What Greg Schiano said about earning 100th win with Rutgers football

PISCATAWAY – If Greg Schiano could go back and change things, his 100^th win coaching Rutgers football would’ve come a lot sooner than this.

Much sooner.

Not just games sooner, but years sooner.

“My only regret is that I left,” Schiano said after his team’s 58-7 blowout win over Howard on Friday. “I just can't change it. I wish I hadn't. I think we could be in a really good place. But you can't change history.”

Schiano’s 100^th win came on a night that Rutgers needed. The Scarlet Knights thoroughly beat the Bison, controlling the game from the start. Howard, an FCS-level opponent, had no answer for Rutgers’ playmakers, especially KJ Duff and Antwan Raymond.

And perhaps in the best way to get Schiano his milestone win, the Scarlet Knights didn’t commit a turnover after committing 10 through the first three games.

Nothing about this season has been easy for Schiano, who’s drawn plenty of heat from fans for the Scarlet Knights’ poor start.

This win provided some relief from at least some of that – just having a win, period, was important for Rutgers.

Getting Schiano’s 100^th added more significance.

Duff in the locker room after the win presented Schiano with a game ball, something that he said meant a lot to him.

“It was great,” Duff said. “One of the most respected coaches in college football. I’ll be able to tell my kids one day I gave the 100^th career win to a legend like that.”

While speculation swirls outside the program, Schiano’s players aren’t taking the chance to play for him for granted.

“It means everything to me,” Raymond said. “I wouldn’t be here without him. He’s blessed me and my family. It means a lot because of how much he loves and cares about us.”

No matter what’s gone on this season – and a lot has gone on – what Schiano has done for Rutgers over the course of both stints shouldn’t be forgotten.

He took over the Scarlet Knights 25 years ago and built them up into an elite Big East team before leaving for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers following the 2011 season, at the time concerned about Rutgers’ status amid conference realignment.

While Schiano was in Tampa, he received the call that the Scarlet Knights were headed to the Big Ten, the very conference he always believed they should be in.

The only problem was he wasn’t there to enjoy it.

He finally got the chance to when he returned in December, 2019 to try and revive life into the program after it had fallen badly while he was away.

Schiano has returned the program to respectability, including back-to-back bowl appearances in 2023 and 2024. The last two seasons have been more difficult, and they've come in a landscape that's far different than it was when he first came to Rutgers in 2000.

“A lot of things have gone on in the state of New Jersey, at Rutgers, in those 26 years,” Schiano said. “And to be the head coach for that long and one place isn’t common. So I am grateful I got a chance to work with a lot of great coaches. And a lot of great players. And to them, I am super grateful because it's been a privilege to be able to work with them. They really made the experience something special.”

Nothing about the future is certain for Schiano or the Scarlet Knights. This season hasn’t gone the way anyone expected or the way anyone inside the program had hoped.

The win over Howard was one Rutgers badly needed.

Schiano acknowledged he doesn’t like to reflect on things much, but he managed to do so on this night.

He couldn’t hide the fact that 100 wins means something.

“This is where I'm from,” Schiano said. “This is who I am. So it is special to me.”

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: What Greg Schiano said about earning 100th win with Rutgers football