Rutgers Football HC Greg Schiano Makes Appearance on Y Option Podcast

CHAMPAIGN, IL - NOVEMBER 01: Rutgers Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano prior to a college football game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and Illinois Fighting Illini on November 1, 2025 at Gies Memorial Stadium in Champaign, IL (Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Recently, Rutgers football head coach Greg Schiano went on the Y-Option podcast, a podcast all about college football hosted by Yogi Roth, to talk about the state of the program, Schiano’s optimism going forward, and how much the program has benefited from a change in leadership in the athletic department.

class="wp-block-paragraph">The podcast started with a conversational feel, with Roth asking Schiano about his personal life, his path to coaching, and how he sees his role as not just coaching the team but also helping prepare young men for life. One interesting thing they talked about during this segment was how Schiano addressed new defensive coordinator Travis Johansen’s concerns about being there for his family, so he would feel comfortable making the move to Rutgers.

class="wp-block-paragraph">Schiano was also allowed to speak about the positive changes that have occurred because of the hiring of Keli Zinn and the new alignment at the university.

class="wp-block-paragraph">“We have never had vertical alignment from the president down through the athletic director to the football coach. For the first time we do, and that certainly means a lot when it comes to fundraising and NIL and all of that. But it is so much more than that. It’s an attitude of excellence. It’s winning is important, and the commitment to win,” said Schiano. “I think Keli Zinn is going to do a great job here, and I think that President Tate understands what it takes to compete in this league.”

class="wp-block-paragraph">“It might take a minute because other schools have been competing at full capacity, their might be a little lag, but we are now in the game,’ said Schiano.

class="wp-block-paragraph">He also spoke about how changes in the money situation allowed them to retain their top three retention targets, KJ Duff, Antwan Raymond, and Kwabena Asamoah, while also having money left over for high school recruiting.

class="wp-block-paragraph">When the topic of the defensive coordinator search was brought up, Schiano admitted that they had their eye on someone after just 8 days of searching, but that ended up falling through. He also said that during his interviews for the new DC, he had the opportunity to learn how other head coaches run their program and has been applying that additional knowledge.

class="wp-block-paragraph">One thing that was different about this coordinator search compared to others is that Schiano did not fall back on using his coaching tree to find someone, rather largely stepping out of his sphere of influence to fill the role.

class="wp-block-paragraph">Other things discussed on the podcast include the origin of CHOP and how coaching styles need to be adjusted for each player.

class="wp-block-paragraph">To view the entire podcast, click here.