Rutgers' Greg Schiano: 'Look, We're Not Penn State's Rival'

Rutgers' Greg Schiano, who began his college coaching career at Penn State, faces the Nittany Lions for the first time as a head coach.

Greg Schiano has seen the record book. Rutgers is 2-28 against Penn State, with wins in 1918 and 1988, and hasn't scored more than 10 points in their series since joining the Big Ten.

As a result, Schiano is reluctant to call this a rivalry game. Someday, maybe. But not yet.

"Look, we're not Penn State's rival," Schiano said Monday. "That's clear. And the reason is, we haven't given them a reason to make us their rival."

Perhaps Rutgers (2-4) moves in that direction this week. The Scarlet Knights host Penn State (noon kickoff on FS1) as 10-point underdogs but with one more victory than the 1-5 Lions.

Since joining the Big Ten in 2014, Rutgers has given Penn State one scare. The Lions won 13-10 that season only after Bill Belton capped an 80-yard drive with a touchdown run with 1:13 remaining.

Penn State has controlled the series since, outscoring Rutgers 149-22 in the last five games. The Lions controlled the series before that as well, winning 22 of 23 games from 1950-95.

Still, the Big Ten apparently sought to extend some rivalry status to the game, scheduling Rutgers-Penn State as the regular-season finales in 2019 and 2020 (originally). Schiano, who coached at Penn State from 1990-95, said a rivalry between the schools would be "natural" because of the state border and recruiting battles.

But the coach, who on Thursday will mark the one-year anniversary of his Rutgers return, added that a rivalry will require some work on his team's part.

"When rivalres develop it’s because there’s great contests on the field," said Schiano, who was Rutgers' head coach from 2001-11. "There's great recruiting battles, and that's why so many rivalries are regional, because you recruit the same kids and you have great games and it grows over time.

"I don't think you can make a rival. I don’t think you can say, 'Oh that’s our rival'. I don’t believe in that. If we play well enough over a number of years here in the game against Penn State, it would be a natural rival, bordering states all that. But Rutgers has not given a reason yet for us to be Penn State's rival. That’s up to us."

Schiano was an assistant coach at Ramapo (N.J.) High in 1988, when Rutgers last defeated Penn State, 21-16. After a year as a graduate assistant at Rutgers, Schiano became a graduate assistant at Penn State in 1990. He coached defensive backs from 1991-95 before taking a job with the Chicago Bears in 1996.

"I have a lot of fond memories about Penn State," Schiano said. "[It was my] first full-time job. Coach [Joe] Paterno gave me a chance at 25 years old to be the secondary coach. That doesn't happen very often. And just coached great players, worked with great people. Really, coach Paterno gave me an opportunity, and I learned a ton under him as a head coach."

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