Less than two months after being hired as defensive coordinator (possibly), Greg Schiano has voluntarily resigned from his post with the New England Patriots.
The news broke late Thursday night, with Schiano claiming the move was to spend more time with his family. The Patriots had not officially announced Schiano’s role with the team when they added him to the staff. Now, they’ll never have to.
“This is not the result of any one event, but rather a realization that I need to spend more time on my faith and family,” Schiano said in a statement released by the Patriots. “I don’t want to look back years from now and wish I had done things differently. Therefore, I am taking time away from the game to recalibrate my priorities.”
To which the entire sports world replies, “Sure, pal.”
I wanted Greg Schiano to be the Pats’ DC bc I wanted the Patriots to miss the Super Bowl after giving up 55 points to Iowa
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) March 28, 2019
Schiano was brought in by New England to replace departed defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who left to become the head coach of the Miami Dolphins. He’d been the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for Ohio State under Urban Meyer for the last three seasons. The Buckeyes, for some strange reason, passed on Schiano to take over the program once Meyer retired.
“I respect Coach Schiano greatly and appreciate his contributions to our staff and team,” New England head coach Bill Belichick said. “He is a friend who we support completely.”
There’s no reason to believe this was anything but voluntary if, of course, you’ve not paid any attention to the news surrounding Schiano for the last decade or so. Belichick saying he “supports Schiano completely” also comes off a little fishy.
A first for the Patriots: The club had never officially announced the hiring of Greg Schiano, yet today, they release a statement that Schiano is stepping down.
In a taped interview w/ Mike Krzyzewski, Bill Belichick had raved about Schiano: "I think he'll be a great addition."
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) March 28, 2019
In case you don’t know, Schiano was implicated, but never charged with anything, during Penn State’s massive and despicable cover-up of Jerry Sandusky’s rampant child molestation. He was set to become the head coach at the University of Tennessee before public outcry caused not only the school to pull its offer, but fire the athletic director, John Currie, who wanted hire him.
Belichick had just talked up Schiano a few days ago on Sirius XM with Duke basketball coach Mike Kryzewski, so it’s highly likely some new, sordid Schiano news could be hitting the news cycle any day.
