Rutgers' Greg Schiano: We Need YOU Promoting Rutgers Football

PISCATAWAY, NJ — A day after his record-breaking $32-million contract was signed, newly minted Rutgers head football coach Greg Schiano held his first press conference Wednesday on the Piscataway campus. He fielded questions from the media about what he sees for the future of Rutgers football in his second time at the helm.

Schiano, a Wyckoff, NJ native, was the Rutgers head coach from 2001-11, and he led the program to great heights, taking the team to six bowl games. However, he quit in 2012 to become head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL team, a job that only lasted for one year. Gov. Phil Murphy was very eager to bring Schiano back and — after weeks of testy contract negotiations that nearly folded at one point — Rutgers rehired Schiano on Tuesday.

"It's great to be home," Schiano said in a press conference Wednesday that was at times even emotional. He seemed moved to tears to be back at Rutgers. "Everybody's gotta go all in. We entered the Big Ten conference a few years ago. Those are big targets. It's gonna take everyone."

"We got the Giants and the Jets, we got the Eagles. But there's one thing that's all about us, and that's Rutgers football," he said. "If anybody in this great state of New Jersey is listening, we need to galvanize, come together and take this (program) to the next level."

He continued:

"With all due respect, we don't need (your support) when we're the seventh in the country, or the fifth in the country. We need it right now. So when you're around the water cooler or coffee machine at work, we need you promoting Rutgers football. Those block "R" magnets, they gotta be on your car."

Coach Schiano also called on those New Jersey residents who can to donate to build a new $150 million Rutgers training facility, a demand he made that was contingent on his return to the Rutgers program.

"If you got a lot of money, we're gonna need your money, make no mistake about it," he said Wednesday. "If you don't have a lot of money, well, we're gonna 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 lay it on the line."

Last week, former Gov. Chris Christie famously weighed in on the nearly failed contract negotiations, saying that Schiano's demands, such as wanting private air travel, were too great and that he didn't really want the job.

"He's not Bear Bryant, he's not Urban Meyer," Christie said last week in Woodbridge. "He's an unemployed football coach who now wants the taxpayers of the state of New Jersey to pay for his private air travel."

"He called you an unemployed college football coach," one reporter asked Wednesday. "Does that make you feel welcome?"

Schiano maintained his composure as he responded to the question.

"Chris and I, we go back a long way. I take no offense," he said. "I know people are gonna say things. I know he wants what's best for New Jersey. We'll be fine, not a problem."

Schiano also said he prayed to God that contract talks would resume.

"When it looked like it might be going off the rails, I'm not gonna lie, I was very disappointed," he said. "It was a collection of really smart people (he motioned to Murphy, standing in the corner) who decided ... let's find a way to get this done."

Schiano said admitted he's made mistakes in the past, and that the focus for his coaching will be different this time around.

"Players are going to be the really, really big thing. Whereas the first time around it was plays, it was schemes, it was techniques," he said. "My focus is going to be more on (the players) this second time around. When someone trusts their son with me, I've got a big, big responsibility and I have to make sure I keep my focus on them."

"We want our players playing for each other, to love each other" he continued. "When they do that we can make Rutgers proud, and we can make New Jersey proud."

"In the last eight years I followed Rutgers. That was my team," Schiano admitted. "Even when I was in the NFL, I checked (the Rutgers) scores. I didn't let anybody know that. I'd be lying when I told you I wasn't disappointed when things didn't go well (for the team.)"

Schiano will be paid $32 million over the next eight years, making him one of the highest paid college football coaches in the nation, and the highest-paid coach ever in Rutgers' history. If Rutgers fires him without cause, he'll still be entitled to receive a maximum payout of $24.6 million. His controversial contract was publicly released this week; read it for yourself here: Read Greg Schiano's Contract As Rutgers Football Coach

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Chris Christie Bashes Ex-Rutgers Coach Schiano For His Demands