Greg Schiano deserves some kind of lifetime achievement award. He’s got to be a lock for College Football Coach of the Year, but that’s not enough. Give him the Heisman, too, a couple of Daytime Emmys, a purple heart, an Arby’s employee of the month, and he should fill in for Jeff Gordon on his honeymoon. He’s earned it.
Coaching accomplishments just don’t get any more impressive than what Schiano’s done at Rutgers. Winning a national title at Miami or Notre Dame or USC… that’s great. But I think it’s probably a lot harder for a coach to step into a near-hopeless situation and turn it around to the point it’s at right now. He built this thing from the ground up. Started with nothing. Rutgers is so new to winning that when they went to dump the Gatorade on Schiano, they ended up clubbing him in the head with the cooler. Schiano thought he was being attacked.
Even if they had lost to Louisville, all of this would still apply. And I don’t think this is something that isn’t going to last. You look at how Schiano’s built this team, and why they’re as good as they are right now, and it’s not because they lucked into having a couple of great athletes, and this is going to fade away when the leave. They’ve done it by becoming a tough, physical team that controls the line of scrimmage and hits hard on defense.
So where do you put them now, if you’re a voter? Well, if Louisville or West Virginia deserved the #3 spot, then I’d find it difficult to believe that Rutgers hasn’t earned the same thing right now. They’re not going to get it, of course. I’m sure they’ll still be below Texas, Auburn, Florida, and USC … probably Notre Dame and Cal, as well.
Where you end up often has a lot to do with your starting point, and Rutgers didn’t have a great one. That’s terribly unfair, but… that’s the system we’ve carved out for ourselves here. It’s not about their strength of schedule, or anything like that… West Virginia and Louisville played similar schedules, and they had that #3 spot. Rutgers won’t, and it’s about starting point. It’s about the educated guesses of sportswriters, before the season, about how good Rutgers would be. That’s why Rutgers won’t get there. That’s the system we have. Like Will Munny says, “Deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it.”
I’ve gotta admit, though… while I’m enjoying the Rutgers underdog story as much as anyone… I couldn’t help but think, anytime ESPN had a crowd shot, that about 40,000 of those people are brand new Rutgers fans. Two years ago, for a game this time of year, Rutgers probably wouldn’t have had a crowd of 20,000.
I’m glad people are hopping on the bandwagon now, but… considering past attendance figures against current ones, I’m putting a little extra emphasis on the word bandwagon. I suppose I shouldn’t judge… I can’t say for sure what I’d have done if I was a Rutgers student that was there for two years when they were terrible, and now they’re good, but I don’t think I’d have just ignored them then and started showing up to games now.
The Big Picture Says:
November 10th, 2006 at 5:21 am
it really is a shame about how the voting system seems to work these days.
of course, if rutgers wins out, they have the exact same arguement as WVU or L’Ville to be in the championship game. Will they go to glendale if they win their remaining games? probably not. and do I think that Rutgers would give OSU/Michigan the best shot in the title game? probably not.
but sports justice is so important and rutgers is going to get bent over and sodomized by the system. they could very well be undefeated, winning big games over both WVU and UL and still not get the invite. all b/c they started the year lower than most current top-25 teams.
shame on the system. and fucking kudos to schiano and these boys. ray rice may now get himself a much desereved trip to NYC as a Heisman finalist.
Critic Says:
November 10th, 2006 at 9:30 am
Louisville was exposed as pretenders. So it appears that we’ll have two undefeated teams not going to the title game. My adice is for Boise State to play Rutgers for the Pretend title. It’d work.
Chucky Atkins Jr. Says:
November 10th, 2006 at 11:38 am
I don’t see anything wrong with the people who jumped on the Rutgers bandwagon, especially the students. Aside from a weekend excursion in the late ’90’s, I’ve got no connection to Rutgers, and I’m all over that bandwagon. It’s fun to root for an underdog, especially when their defense is so kick ass. I was choppin’ wood in my living room after big plays. The crowd was AWESOME for that game. That was one of the few times this season that it seemed like home field advantage was a major factor in the outcome.
grapp08 Says:
November 10th, 2006 at 12:44 pm
I live in NJ about 20 miles from the Rutgers stadium, and i have never been to a game, perhaps due to the fact that they have never been good. They have never given New Jersey a reason to talk about them unless it was to mock them. So they bring in the college coach of the decade, perhaps century, perhaps in the history of the earth and he turns a joke team into an up and coming power house. The purpose of making a good team is so more people want to come to your school, and the more Rutgers fans there are the more people want to go to Rutgers, and if you dont want to go to Rutgers tony soprano will not be happy. what Rutgers is doing is the equivilent of the Houston Texans having an undefeated season, you cant tell me Houston wouldnt build a david carr monument celebrating his passer rating, and probably elect mario williams mayor of the city. So im saying it right here, im a Rutgers fan, and i recently jumped on band wagon, and im damn proud of it.
WBRS Sports Blog Says:
November 10th, 2006 at 12:53 pm
Awful gatorade dump…it hit him in the head, that had to hurt.
Dave's Football Blog Says:
November 10th, 2006 at 1:19 pm
When was the last time Rutgers had the spotlight on ESPN? Your bandwagon would get bum-rushed, too, if it meant everyone being on prime time TV.
We all talk about the hold ESPN has on the sporting culture in America. I bet last night was a prime example of that…
thejim Says:
November 10th, 2006 at 1:54 pm
I’m betting that 90% of America doesn’t realize that Rutgers is in New Jersey. Once they find out, they’ll be fleeing that bandwagon like it’s a Great White concert.
Mark Says:
November 10th, 2006 at 4:40 pm
Too soon for the Great White comment.
But Dave’s got a point: absolutely, Rutgers’ stadium wouldn’t have been full two years ago. Then again, two years ago, Rutgers would never have played this high-profile of a game, and they sure as hell wouldn’t have been undefeated.
You have to feel good for Schiano though. What was it, three or four years ago maybe?, that SI had an article illustrating a lack of campus support and many individuals calling for Rutgers to get rid of football or drop to a lower level. Schiano snapped back, “Where are we supposed to go?”
And now he’s the feel-good story of the year, rightfully so. You deserve all the credit in the world when you face down harsh critics, countless losing seasons, and total disrespect, and you make a winner anyway.
insomniac Says:
November 10th, 2006 at 5:23 pm
University of Miami administrators can’t be happy about the couple extra million it’s going to cost to get Schiano after that big win.
C. Says:
November 11th, 2006 at 2:48 pm
I actually hope Schiano doesn’t take the Miami offer that is inevitably going to come once the season is over.
Of course, he probably will. But I’d like to eat crow on this one.
telly Says:
November 11th, 2006 at 3:29 pm
“University of Miami administrators can’t be happy about the couple extra million it’s going to cost to get Schiano after that big win.”
or Penn State.
girls basketball Says:
November 12th, 2006 at 3:08 pm
The voting system stinks. Period. But there’s no real simple, and perfect for everyone, system. But this definitely is not the way to go. Who likes it?
Randy kraft Says:
November 12th, 2006 at 4:32 pm
Okay, your very humorous and you make great points. A quick observation: when the winner of the SEC goes 13-0 a few years ago (Auburn) and doesn’t get a shot at the title; I feel fairly certain that an upstart team like Rutgers will not get a shot even if they go undefeated for three years. Do I hear the word playoff. Great Blog. Best of luck to Rutgers.
lozo Says:
November 13th, 2006 at 2:31 am
take it from me, my good man. you wouldn’t have gone to those games. imagine a terribly unattractive girl who keeps inviting you over to her apartment for sex. you’re young, single, and it’s sex, so you go. only when you get there, she only gives you sex, say, 1 out of those 5 times. sometimes she goes years without giving it to you. after a while, you decide, even though you have a fond place in your heart for her ugly ass, it’s just not worth it to go over to her place anymore. now, all of a sudden, with you admiring her from afar (on tv) she’s gone out and lost weight, had plastic surgery, and has giant, fake, beautiful cans. OF COURSE you’re going back over to her apartment every chance you get. is it wrong? hell no. because you’d have done the same thing.
Mark Says:
November 13th, 2006 at 12:10 pm
Well said, sir. Well said.
Benny Says:
November 15th, 2006 at 12:15 am
Think about this…
If Miami was still in the Big East and played the same exact schedule as Rutgers and was undefeated, don’t you think they’d be in the top 5 of the BCS?
Socraticsilence Says:
November 15th, 2006 at 12:47 am
Am I the only one who saw that huiman interest peice duing the game about the African kid who started playing at Rutgers at 15-16 and was now a 19 year old college senior?
I mean damn that could be one of the reasons they were so bad, wtf is a kid who could be a high school sophmore/junior doing playing College Football against 21-22 year old men, that’s just asking for a beatdown