Big Ten coach predicts 'rubber meets the road' for Greg Schiano at Rutgers

One anonymous Big Ten coach predicted this could be a breaking point for Greg Schiano at Rutgers. The long time head coach has been widely respected across college football, but as the anonymous coach told Athlon Sports, results have to matter at a certain point.

You can get an in-depth college football preview from Athlon Sports and their annual magazine. Purchases can be made HERE.

Schiano goes into Year 7 of his second stint with the school and his overall record sits at 99-108, as he holds the school record for wins. But the second go ‘round, this time in the Big Ten compared to the Big East, has been a grind to say the least.

“Schiano is an excellent coach,” the anonymous coach said. “He works incredibly hard. But at some point, it’s a results business, so I would imagine that the rubber meets the road in the next year or so if they can’t make a turn.” 

After limping to 3-6, 5-8 (Gator Bowl appearance amid COVID) and 4-8 finishes, Schiano led Rutgers to back to back 7-6 records, going 1-1 in bowl games. However, the 2024 season was particularly frustrating for Rutgers and Schiano.

Despite an offense that clicked and produced for the first time in years, Schiano’s defense, his speciality, faltered under pressure. The Scarlet Knights lost three Big Ten games by one score and lost their bowl game to Kansas State 44-41. Chalk those four games up, or in this case the three regular season games, that’s the difference between a 7-5 regular season record compared to 10-2.

Greg Schiano under heavy pressure in 2026?

Rutgers also had one of the best offenses in 2025 throughout the Big Ten with QB Athan Kaliakmanis, RB Antwan Raymond and WRs KJ Duff and Ian Strong. Kaliakmanis is in the NFL, Strong transferred to Cal and Raymond and Duff returned to Rutgers for 2026.

“I get the sense that the school thinks they’re actually going to make this investment and give (head coach) Greg Schiano a chance to get it done because they have not done that yet,” the coach said to Athlon. “The people there know that he’s basically been fighting that fight with a hand tied behind his back.

“But they were just not talented on defense last year. You turn on the tape, and they didn’t have anybody that could do anything. That’s a program problem. If you’re in the Big Ten, and you’re unable to recruit good players into your program, it’s gonna be tough.”

As the anonymous coach told Athlon, defense has been the problem as of late. But AD Keli Zinn, who’s shown a large amount of investment into the athletic department through NIL and coaching changes, such as for women’s basketball on the coaching front, there might be more buy-in from the administration. Time will tell if Schiano can get over the proverbial hump or if he’ll soon fade from the Rutgers sideline.