Greg Schiano, a former Penn State assistant now at Ohio State, is a prospect for a Duck football coaching job, according to the RG’s Austin Meek:
“The way I can describe Rutgers and (working under) Greg Schiano is ‘I came to Rutgers as a boy and left a man,’” Fleck told NJ.com. “I went there as an assistant coach; I left ready to be a head coach.”
I have no idea if Oregon could convince Schiano to leave Ohio State and be Fleck’s second-in-command, but the concept — a young, energetic recruiter as a head coach, paired with an old-school football guy as his defensive coordinator — seems like a model that could work.
Last year USA Today’s football blog had this story on Schiano:
Greg Schiano — former Rutgers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach and current Ohio State defensive coordinator — witnessed Jerry Sandusky “doing something to a boy in a shower,” according to testimony that came out in the unsealed Penn State documents released today. Schiano was a Penn State assistant from 1990-1995.
That testimony came from the deposition of Mike McQueary, who witnessed a similar act with Sandusky and a boy in the shower in 2001, and went to Joe Paterno. After McQueary laid out in detail what he witnessed with Sandusky and how he had talked to Paterno, an attorney asked him if he talked about it with any other coaches. …
Schiano ignored the first story, then emailed the reporter a denial after the testimony came out. The Washington Post has more here:
Former Penn State assistant coaches Greg Schiano and Tom Bradley knew that Jerry Sandusky, their colleague on Joe Paterno’s football staff, was acting improperly with young boys years before law-enforcement authorities were first notified, according to testimony from former Penn State assistant Mike McQueary that was unsealed Tuesday by a Philadelphia court. …
Schiano’s statements on this have been inconsistent. Asked about the incident in 2011, a columnist for the Washington Post reported “He totally evaded the question”. Schiano is quoted: “Because of the situation being what it is, I’m not even going to get into it. I’m so far removed. Again, you don’t need people making commentaries on things like this. It’s just a sad thing.” But when the court documents were released in 2016, he absolutely denied any knowledge in a Tweet. (That has been the sum total of his explanation thus far.)
There was much sentiment that Schiano should have been fired after these documents came to light (for example: “Ohio State’s Greg Schiano Should Be Fired”–http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2016/07/12/ohio-states-greg-schiano-should-be-fired-today-opinion/)
The person alleging Schiano’s knowledge of the situation, Michael McQueary, was a key whistleblower in the Sandusky case. No one has suggested any reason why he would fabricate a charge against Schiano. His other claims have all held up. He was recently awarded 7.3 million dollars in damages from Penn State for wrongful dismissal and libel.
Recently the U of O came under much criticism for failing to inquire into the allegations of sexual assault against an 18 year old basketball player. One assumes that if Schiano–a grown man–is hired, the U of O will explain its position on these allegations against him.
“I came to Rutgers as a boy and left a man.”
Meanwhile, the boys who came to Penn State left severely damaged while Schiano stood idly by, saying nothing.
Anyone who cares about this university or community would have severe reservations about allowing Schiano to hold a position of power. Mr Meek’s glowing praise is incredibly shameful.
You’re talking about the Ducks. We just gave a big raise to Dana Altman, who is still pretending that he didn’t ask Ed Cooley what Brandon Austin did to get a year’s suspension from the Friars.
If President Schill allows the UO to hire as head football coach someone with a documented history of failing to report the sexual abuse of minors in his own unit, then everything President Schill has said so far about his commitment to ending sexual violence will be shown to be nothing more than profoundly empty PR.
Talk about knowingly supporting an act of profound institutional betrayal to unfold before our eyes — wow, lets hope Schill has the wisdom to avoid that one!
Phil Knight, who will have some influence on the head coach hiring, famously defended Joe Paterno’s actions in the Sandusky case–saying the “true tragedy” lay in the investigation, not Paterno.
See “The Final Insult: Nike CEO Phil Knight Eulogizes Joe Paterno” https://www.thenation.com/article/final-insult-nike-ceo-phil-knight-eulogizes-joe-paterno/
Knight is Paterno apologist #1.