PISCATAWAY — Greg Schiano asked for support from all of New Jersey as he was formally announced Wednesday as Rutgers head football coach.

The Rutgers Board of Governors on Tuesday OK'd an eight-year, $32 million deal for the 53-year-old Schiano.

The New Jersey native went 68-67 at Rutgers. He now begins the task of turning around a program that has been on a losing path ever since he left in 2012.

Other perks in the contract:

  • $15,000 annual auto stipend to purchase or lease a vehicle
  • $5,000 annual clothing allocation
  • Use of a private stadium suite or box for 20 guests
  • 20 premium tickets and 20 parking passes
  • Paid country club membership
  • Private jet or first class commercial flight tickets for recruiting purposes
  • 60 days temporary housing and $25,000 moving expenses from his Ohio home

Schiano will also be required to conduct football camps and clinics at Rutgers run by his company that he can profit from. He will also have to make 12 program-related appearances at the discretion of the athletic director.

Schiano on Wednesday said it was "good to be home" and thanked Gov. Phil Murphy for getting involved in contract negotiations.

“I can’t tell you how grateful I am to have a governor this involved and this supportive of Rutgers and Rutgers football," Schiano said.

Murphy said Schiano's return will reignite pride in Rutgers in both fans and potential players.

"This is is a truly unifying moment for the state of New Jersey. Strong in-state recruiting was Coach Schiano's hallmark, and it will be again," Murphy said.

Schiano said he and former Gov. Chris Christie are "OK" following the former governor's comments critical of Schiano's return.

"I know this, that he wants what's best for New Jersey too. And we'll be fine. Not a problem," Schano said.

“He’s not Bear Bryant, he’s not Urban Meyer. He’s an unemployed football coach who now wants the taxpayers of the state of New Jersey to pay for his private air travel," Christie said. "The governor doesn’t get private air travel. I know it. I flew commercial all the time. For him to demand that for not only him but his family, I’m sorry, you’ve got to draw the line somewhere,"

Schiano said that the team needs support from the whole state.

"We need you at that Scarlet walk when those kids who battle their rear ends off, we need you. We need you in that stadium. We need it packed because those kids lay it on the line. And we don't need it when we're seventh in the country, fifth in the country, first in the country. We need it right now," Schiano said with a raised voice.

"Everyone needs to pick up the ax," Schiano said, referring to his phrase for keeping at it and chopping away

He complimented interim coach Nunzio Campanile for doing an "incredible job" and keeping the team together in a tough situation this season.

 

The school’s New Brunswick Faculty Council is calling for Athletic Director Pat Hobbs to be dismissed for a series of “missteps, blunders and errors in judgement" that stalled negotiations before Murphy got involved, according to a resolution issued on Monday.

The resolution called for Rutgers President Robert Barchi to appoint an interim athletic director who will review the program and come up with a plan to reform it.

Patricia Teffenhart, the head of the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault, told NJ.com that Schiano's possible connection to the Penn State sexual abuse case should take him out of the running as head coach. Schiano denied knowing anything about Jerry Sandusky's activities while he was an assistant coach in the early 1990s, according to NJ.com.

The AAUP-AFT did not immediately return a message on Wednesday afternoon.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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