Rutgers AD comments put Greg Schiano under microscope

Rutgers AD Keli Zinn did an interview with the sports marketing firm Navigate, and her answer to an open-ended question put a spotlight on head football coach Greg Schiano.

Asked how she evaluates program success relative to expectations and resources, Zinn said the following: 

"If we are investing in your roster, in facilities, in operations, in salaries at ninth in the league, you should perform at ninth in the league. And if you're above that -- fantastic, that's awesome. Keep going, how do we get in an even better spot? But if all of those things put you ninth in the league and you're performing 14th, there's a problem there. Something is not working, and you've got to be able to get close to that point, show a trajectory to there or unfortunately that's probably not going to end well." 

Where did Rutgers finish in the Big Ten football standings last season? Tied for 14th.

In the sixth season of Schiano's second tenure at Rutgers, he guided the Knights to a 5-7 overall record and 2-7 mark in Big Ten play, tied with Wisconsin. The Knights defeated a 9-win Ohio team, 7-7 Miami (Ohio), FCS Norfolk State out of conference, plus Purdue and Maryland in conference, who went a combined 1-17 in conference play.

However, according to Zinn's own standard, that's not necessarily an indictment upon Schiano. The Athletic's reporting placed Rutgers at 14th in roster spend, between $20 and $25 million in a conference where the average is between $27 and $31 million. Another estimate had Rutgers at 11th in the conference. 

NIL and rev share are just one prong in which in AD evaluates investment, though. The head coach's salary is another. Per the On3 database, Schiano's $6.9 million salary places him... ninth in the Big Ten. 

For all we know, Zinn chose those examples -- a 14th place finish amid a 9th place investment -- at random. Or maybe she didn't.

Rutgers currently sits at 2-6. The Knights opened the year with a loss to UMass, the losingest team in FBS last season. Wins have come against FCS Howard and a Maryland team that fired head coach Mike Locksley just a few days later. At 1-4 in league play, Rutgers is tied for 16th in the Big Ten. 

Unless Rutgers invests at a 16th-place level, her end of year conversation with Zinn, hired in 2025, probably isn't going to end well.