Greg Schiano was an assistant at Penn State from 1990 to 1995. (Mel Evans/Associated Press)
The University of Tennessee reportedly was close Sunday to hiring Ohio State assistant Greg Schiano as its new football head coach. However, both the school and Schiano himself could be reconsidering things, following a heavy backlash from Vols fans and several state politicians.
The main objection to Schiano, a former head coach at Rutgers and for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is his association with the child-sex scandal at Penn State, in which former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was sentenced to 30 years in prison. In a 2015 deposition that was unsealed last year, former Nittany Lions assistant coach Mike McQueary testified that another Penn State coach had told him that Schiano had talked of seeing Sandusky abusing a boy in the early 1990s.
“Greg had come into his office white as a ghost and said he just saw Jerry doing something to a boy in the shower,” McQueary said he heard of Schiano, who worked under Sandusky at Penn State from 1990 to 1995, according to the court document. Schiano, however, denied saying such a thing, telling ESPN’s Adam Schefter last year, “I never saw any abuse, nor had reason to suspect any abuse, during my time at Penn State.”
Nevertheless, many in Knoxville and elsewhere in the state reacted negatively to reports that Schiano was finalizing a deal to replace the fired Butch Jones. On The Rock, a huge hunk of dolomite stone situated on the school’s campus, a man painted the message, “Schiano covered up child rape at Penn State,” while other fans brought signs protesting the potential hire.
This is Trip Underwood. He painted the Rock. He's says it's "A bigger thing than football, it comes down to morals in general." pic.twitter.com/LZJzkM7Hzl
— Louis Fernandez Jr (@LouisWBIR) November 26, 2017
Starting to see some signs now. Fans are telling me they're upset with Schiano's past and alleged ties to the Penn State scandal. pic.twitter.com/2azdGMqB0H
— Louis Fernandez Jr (@LouisWBIR) November 26, 2017
“If you hire him, the backlash will be insurmountable and devastating to the University and the state,” State Rep. Jeremy Faison posted on Twitter. State Rep. Jason Zachary tweeted that he had reached out to Athletic Director John Currie to say that the “Tennessee community” does “not approve of Schiano.”
“There are an abundance of good football coaches out there, plenty eager to be head coach at our Univ of Tenn,” State Rep. Martin Daniel tweeted. “UT admin and the Board should put the brakes on this one and closely consider whether the apparent choice is in the best interests of the university and of the state.”
Our Tennessee standards mean something, and a Greg Schiano hire would be anathema to all that our University and our community stand for. I sincerely hope that these rumors are not true, because even serious consideration would be unacceptable.
— Eddie Smith (@RepEddieSmith) November 26, 2017
I’m just going to say this if we hire Greg Schiano as our next head coach my options will be open to which college program I will Be donating my TIME and MONEY to. (No disrespect to GS) but if UT leaders don’t take football serious then I will find the program that will!!!
— Albert Haynesworth (@haynesworthiii) November 26, 2017
Schiano has been the defensive coordinator for Ohio State for the past two seasons, after posting seasons of 7-9 and 4-12 with the Bucs in 2012 and 2013. The 51-year-old New Jersey native went 3-20 in his first two seasons running the long-downtrodden Rutgers program, but he ended up posting a 68-67 record overall in 11 seasons, including a 5-1 record in bowl games.
Jones, who went 34-27 overall and 14-24 in SEC play in five seasons, was fired on Nov. 12. Under interim head coach Brady Hoke, the Vols, whose football program dates back to 1902, completed their first season with eight losses, as well as with no conference wins.
Last year, Tennessee reached a $2.48 million settlement of a federal lawsuit brought by a group of women who claimed that school officials, including Jones, violated Title IX and other laws by behaving with “deliberate indifference” toward reported incidents of sexual assault committed by Volunteer athletes.
Scott Paterno, a son of former Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who was fired amid the Sandusky scandal and died shortly thereafter, said on Twitter on Sunday that “Tennessee would be lucky to get” Schiano. Paterno added, “If they run him off over specifically denied hearsay, their loss.”
Read more from The Post:
Charles Barkley: Roy Moore should have been disqualified ‘way before this women stuff’
Tennessee’s nightmare season continues as Vols dismiss WR for profanity-laced tirade
Auburn told us the world had not ended in October. Did we simply not believe them?
Even if Christie v. NCAA lets us gamble more, we should have the sense to gamble less
Dabo Swinney’s fury with fans is tempered by Clemson’s aim to be No. 1
College football winners and losers: Two-loss Auburn is one step from a stellar playoff case
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