Seen as a splash hire by Urban Meyer to replace the departed Chris Ash, Greg Schiano goes way back with Ohio State's head football coach.
The new Buckeye defensive coordinator met with the Columbus media for the first time Thursday at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
Notes:
- "It's great to be here. Great to be a member of Coach Meyer's staff. Really excited about the opportunity."
- Schiano and Meyer "have a history" and he thinks this will be a good thing for him and Ohio State.
- Working with Meyer was a huge deciding factor for him to get back into coaching: "I wanted to be a part of a staff with character and a program with character. You have that at Ohio State."
- Schiano and Meyer "are very close" and he knows what Ohio State is all about: "I want to come in and be a part of something that's bigger than myself."
- On his relationship with Luke Fickell: "Very comfortable." He met with Fickell before he decided to move forward and accept the coaching position at Ohio State.
- Schiano admitted it is a little "odd" he's replacing Chris Ash, who is the new head coach at Rutgers: "At this stage in my career, this is the best thing for me and my family." Schiano is trying to help Ash as much as he can before he leaves permanently, and Ash has returned the favor.
- Schiano isn't sharing an office with Ash right now.
- Schiano has been around the Ohio State facilities in recent years, so he is comfortable: "The biggest thing, though, is knowing I'm a part of something bigger here."
- On the rugby style tackling, Schiano said he's worked with that scheme before: "It's an art, and tackling is maybe a lost art. I think this rugby style tackling has been very effective."
- After not recruiting for a few years, Schiano said "That's the greatest part about college football—meeting players early on and getting to know them and their family is important."
- "The better you recruit, the better players you have and more games you can win. In the National Football League, you're limited to what players you can get." — Greg Schiano
- Schiano said he's really "dove in" during his first six days in Columbus, particularly with recruiting. He said he thinks Ohio State's recruit strategy is excellent.
- Schiano's passionate about coaching football and working with young people. He thinks he understands players more now, because he has a son who is in college whereas at Rutgers he did not.
- "I think I'll be able to be a better assistant coach now that I've been a head coach."
- Schiano would have only been an assistant coach "at very few places, and Coach Meyer is certainly at the top of the list."
- Schiano's most important role is to fulfill the needs of Coach Meyer: "I'm looking forward to serving him and learning some things as well."
- Schiano hopes he can help Ohio State's players to better understand what transitioning and playing in the NFL is like since he has experience drafting players into the league: "If there's questions, I'll be able to answer them."
- It is still yet to be decided if he'll head to the Fiesta Bowl with Ohio State.
