Greg Schiano is the banished angel of college football.

Two years ago, he was at the apex of the sport, coordinating a divine Miami defense to the Sugar Bowl.

After that season, Butch Davis, then the Hurricanes’ head coach, left for the Cleveland Browns. Schiano applied to take Davis’ place but Larry Coker beat him out.

Coker has since won his first 23 games as a head coach. Schiano left Miami and went to college football hell — Rutgers.

Since returning to New Jersey, his home state, Schiano has endured two dreadful seasons, going 2-9 his first year and 1-11 this season. Rutgers has yet to win a Big East game under Schiano, going 0-14 in conference.

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes appear poised to play for their second consecutive national title, and unlike Randy Shannon, Miami’s current defensive coordinator, Schiano won’t be along for the ride.

Schiano took the Rutgers job against Coker’s advice. Coker told Schiano he was once offered the head position at Tulsa, another program that perennially can count its wins on its thumbs. Coker almost took that job but decided he would rather press his luck at finding a better position. The lesson: being a head coach isn’t worth the sacrifice of losing’s harsh toll.

Despite his early failures, Schiano remains enthusiastic. He feels he’ll turn Rutgers from a laughingstock to a powerhouse.

‘I can tell you right now, we are going to win,’ Schiano said. ‘We’re going to win big. We’re going to win championships at Rutgers, and we’re going to do it the right way.’

If that sounds like a stretch, it is. But Schiano’s boundless energy and excitement soon should deliver the Scarlet Knights some respectability. Rutgers’ play improved greatly this season — including close calls against Tennessee, Miami and Temple.

‘Without question, we are a better football team,’ Schiano said. ‘Unfortunately, our record doesn’t show it, but we are a better football team.’

Schiano has already ushered in two of Rutgers’ best recruiting classes, and his strategy is to build around that talent base.

But this spring, Schiano’s first big recruit, Rikki Cook, transferred to North Carolina.

Schiano’s focused on recruiting in New Jersey, where players usually get snatched up by teams like Penn State, Boston College and Syracuse.

Kicking those schools out of the Garden State will be tough, but Schiano is willing to wait to realize his vision.

‘This program will be built on a rock foundation,” he said. “It will take longer than building on stilts. But when it’s built, it will be built forever.’

***

What if?

Picture what could have been.

On Saturday, No. 1 Miami and No. 2 Virginia Tech would be battling for a spot in the Fiesta Bowl, the Bowl Championship Series national title game.

The duel of powerhouses would recall the so-called Game of the Century, when, in 1971, Nebraska downed Oklahoma, 35-31, in the last meeting of the nation’s No. 1 and No. 2 teams this late in the regular season.

While Miami held up its end of the bargain, Tech is playing for the little pride it has left. Saturday’s game pitting Miami against Virginia Tech was supposed to be a Big East showcase. In late October, it appeared inevitable the undefeated Hokies would challenge the dynastic Hurricanes — winners of 33 straight — for not only the Big East championship but also a shot at the national title.

But after the Hokies suffered three straight conference losses, to Pittsburgh, Syracuse and West Virginia, they plummeted from No. 3 to as low as No. 22 in the country and lost any shot of vying for even a conference title.

Tech’s origami paper impersonation has turned them from contender to spoiler, and the Miami game has changed from showdown to letdown.

Still, this game is loaded with significance. If Miami can escape the Orange Bowl victorious, they’ll ensure a spot in the national championship.

The bowl implications are not as serious for the No. 18 Hokies, who have already guaranteed themselves fourth place in the Big East. But Tech can avoid its first losing conference season since 1992, and nothing would fix its shattered season like snapping the Hurricanes’ streak.

And if anyone can accomplish the task, it’s the Hokies. Last season, Tech nearly dashed Miami’s national title hopes. Though the Hokies fell, 26-24, only a dropped two-point conversion by wide-open Tech receiver Ernest Wilford kept the game from heading to overtime.

‘Our goal’s in sight, but no team’s going to give it to us,’ Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey told the Associated Press. ‘We proved that last year against Virginia Tech. No team is going to just hand it to us.’

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No respect

As the Big East season draws to a close, its time to give the maligned conference some respect. The Big East has been ripped for years (including this year, in this space), but the second half of this season should put a stop to all the Big East-bashing.

The league will finish with four Top 25 teams — Miami, West Virginia, Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh. That’s half the conference’s teams. The Big East has the best record (6-6) of any conference against ranked, non-conference foes. That stat is obscure, but telling. The Big East boasts the nation’s best team (Miami), as well as the nation’s best turnaround (West Virginia, which has won six more games this season than last). All of this comes despite Syracuse — a team most predicted to finish fourth in conference, at worst — going 4-8.

Boston College is the best example of the Big East’s accomplishments this season. The Eagles were undefeated in non-conference games, including a 14-7 win over Notre Dame. But BC managed only a 3-4 Big East record.

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This and that

First, there was the Crocodile Hunter, and now comes … the Hokie Bird? That’s right, Animal Planet brought the nation a taste of Blacksburg this Thanksgiving. In an informative show about turkey habitat and lifestyle that aired several times on the station last week, the Hokie Bird, Virginia Tech’s mascot, made a prolonged cameo.

Published on December 3, 2002 at 12:00 pm