Rutgers to keep coach Schiano despite back-to-back losing seasons

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Rutgers coach Greg Schiano will return to coach the Scarlet Knights in 2027, the school announced Tuesday.

It will be his 19th season as head coach at the school, over two stints. Rutgers is 2-7 amid back-to-back losing seasons.

Athletic director Keli Zinn said the results are "not acceptable" and told ESPN there were a "number of factors" that led to Schiano's retention.

"Most specifically, the plan Coach Schiano and I were able to at length visit about and review," Zinn said in a phone interview. "I do believe he has an opportunity in the off-season to really strengthen the roster and make changes to position us to a higher level of competitiveness for next season."

Schiano is the winningest coach in school history, going 101-115 in his 18 years. He's in the seventh year of his second stint, which included back-to-back 7-6 seasons in 2023 and 2024.

Schiano's contract runs through the 2029 season, and he'd have been owed $18.6 million if he'd been fired this year. The cost for the entire staff to be dismissed would have been close to $28 million.

Zinn said she's hopeful Rutgers is better positioned to thrive in the transfer portal this year. "What I hope to see is that we are more aggressive in the portal to assemble a roster that brings a level of talent here in order to compete at a higher level," she said.

Zinn released a statement which indicated the decision to bring Schiano back is in the "best long-term interests of Rutgers." She made clear that Schiano's return is "not reflective of a lowering of standards or an indication that everything is fine."

The timing of the announcement comes in part to help assure recruits and, eventually, portal players, that they'll be playing for the current staff. Rutgers' seventh loss over the weekend assured that the school would not be playing in a bowl, and turned the focus to next year.

Rutgers is No. 125 in scoring defense this year and finished No. 115 last year. There's hope that having a full defensive staff in place can help the portal cycle this year, as Rutgers didn't hire a defensive coordinator last year until Feb. 11, long after the portal cycle.

Schiano has long held a strong reputation as a program builder and developer of talent. Rutgers has again thrived off the field, which includes a team GPA of 3.4 and high graduation rates during his first stint from 2001 to 2011.

Zinn praised how Schiano runs the program: "He's been fantastic in that regard. That's the piece where when you look at the totality of everything that goes into attracting and retaining young men in a program. Look at the academics, as we're in great shape.

"Look at the infrastructure -- the brick and mortar, the nutrition and sports performance, all things health and wellness. We've shown we can train and develop guys to get to the next level. They have the everything we need here to be successful."