Schiano agrees to Rutgers return

Greg Schiano and Rutgers have agreed to a deal that will bring the former Scarlet Knights coach back to lead the program, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity early Sunday morning because contract details were still being finalized. Yahoo! Sports first reported Schiano and Rutgers had agreed in principle to a deal.

The move comes a week after both sides walked away from negotiations and declared the possibility of a reunion dead. Rutgers had offered Schiano an eight-year contract worth $32 million, but the two sides could not agree on other financial commitments by the school toward improved facilities and infrastructure.

After that news broke last Sunday, Rutgers officials faced a wave of criticism from boosters, fans and former players. Schiano was coach at Rutgers from 2001-11. The Scarlet Knights went to a bowl game in six of Schiano’s final seven seasons.

Rutgers finished off a 2-10 season, 0-9 in the Big Ten, on Saturday with a loss at Penn State. Nunzio Campanile has been the interim head coach since the firing of Chris Ash five games into his fourth season. Ash went 8-32 in three-plus seasons, including 3-26 in the Big Ten.

After Ash was fired, Schiano was immediately speculated as a candidate to replace him.

The 53-year-old Schiano, a New Jersey native, went 68-67 at Rutgers and turned the Scarlet Knights into consistent winners after years of being one of the worst major college football programs in the country. Success under Schiano helped Rutgers land an invite to the Big Ten, and it joined the lucrative Power Five conference in 2014.

Schiano left Rutgers in 2012 to become head coach for the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but his tenure lasted only two years. He resurfaced at Ohio State as defensive coordinator. He had reached an agreement to become Tennessee coach in 2017, but a fan mutiny on social media led the school to rescind its offer.

Schiano left Ohio State after last season when the Buckeyes struggled on his side of the ball, and briefly took a job as an assistant with the New England Patriots earlier this year. He stepped down soon after, deciding instead to take the season off.

Now he’s set to return and facing maybe an even tougher task than the first time around, trying to make Rutgers respectable in the Big Ten.