Greg Schiano can’t afford another bad season as his Rutgers program reaches a crossroads | Politi

<img src="https://media.zenfs.com/en/nj_com_articles_950/7780285e5bc54a11ef1b779883bfe86e.jpg" data-uuid="24e1b723-f6ee-3c68-89e0-5028ce10105e"><div class="entry-content mrf-article-body"><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="YYYCAGEYEZDYBJVZSKUF36MVCI">This is a situation Greg Schiano has never faced in his 18 years at <a href="https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/" rel="" target="_blank" title="https://nj.com/rutgersfootball">Rutgers</a>: He needs to win.</p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-1"></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="CCAMYZPMG5CUJJ766JLVQBG7CU">Now.</p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-2"></div><div class="excoVideoPlayer article__paragraph"><div id="875ad1e6-43f0-4e94-92bc-7cf658d11ef3"></div></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="VCEIRIKTOVFEVFBJIAGTBURQLA">This is not a public mandate from athletic director <a href="https://www.nj.com/sports/2026/03/greg-schiano-has-a-boss-now-4-takeaways-from-rutgers-ad-keli-zinns-telling-interview.html" target="_blank" title="https://www.nj.com/sports/2026/03/greg-schiano-has-a-boss-now-4-takeaways-from-rutgers-ad-keli-zinns-telling-interview.html">Keli Zinn</a> or anyone else at the university, to be clear. The longtime football coach has not landed on any national “hot seat” lists, although that prospect is always just a couple bad losses away. </p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-3"></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="M4AXIXOGCVCVRFL3MWAXSFCU3I">But the win-now pressure is an unspoken reality around this program. I asked a half dozen prominent boosters — people well trained on reading the tea leaves in Piscataway — for their best guess on how many victories Schiano needs this season to keep his job in 2027. The answers were fascinating. </p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-4"></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="INXUU2JE5VATNKRNFJOB3LYOEE">One thought Schiano would “probably” survive a 6-6 season; another surmised that it could take seven wins for him to feel safe; and all of them thought a change was likely at 4-8. Several couched the answers with the usual caveats about how the team looks against superior opponents — i.e., the home game against defending national champion Indiana is not over long before halftime — and the not-so-small matter of the $18 million left on his contract.</p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-5"></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="QHZZDS3PTBA2LLHIWZJYWHZAKE">The responses were most telling, however, because none of them included some variation of this: </p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-6"></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="JM7V5BXFQ5F73M7VCYMXOUA74I"><i>Are you serious? This is Greg Bleepin’ Schiano we’re talking about here!</i><i>He’ll be our coach for as long as he wants, and when he retires, we’ll thank him with a statue outside the stadium.</i></p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-7"></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="SR32X6AED5CWRNDCCGOFLHC5UE">That was the <a href="https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/2019/12/the-man-behind-greg-schiano-knows-why-loyalty-is-rutgers-coachs-calling-card-politi.html" target="_blank" title="https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/2019/12/the-man-behind-greg-schiano-knows-why-loyalty-is-rutgers-coachs-calling-card-politi.html">overwhelming sense</a> when Schiano returned to Piscataway in 2019 to resuscitate a program that felt like it was beyond saving. Back then, plenty of fans would have signed for these Scarlet Knights — mediocre, sure, but not an abject embarrassment. </p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-8"></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="WCXAEMRBKJFL5ACE4L3VJWQYZ4">That isn’t enough anymore. Rutgers is 19-19 overall and just 9-18 in the Big Ten over the past three seasons. Schiano has, in Zinn and president William <a href="https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/2025/09/can-a-new-rutgers-president-teach-this-entire-university-how-to-win-politi.html" target="_blank" title="https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/2025/09/can-a-new-rutgers-president-teach-this-entire-university-how-to-win-politi.html">“Win”</a> Tate, a pair of aggressive bosses who have made it abundantly clear that they didn’t come to New Jersey to play in the Pinstripe Bowl. </p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-9"></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="T74G5FW4SNCX5HEMUFSOKR4G7I">Schiano has repeatedly hailed his “vertical alignment” with Tate and Zinn as unprecedented. Zinn’s NIL infrastructure and fundraising finally gave the football program the resources needed to compete in the free agency frenzy that now defines this sport. This isn’t complicated, folks. </p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-10"></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="KHTKPSOL7VCXNPAY6572JG5TBY">Results must follow. </p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-11"></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="MKDB6FSU7NH3ZHK5CZGPGDKTF4">“No one has higher expectations for the program that I do,” Schiano said when I asked him on Monday if those increased resources brought increased expectations. “How can you raise them from that? Some would say (it’s) foolish to stand up as I do and say the goal for our program is to win a national championship at Rutgers.”</p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div class="middleParagraph" id="inarticle-12"></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="I47B4H462FCNXJ3ZYGI3EHE5BM">He talked about the values he wants to instill in his Rutgers family — or, as it is spelled out around the facility, F.A.M.I.L.Y. — ideas that are often shoved aside in the fully professionalize world of college football. </p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-13"></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="VYKKTHAY5JEQVA2Q2AZHDO5BJ4">“But I don’t shy away from the fact that there’s a scoreboard and, every week, there’s a winner and a loser,” he said. “That’s what I am passionately about, and with increased resources, I’m excited that things will get better and better and better. ... You don’t get there overnight.” </p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-14"></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="KZDUSXXJ4FEU7GLFVXLPOZC6EM">Most analysts have picked the Scarlet Knights near the bottom of the Big Ten this season, which is not a surprise. Even a quick glance at the schedule, though, reveals an opportunity. </p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-15"></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="TULL6YUDHJHSPEIB3ZRC3OFGKA">This team should have little problem going 3-0 out of conference with UMass (0-12 last season), Boston College (2-10) and Howard. Its Big Ten slate is ranked among the easiest in the conference, with Maryland, Northwestern, Michigan State and Wisconsin all finishing .500 or worse last season. Even Nebraska and Penn State were a mediocre 7-6, while Michigan changed coaches amid a scandal. </p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-16"></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="SMWVODRT2RFODENAMEFNG6ULOQ">The talent is there. Rutgers has, in receiver <a href="https://www.nj.com/sports/2026/02/why-a-rutgers-stars-big-decision-could-shape-this-program-i-want-to-be-a-household-name.html" target="_blank" title="https://www.nj.com/sports/2026/02/why-a-rutgers-stars-big-decision-could-shape-this-program-i-want-to-be-a-household-name.html">KJ Duff</a> and running back Antwan Raymond, a pair of future NFL players leading the offense. If hand-picked coordinator Travis Johansen can bring this defense from bad to even average, why can’t the Scarlet Knights be one of the Big Ten’s surprise teams? </p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-17"></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="3PKR7LAJJFB4PLZIY4E5TWVUYI">If not, Schiano likely will argue that this is really just his first season playing with something approaching a full deck. He wouldn’t be wrong, either. But he knows better than anyone that this is a bottom-line business, and the rah-rah attitude — <i>we’ll get ‘em in Year 19!</i> — will be hard to find if the team bottoms out against this schedule. </p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-18"></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="EW57OHV4Y5DQRBXQNG3WT4EBQU">This is uncharted territory for Schiano, who never faced this kind of win-now urgency during his first stint. The late Bob Mulcahy quickly (and wisely) extended his contract at the first hint of success, and after his breakthrough 11-2 season in 2006, Schiano held all the cards in future negotiations with school officials. </p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-19"></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="Q45N62I7YJFELLTKMRSAAZEHKM">In his second stint, the coach deserves credit for fighting through an endless string of obstacles — the talent-depleted roster he inherited, the pandemic that hit before he settled into his office, and most of all, the <a href="https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/2024/10/the-downfall-of-an-athletic-director.html" target="_blank" title="https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/2024/10/the-downfall-of-an-athletic-director.html">athletic director</a> who thought the NIL Era would magically go away. </p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-20"></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="6CQFB7SRDVGRPODOPKBKKAKQBI">Just when Schiano started to dig this program out of the Big Ten graveyard, Patrick Hobbs was there to whack him with a shovel. That is undeniable. Still, when the head coach labeled what he has accomplished as “almost miraculous” after a crushing loss to a depleted Penn State team ended last season with a 5-7 record, the eye rolls were <a href="https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/2025/11/rutgers-is-at-a-crossroads-with-greg-schiano-can-new-ad-keli-zinn-save-the-day-politi.html" target="_blank" title="https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/2025/11/rutgers-is-at-a-crossroads-with-greg-schiano-can-new-ad-keli-zinn-save-the-day-politi.html">practically audible</a>. </p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-21"></div><div class="related-articles-container" id="more-by-author"><div class="branded-separator-line divider__nj"></div><p class="related-articles-affiliate">MORE BY<!-- --> STEVE POLITI</p><div class="related-article"><a class="related-article-link" href="https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/2026/09/rutgers-football-game-by-game-predictions-for-2026-will-scarlet-knights-return-to-postseason.html"><p class="related-article-title">Rutgers football game-by-game predictions for 2026: Will Scarlet Knights return to postseason?<span class="related-article-date">Sep. 1, 2026, 1:02 p.m.</span></p></a></div><div class="related-article-divider"></div><div class="related-article"><a class="related-article-link" href="https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/2026/08/rutgers-names-starting-qb-what-dylan-lonergan-beating-aj-surace-means-for-2026-season-rutgers-rant.html"><p class="related-article-title">Rutgers names starting QB: What Dylan Lonergan beating AJ Surace means for 2026 season | Rutgers Rant<span class="related-article-date">Aug. 24, 2026, 11:43 a.m.</span></p></a></div><div class="related-article-divider"></div></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="K5BDU6NO4NDG3DLTBXWVLOYSXA">Zinn and Tate should be rooting hard for Schiano to make this decision an easy one. The path to success is far smoother if Rutgers can use its precious resources on player acquisitions and not a buyout that will balloon its <a href="https://www.nj.com/rutgers/2026/03/rutgers-has-dug-a-500-million-hole-since-joining-the-big-ten-where-did-the-money-go.html" target="_blank" title="https://www.nj.com/rutgers/2026/03/rutgers-has-dug-a-500-million-hole-since-joining-the-big-ten-where-did-the-money-go.html">massive deficit</a>. </p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-22"></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="ZBPJNVJ3MRB4DDM6OPAJD4N5OU">The narrative can change in a hurry. Schiano still has a chance to write an incredible story with him as the central character, the one true believer who built a winner in a place where no one thought possible. </p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-23"></div><p class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="3LTN5FNAPREJ7EB6IXESBBJ32Q">But we are a full 18 chapters into that book now. He needs to win some football games. Not next season. Not the season after that. Now. </p><div class="InContent_Center_Background"><div class="InContent_Center_Padding"><div class="ad-observer"></div></div></div><div id="inarticle-24"></div><p>Read the original article on <a href="https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/2026/09/greg-schiano-is-coaching-for-his-job-as-his-18th-rutgers-football-season-begins-politi.html">NJ.com</a>. 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