Former NFL head coach Greg Schiano had finally returned to the NFL, merging onto what has become a fast track in recent years to an NFL head-coaching gig. And before presiding over a single offseason meeting as defensive coordinator of the Patriots, Schiano is gone.
The move came on the same day that coach Bill Belichick praised Schiano in an interview with Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski that debuted on SiriusXM.
“He’s a very experienced and outstanding fundamental coach,” Belichick said of Schiano, via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. “He’s a good teacher and has a lot of experiences in both the college and pro game. . . . I think he’ll be a great addition.”
Schiano has now become a subtraction, exiting the Patriots with the kind of loaded statement which invites speculation that something unforeseen occurred.
“This is not the result of any one event, but rather a realization that I need to spend more time on my faith and family,” Schiano said in the statement that marked his resignation from the team. “I don’t want to look back years from now and wish I had done things differently. Therefore, I am taking time away from the game to recalibrate my priorities.”
Whatever the reason(s), Schiano had a chance to re-establish himself as an NFL coach, five years after he won 11 of 32 games as the surprise choice to replace Raheem Morris as head coach of the Buccaneers.
Schiano quickly became a controversial figure in NFL circles, dialing up an aggressive approach to victory formation that raised the ire of the likes of former Giants coach Tom Coughlin and prompting a mild-mannered Eli Manning to call the ploy a “cheap shot.” Schiano’s second and final year was marred by a feud with former Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman, who was released during the 2013 and whose failure to ever do much of anything with any other team seemed to vindicate Schiano’s approach to the former first-round pick.
He resurfaced as defensive coordinator at Ohio State in 2016, and in late 2017 the Tennessee Volunteers tried to hire him to become the program’s next head coach. Intense fan outcry derailed the move.
Still only 52, the long-time football coach has plenty of time to find his footing all over again. Before that happens, however, more will need to be known about why he so abruptly walked away from an assignment that eventually could have put him back on an NFL sideline, coaching another team of his own.
