Greg Schiano says he's staying at Ohio State
It sure looks like Greg Schiano isn’t heading to the New England Patriots.
Wednesday, days after a report that Schiano was “expected” to become the New England Patriots defensive coordinator in place of Matt Patricia, Schiano said he’s staying at Ohio State.
Meyer on Schiano: Said he turned down college jobs this year and NFL jobs this year. At least a dozen opportunities. he has informed me he's 100 percent staying."
— Bill Rabinowitz (@brdispatch) February 7, 2018
Contrary to prior reports, Greg Schiano tells me he is staying at #OhioState. Under Schiano, the Buckeyes led the nation in TFLs, ranked No. 3 in sacks and ranked No. 5 in defense: https://t.co/IgQWkLVyL2
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) February 7, 2018
It apparently was too easy to connect the dots and assume Schiano departure because of the arrival of former Washington State defensive coordinator Alex Grinch on Ohio State’s staff and the departure of Patricia to the Detroit Lions. Grinch, whose official role at Ohio State wasn’t announced when he joined the staff, was a logical successor if Schiano left for another job.
He explained his decision to stay later in the day Wednesday.
[Rivals National Signing Day Live-Blog]
Schiano almost did leave OSU earlier in the offseason. As you can’t forget, he was set to be the Tennessee head coach in 2018. But after massive fan backlash to the hire — based on hearsay testimony that Schiano may have known about Jerry Sandusky’s actions when serving as an assistant with the Nittany Lions — Schiano’s agreement with the school dissolved.
Tennessee athletic director John Currie soon parted ways with the school after the fiasco and Phil Fulmer became the school’s athletic director. Fulmer then hired Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt as the team’s head coach.
Schiano was hired as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator in 2016 after Chris Ash left to be the head coach at Rutgers. Coincidentally, that’s where Schiano coached from 2001-2011 before he was hired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was fired by the Bucs after a 4-12 season in 2013.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
