Greg Schiano doesn't want you to put much stock in the fact he only signed on to coach at Ohio State for one season.
"There's a lot of things," Schiano said Thursday after the completion of his second spring practice at his new job. "When you're under contract with someone else, there's a lot of business-type stuff that's involved there. But that's all it is. Nothing to read into."
Schiano officially signed a one-year, $600,000 contract Friday to be Urban Meyer's new safeties coach and assist Luke Fickell in coordinating Ohio State's defense, after agreeing to come to Columbus in December to replace Chris Ash. The figure puts him in a tie for second with offensive coordinator Ed Warinner on the Ohio State football staff in terms of base salary, trailing only the $640,000 Fickell made in base money last season.
Schiano's former employer, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is still paying him. That's the reason he said logistically it made sense to only sign on for the 2016 season with the Buckeyes.
"That's kind of personal stuff, but there's extenuating circumstances," Schiano said.
The Buccaneers signed him to a five-year, $15 million contract in January 2012, but fired him Dec. 30, 2013 following a 4-12 season.
"I wouldn't read into that. It's more of a business thing for me, because I'm still under contract at another place and all that stuff," Schiano said. "I'm not going to get into all that stuff."
Schiano's contract with Tampa Bay expires in January, the same month his one-year deal with the Buckeyes ends. Meyer normally asks for a two-year commitment from assistant coaches in the hope of establishing continuity with the program. Schiano said in December when he was hired he would have only gone back to be an assistant "at very few places," so he might want to eventually be a head coach again.
It is unclear how long he will stay at Ohio State, but Schiano would not specify if he and Meyer had discussed the head coaching wanting his stay in Columbus to be two years.
"That's between he and I, but we've talked about how important it is for (continuity)," Schiano said. "We've got a great group of coaches here and I'm really, really thrilled to be a part of that."
Regardless how long he is at Ohio State, Thursday Schiano wanted to reinforce the reason he only signed a one-year deal was because it was a personal business decision. It could be used by opposing coaches on the recruiting trail — players won't want to come play for someone who isn't planning to stick around.
Schiano doesn't want that to be the understanding.
"I would not read into it from any way, because I know the way people would like to read into it from a recruiting standpoint, 'Oh, he's not going to be there,'" Schiano said. "I wouldn't read into that. I would just tell you that it's more of a business thing for me personally."
