Details of Greg Schiano’s eight-year contract released

It’s now officially official.

Over the weekend, and after it appeared off, the reunion between Greg Schiano and Rutgers was back on as the university confirmed his hiring as head football coach, pending the board’s rubber-stamping of the agreement. Tuesday, said rubber-stamping came to pass as the university’s Board of Governors officially approved Schiano’s contract, the school announced.

Schiano’s deal is for eight years, although it isn’t fully guaranteed. From nj.com:

If he is fired without cause at any point in the contract, he will be paid 76.875% of his remaining salary; the payout from that point will not exceed $24.6 million. Schiano’s buyout to break the contract begins at $8 million if he leaves Rutgers prior to Dec. 1, 2020, and it decreases as the contract progresses. Schiano will have a $6 million buyout in his second season, a $4 million buyout in his third, a $3 million buyout in his fourth and a $2 million buyout in his fifth. Schiano will have a $1 million buyout for the final three years of the deal.

The contract calls for Schiano to make an average of $4 million annually, a figure that would’ve placed him 10th in the 14-team Big Ten this year.

And the unlimited private jet use that helped the talks initially break off last month? Schiano will be permitted to use a private jet for recruiting purposes and, "[i]f private funding is available, he will be able to use private air travel for other university business.” If private funding is unavailable for any non-recruiting university-related business, Schiano will be permitted to fly first-class.

In 11 seasons from 2001-11, Schiano went 68-67 as the head coach at Rutgers. In the seven-plus seasons since Schiano left for the NFL, the Scarlet Knights have gone 36-60 and are 13-44 since the start of the 2015 season; in the 17 years prior to his arrival in Piscataway, they went 67-114-2.

After leaving Rutgers, the 53-year-old Schiano spent two decidedly unsuccessful seasons (7-9 in 2012, 4-12 in 2013) as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Schiano served as the defensive coordinator at Ohio State from 2016-18 before being replaced as part of the post-Urban Meyer staff shakeup by new OSU head coach Ryan Day. In the two years in between the NFL and OSU stints, Schiano coached at a Tampa preparatory school.

“Rutgers University and this football program have meant the world to me and my family,” said Schiano in new quotes distributed by the school Tuesday morning. “I arrived here in 2000 with the goal to build a program that would be a source of pride for the state of New Jersey and develop great young men. I look forward to embracing that challenge once again. This is a great opportunity for all of Rutgers to pull together to get us back to where we all know we belong. It will take everyone on this campus and in the State of Rutgers to get this done.”

“Today we open the next great chapter for Rutgers Football,” said athletic director Pat Hobbs. “Coach Schiano is absolutely the best person to lead our program. He brings a quality of leadership and integrity that will make all of us proud in the years ahead. I couldn’t be more excited for our student-athletes and our fans. A lot of hard work lies ahead, but we will all keep chopping together with Coach to achieve success in the Big Ten. We all know what the goal is and we all must do our part. I can’t express enough appreciation to Greg and Christy Schiano, the first family of Rutgers Football. Welcome back!”