This morning started with a bang. I pull up TweetDeck and start to see lots of people tweeting about Schiano to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. At first it seemed far fetched. But as the minutes rolled on by, the reality that Greg Schiano, Head Coach of Rutgers Football, could be headed down to Tampa Bay began to sink in.
Obviously the recruiting boards went into full meltdown mode with all sorts of posts. As commented on one friend’s Facebook page: People are jumping out of basement windows right now.
As expected, the usual haters were out spewing their venom about what a horrible person he is for doing this and the timing of it right before signing day. Then you had those screaming about how they weren’t going to renew their season tickets and that the program is going to go back into the Dark Ages. And there were lots of other statements and sentiments that I won’t bother including because they showed gross immaturity.
By Noon, I finally had to make a simple comment: Breathe RFootball fans. Breathe. The program has been built on a solid foundation.
By this evening, it was apparent that Tim Pernetti, Athletic Director for Rutgers, had things far more in hand than the fans could have imagined. Of all the posts that I saw on ScarletNation.com, one stuck out for its sincerity, focus, drive and approach. That post was made by a person with the handle “Church Wilder.” For me, it is the perfect statement that encompasses all that has happened with Rutgers Football since 2000 when Coach Schiano took over. Below is the post.
I only coach at the high school level but we need one of my pregame speeches right now.
The longest past
The darkest depths
The shining moments
Have all been R’s
From leatherheads to ripped out dreds
Single Wing, Wild Knight. and all things in between
This team this thing its bigger than us all
Saturdays will come once more and we will RISE!
We will FIGHT and we WILL WIN!
Cause we are Knights one for all
R team R school R state R future will be bright
Paul, Alex, Marco, Brian and Ray
’06, Mo, Eric, and now Greg have done their part to pave the way
This day may be dark but R best still lies ahead
Perhaps there might be no more CHOP, but that don’t mean we wont be laying more WOOD.
Battle tested since 1869, its man up time R Nation
We R the nice guys, we are class.
Now we are angry, now we have something to prove, now we are gonna kick your ass.
2012 its on, Let’s go Rutgers!
