should he stay or should he go

[smazza]

Greg Schiano, shown taping his weekly television show about Rutgers football, has his undefeated Scarlet Knights on the cusp of the national title conversation.

[smazza]

Only two weeks into his time as appointed savior of Rutgers football, Greg Schiano turned to his assistant, Mike Miello, and spoke the nine words expressly forbidden under Division I-A doctrine.

"Coach, I just cost you a lot of money."

Butch Davis had bolted from the University of Miami for the Cleveland Browns, and suddenly Schiano, Davis' former defensive coordinator, was in the eye of the Hurricanes' storm. Schiano has too much respect for Miami's athletic director, Paul Dee, to offer the details for public consumption, but there was a call placed to the then-new Rutgers coach from the 305 (Miami) area code back then, and the voice on the line wasn't asking about the morning frost in New Jersey.

"After all the promises we made, we would've had to put our families in the witness protection program if we left," recalled Miello, now the head coach at William Paterson College. "But Greg never thought twice about it. Even though coaches almost always jump for the dollar signs, Greg made a commitment to the school and state that he wouldn't break. Now he's done more for New Jersey than any politician ever has."

With its 7-0 record and its Heisman hopeful, Ray Rice, Rutgers is the best story in college football, a George Mason in helmets and pads. As longshots go, Kenny Rogers' 23 consecutive scoreless innings in the playoffs  with or without a foreign substance  amount to a death-and-taxes lock when measured against Rutgers' No. 14 spot in the BCS standings.

This is a school that hasn't won a national championship since 1869, when it beat Princeton in the first college football game ever played. If you're keeping score at home, that's a 137-year drought, or one that would warm any Chicago Cubs fan's heart.

"We were the worst program in the country when I got here," Schiano said. "In my two years at Miami, we beat Rutgers by a combined score of 119-6."

Six seasons later, Rutgers sits at No. 16 in the USA TODAY Coaches' Poll, its highest ranking in 45 years. The Scarlet Knights will face Connecticut on ESPN Sunday night, and their remaining home games with Louisville and Syracuse are sold out, marking the first time the school has managed two advance sellouts in the same season.

"I can see Greg becoming the Joe Paterno of New Jersey," said Miello, who coached Schiano in high school.

Yes, but there's a catch. Even Paterno, Schiano's former boss at Penn State, once considered leaving for the Miami job. If Larry Coker is fired at season's end, Schiano will be the leading candidate to replace him.

What happens then? New Jersey-born and raised, Schiano has made a mission out of ridding his home state of its inferiority complex. He burns to have the last laugh on those who have reduced New Jersey to a punch line, and he hopes to field a team that could unite a state divided by outside loyalties  northern fans often root for New York teams, southern fans often root for Philadelphia teams.

"New Jersey really has nothing to call its own," Schiano said. "I believe Rutgers football can be that. This is a special place, and I certainly don't have any plans of going anywhere else. But in life, you never know what can happen."

A bigger job can happen, and a bigger annuity, too. Rutgers' athletic director Bob Mulcahy gave Schiano a seven-year extension last year after the Scarlet Knights qualified for their first bowl appearance in 27 years. The deal says the 40-year-old Schiano will coach Rutgers through 2012.

However, contracts are broken as regularly as huddles. Schiano won't clear $1 million until the final year of his extension, and some whispering third-party raider will surely do better than that. Rutgers recently slashed hundreds of jobs and courses, and cut some non-revenue sports to boot. How much can it afford to pay a football coach who has made the unthinkable  the Scarlet Knights as a consistent Top 10 program  his primary goal?

"We had 8,000 students come to our homecoming game against Ohio," Mulcahy said. "We haven't had 8,000 students here for anything except graduation."

Rutgers has upgraded its facilities, and Schiano has upgraded its defense. The New Jersey prospects who always flocked to Penn State or Notre Dame are staying home, hoping to become the next Paul Robeson or Ray Rice.

Can Schiano really win the national title at Rutgers?

"There's no reason it can't happen," he said.

The groundbreaking on his new house, across the street from campus, was scheduled for Monday. Rutgers will gladly build Schiano a trophy room if he'll stay long enough to fill it.

Ian O'Connor also writes for The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News

[Joe]

It's great what he's done at Rutgers, but if he turns down Miami, Texas A&M, or Michigan State (which is MAriucci's job to decline) he's passing on a chance of a lifetime.

Rutgers will never be a consistent powerhouse in football, I can see them being more like a Maryland or NC State, a few good years a few bad years, it's just how the school is set up.

However, if he does decline it, I believe it would have something to do with the head coach in Happy Valley only having a few years left on the sideline. If he's still at Rutgers at that time he will be the 1st choice to replace JoePa.

[bulls96go]

joepa? never follow a legend.

go to UM this year, when coker is fire

[smazza]

miami is a great job

texas am and msu arent any better than rutgers at this point in time just ask dennis f and john smith

[Joe]

I'm not convinced Rutgers is the place to be if you want to be a highly successful coach.

Since 1886 when Rutgers played the 1st football team they've sucked. They have had something like 25 winning seasons in 120 years of football. It's a freaking MIRACLE what Schiano has done there. Can it be maintained? Maybe. But Schiano will be the 1st to be able to keep a strong program there.

[smazza]

schiano will keep rutgers competitive if he says

[bulls96go]

he should go