Greg Schiano starts new Rutgers tenure asking for donations: 'If you got a lot of money, we need your money'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rutgers introduced Greg Schiano on Wednesday, ushering in the next era for the Scarlet Knights, who hope the school’s most successful football coach still has some of that mid-2000s magic that put the program into the national spotlight.
Schiano, who recently signed an eight-year, $32 million contract, thanked the fans for rallying around the school and asked for donations in his opening press conference.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Last, but not least, I want to thank our fans. The incredible show of support, the show of our passion, that was awesome. That’s what New Jersey is about. That’s what’s going to allow us to do what we’re going to do,” he said, according to NJ.com.
New Rutgers NCAA college football coach Greg Schiano greets supporters as he arrives for a news conference in Piscataway, N.J., with his wife, Christy, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2019. After an on-again, off-again courtship, Schiano is back as Rutgers football coach. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
“If you've got a lot of money, we need your money, make no mistake about it. If you don’t, we need you at the Scarlet Walk, when those kids who battled their rear ends off, we need you there. We need you in that stadium. Get the stadium packed, because those kids are laying it on the line.”
Schiano also called for players, fans, coaches and boosters to be “all in” with Rutgers.
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“Here’s the problem: We entered the Big Ten conference a few years ago, and the teams we’re looking at, they’re not waiting for Rutgers. I used to say we’re chasing a moving target, and now I say it this way, we’ve got to pass a moving target, and those are big targets,” he said.
“We don’t need it when we’re seventh in the country, 10th in the country, first in the country. We need it right now. Not in the beginning of the season, we need it right now. When you’re around the water cooler, the coffee machine at work, we need you promoting Rutgers football. Those block R magnets, we need them on your car. We have to create the importance, every single one of us. That has to happen, again.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New Rutgers NCAA college football head coach Greg Schiano, center, poses for a picture with Greg Brown, chairman of the Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics, left, Rutgers athletic director Pat Hobbs, second from left, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, second from right, and Rutgers president Robert Barchi, right, after an introductory news conference in Piscataway, N.J., Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2019. After an on-again, off-again courtship, Schiano is back as Rutgers football coach. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Schiano will get a second stint with Rutgers after starting his college football head coaching career with them. He coached Rutgers from 2001 to 2011 and at one point had the team ranked as high as No. 10 in the nation during the 2007 season. He won five out of six bowl appearances but never got the school into a major bowl game.
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Schiano’s contract comes with several perks. According to the Asbury Park Press, he will get a $15,000 annual auto stipend, a $5,000 annual apparel allocation, the school will pay initiation fees and dues for a country club of his choosing, he will be entitled to a private plane for recruiting purposes, but if not available, he will get a first-class ticket on commercial jetliners and will get temporary housing for up to 60 days while he and his family relocate.