Ryan Day and Kerry Coombs Have Great Respect for Greg Schiano

Ohio State coaches Ryan Day and Kerry Coombs spoke highly of Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano from their time together on the OSU staff.

One of the major storylines going into Saturday's Big Ten matchup between Ohio State and Rutgers is the familiarity on the coach staffs. In 2018 when Urban Meyer was the head coach of the Buckeyes, Ryan Day served as offensive coordinator and Greg Schiano was the defensive coordinator. Fast forward two years, Ryan Day is leading the Buckeye program and Greg Schiano is back in charge at Rutgers for the second time.

That brought about questions this week about the relationship between the two head coaches. Ryan Day reminisced about how helpful Schiano was to him in the first three games of 2018 during Urban Meyer's suspension.

“I just had a lot of respect about how he went about his business everyday," Day said. "Then you know everything went down that summer leading into taking over for those first three games of the season, he was a huge help to me. He was a great resource, really helped me in terms of navigating through that preseason and the first three games. So I am forever in debt to him for that.

"And then just watching the way he really coached the coaches ... he's a great recruiter, really good communicator, again he can see the issues that are coming down the road, can get out in front of things really well. So when you combine all those things, there is a lot to learn from there and it's no surprise we already see how things are going at Rutgers, how that team looks and I think he's going to build something really good there.”

Kerry Coombs was also on the defensive staff working with Schiano in 2016 and 2017 before he left for a job with the Tennessee Titans. Coombs also raved about Schiano's character and ability.

“I really like Greg first of all, I think he is an outstanding football coach, I think he is a better man, a good husband, he is a good father," Coombs said. "I really like Greg and I learned a lot of football from him when he was here at Ohio State. I got to compete against Greg way back in old Big East and learned to dislike him when he was coaching the other team. The stamp that you see already on that program is that those kids are playing hard now, they are playing hard, they are playing with discipline, he has done a remarkable job and any new coach, new staff in a situation like we’ve had this off season is even harder. I just think he has done a great job."

Some have opined that because Schiano has such familiarity with the Buckeyes, that perhaps he could be at an advantage in game-planning on Saturday. Coombs wasn't so fast to hope on board with that thought.

"As far as familiarity is concerned, that works both ways," Coombs said. "I think there is a lot of familiarity staff to staff and going into the game plan, you have to take that into account obviously. Knowing how people like to attack different things offensively and defensively is information that would be helpful. “

Schiano has been a head coach before, so he certainly isn't new to that realm. In addition to leading Rutgers from 2001-2011, he was the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for two seasons. But considering the number of talented coaches on Ryan Day's staff and his relationship with Schiano, Day was asked on Tuesday what qualities he sees in assistant coaches that he thinks could translate to being a good head coach.

“There's a lot of different styles probably in leadership in terms of being a head football coach," Day said. "I think there are some guys who really aren't offense, really aren't defense, they just sort of manage the whole operation. They do a great job recruiting and they coach the coaches. Then I think there's the coach that is heavy on the offensive side and then there's the coach that is heavy on the defensive side.

"I think the thing, no matter what you coach, you have to understand how to motivate everyone in the building, how to show that you care about them and have the strength to lead everyday and multitask. I think communicating is critical. I can't really say there's one thing to say 'well now that guy would be a great head coach'. Certainly sometimes it's the situation, it is the circumstances for which you are in. But hiring a good staff is critical. Certainly the culture you build, building a vision and then being able to see it through, and being strong, being able to handle adversity and having a really good plan on where you want to go, being able to see around corners, and having confidence."

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