most of the major 2006 national Coach of the Year awards after orchestrating what was considered by many to be one of the great turn-around stories in college football history, transforming the hapless Scarlet Knights into a winning football program.

2006 Walter Camp Coach of the Year 2006 Home Depot Coach of the Year 2006 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year 2006 Big East Coach of the Year
 * 2006 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year

On December 4, 2006, one day after Rutgers accepted a bid to play in the 2006 Texas Bowl against Kansas State, Schiano announced that he would not be a candidate for the recently-vacated head coaching job at his previous employer, the University of Miami, ending rumors and speculation that he would leave his creation at upstart Rutgers to return to Miami. He stated that he is "very happy at Rutgers" and that Rutgers is just beginning to "scratch the surface" of what the team can accomplish. He confirmed this by signing yet another contract extension, announced on February 16, 2007, upping his yearly compensation to $1.5 million per year and extending his deal with Rutgers to 2016. Schiano's 2011 salary and compensation of $2.3 million made him "by far" the highest-paid public employee in New Jersey, as well as the highest paid coach in the Big East.

In December 2007, The Star-Ledger reported that Schiano spoke with University of Michigan Athletic Director Bill Martin "for quite a while" on December 5 about the head coaching vacancy at the school. Two days later, he withdrew his name from consideration and remained as the Rutgers Head Coach. In 2008, after a bad start his Knights staged a come-from-behind season where they ended up 8–5 with the school's 4th straight bowl bid. Schiano's name once again came up in general speculation about the Miami head coaching position in 2010, after the firing of Randy Shannon.