Rutgers is at a crossroads with Greg Schiano. Can new AD Keli Zinn save the day? | Politi

With a bright scarlet scarf wrapped tightly around her neck, Keli Zinn stood on the Rutgers sideline on Saturday night and watched the devastation unfold in all directions.

She saw the home team’s supporters, with their shoulders slouched and their heads down, making their way toward the exits at SHI Stadium. She saw the Rutgers players, some with fresh tears in their eyes, heading up the tunnel toward the locker room after the most bitter defeat that most have ever experienced. She saw the visiting cheerleaders, with giant “We Are” and “Penn State” banners, racing around the perimeter of the stadium to roars of approval from the invading fans.

“We had ’em beat,” one loyal Rutgers lifer said as he shuffled past Zinn toward the exits. It is hard not to wonder, on nights like this, how much more people can take before reaching their breaking point.

Zinn has spent much of her first few months as Rutgers athletic director getting to know this fan base. It is one thing to do a meet-and-greet while the diehards are happily tailgating before kickoff, and quite another to see them after one of these gut-punch losses that only seem to happen at Rutgers.

The Scarlet Knights were driving to extend their fourth-quarter lead over Penn State. Then quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis — untouched — dropped the football, a fumble that the Nittany Lions returned for a touchdown in a 40-36 victory. If Zinn didn’t understand what it is really like to be a Rutgers fan before this game began, well, she certainly does now.

Less than an hour after absorbing that scene, she sat in the press conference as head coach Greg Schiano mentioned her, unnamed, when asked a familiar question: What will it take for this program to take the next step?

“I refuse to get into the ‘woe is me,’” Schiano said. “But we’ve been operating at a completely different level than the people we compete with. So really what we’ve done is almost miraculous.

“We have some people now that understand what it takes, and we’ll be back in the way we’re supposed to be. It won’t be overnight, but it will happen.”

To cut through that first bit of hyperbole: Rutgers is an even 19-19 over the past three seasons, with nine of those victories coming against a non-conference schedule that includes the likes of Wagner, Norfolk State and Akron. The best win in that stretch is probably against a depleted and disinterested Miami team in the 2023 Pinstripe Bowl, while on back-to-back Senior Nights, the team coughed up winnable games against Illinois and Penn State in excruciating fashion.

Almost miraculous, it ain’t.

And, yet, Schiano isn’t wrong about the “operating at a completely different level” part of that summation. As the sixth season of his second stint as head coach ends, Rutgers has reached a crossroads with its longtime head coach. It must give him a respectable level of funding to compete in the Big Ten or accept that the program is doomed to an endless string of 7-6 and 5-7 seasons. It is now or never.

That’s where Zinn comes in. There is great optimism around the program that she is going to live up to her promise to provide Schiano the additional pool of “above-the-cap” name, image and likeness funding that coaches believe is necessary to compete for players in the transfer portal — and provide it soon.

This is not only a matter of bringing new blood into the program. It is about retention, too. Rutgers has a receiver, in sophomore K.J. Duff, who just finished a 1,000-yard season that included a circus catch on Saturday night that would make even Odell Beckham Jr. tip his cap. A well-coached Duff sidestepped a question about his future, but it could take a seven-figure payday to keep him and/or fellow star receiver Ian Strong on the roster. If Rutgers wants to play, it has to pay.

Look, fans are forgiven if they’re tired of reading about funding after every disappointing season. Rutgers didn’t lose to Iowa and Minnesota because of a funding discrepancy, and NIL didn’t ice the kicker in the loss to Illinois last season or make the disastrous decision to rehire Robb Smith as defensive coordinator.

Schiano did that. In a season when he finally had an offense that could move the ball against anyone in the Big Ten, he had a defense that turned routine running plays into 70-yard gains and gave up a whopping 750 yards in a humiliating loss to Oregon.

Two steps forward. Two steps back.

It is the Rutgers way.

“I’m not sure I have the answer quite yet,” Schiano said, referring to his plans for the offseason. “I have some real thoughts. But I need a couple days to really just get by myself and do some thinking and talk to some people that I really respect their opinions. Then (I’ve) got to make some decisions. There’s no doubt about it.”

Firing Smith and committing to hiring a defensive coordinator from outside the “family” is an easy first step. A bigger challenge will come in figuring out how to maximize resources when the roster has so many pressing needs. Many of Schiano’s transfer portal additions were busts last winter. Was that due to poor player evaluations or a lack of resources?

Zinn must ensure that the latter can no longer be used as an excuse. The coach reiterated his goal of bringing Big Ten and national championships to Rutgers, but acknowledged that the doubters might respond that “he’s been saying that for 25 years.” They’re tired of waiting.

No one expected a championship from the Scarlet Knights this season, but the first victory over a hated rival in decades was theirs for the taking. It is hard, on nights like this, to believe this program will do anything but deliver more gut punches to its loyal fans.

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