Rutgers isn’t making a change.
Greg Schiano will return to coach the Scarlet Knights in 2027, the school has announced. ESPN's Pete Thamel was among the first to break the news.
Next fall will mark Schiano's 19th season as head coach at the school across two stints. Rutgers is 2-7, 1-5 in the Big Ten, and is already guaranteed its second losing season in a row.
Schiano has 101 wins at Rutgers, the most in program history.
The decision comes three days after a 31-10 loss at Wisconsin. Rutgers trailed 13-10 at halftime before the Badgers scored 18 unanswered points in the second half. The Scarlet Knights gave up five sacks and played without wide receiver KJ Duff, quarterback Dylan Lonergan and offensive linemen Tyler Needham and Kwabena Asamoah.
Schiano didn’t dodge it afterward.
“In my wildest expectations, I didn’t think we would find ourselves here, but maybe that wasn’t realistic on my part,” Schiano said, per NJ.com. “I don’t know. But we’re not going to be bowl eligible, that’s for sure. Mathematics tells you that.”
He added, “There will be a time where we can do the autopsy on everything that occurred.”
The season started sideways and never recovered. Rutgers opened with a 37-21 home loss to UMass, coached by former Rutgers defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak. It then lost to Boston College (28-21), #12 USC (42-35) and #6 Indiana (47-15). After wins over Howard and at Maryland, Rutgers lost three straight to Northwestern, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Money is part of the equation. NJ.com reported Schiano would be owed $18 million if fired after this season, plus another $10 million for his staff. Before the Wisconsin game, the same outlet held up the Badgers as the model for patience. Wisconsin kept Luke Fickell after back-to-back losing seasons and has since beaten USC and Penn State on its way to bowl eligibility.
Schiano’s first run in Piscataway, from 2001 to 2011, is still why he gets this kind of rope. He took over one of the worst programs in major college football, went 68-67 and led Rutgers to six bowl games in seven seasons, going 5-1 in those games. He left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012. He then spent three seasons as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator under Urban Meyer and returned to Rutgers in December 2019 on an eight-year, $32 million deal.
The second stint has produced three bowl trips, including a Pinstripe Bowl win over Miami that capped a 7-6 season in 2023. Rutgers went 7-6 again in 2024 before slipping to 5-7 (2-7 Big Ten) in 2025.
This fall was supposed to be different. In the preseason, Schiano said Rutgers had “two quarterbacks we can win with.” He also said he and first-year defensive coordinator Travis Johansen spent “eight months fixing” the defense. Kirk Ciarrocca is in his sixth season running the offense and is a veteran college football play caller with plenty of success.
Bringing back the head coach doesn’t settle the staff, so the offseason questions move there now. When a program buys time for a head coach, the people around him are often the ones asked to pay for it.
Rutgers closes the season at home against Nebraska, at Penn State and at home against Michigan State.
See the full statement from Rutgers below.
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