Almost on cue, Rutgers produced a most memorable weekend. Shut out in the home finale against Michigan State, a middling team in the Big 10, RU had to face a very good Penn State team in State College to put this horrible season to rest.
Then came the news which shocked all of the Rutgers faithful. Greg Schiano had removed his name from consideration for the vacant RU head football coaching position. The messiah was not going to rescue RU from the dregs of college football.
The shock and outcry which followed was something I had never witnessed anywhere. Wealthy and influential alumni by the droves abandoned their support of Rutgers. Ticket sales, already teetering, continued to head in the wrong direction. The partisans gave the RU administration an earful as to how the administration had mishandled the expected Schiano renaissance, and hit the university with the only thing that counted—a promise to not to renew their subscriptions.
Schiano never made a public statement as to why he stopped the negotiations. The speculation was that Athletic Director Pat Hobbs, the former Seton Hall Law Dean, never wanted Schiano, who would have been an intolerable threat to Hobbs’ power.
In veiled shots at Schiano, his demands were turned into reasons why this marriage could not be consummated. Whether it was the salary and terms of contract, the proposed buyouts, the use of a private jet or the need to meet certain dates for the start and completion of facilities Schiano deemed necessary to be able to compete with the other programs of the Big 10, Hobbs refused all requests. There was no negotiations with counter offers which would allow Schiano to return to the site of his success. There would be no vote by the Board of Governors. The matter was dead.
Schiano was not on the list of candidates a search consultant Hobbs hired had proposed. Hobbs was forced into spending time with the RU legend rather than conduct the search on his own terms. People surmised that he bristled at this development, which was further aggravated by Schiano’s thorough preparation, which included pointing out the flaws as well as listing what he was prepared to do when he started anew at Rutgers. It was clear to those who knew and talked to Schiano that he wanted the job.
All of this ineptitude did not sit well in the papers, on the blogs nor with the alumni and fans who had supported RU football in heyday and in its present day decline. High school football coaches, the supposed pipeline for talented players who could come to RU and revive the Scarlet Knights, issued a strong statement condemning a process that failed tp recognize how beloved Schiano was by them. There was one target for their wrath—Hobbs. He was the guilty party, the one who had botched the return of Greg Schiano. It didn’t matter that RU President Robert Barchi came out in support of Hobbs.
Politicians became involved in this matter—former Governor Chris Christie, who famously abused the use of the state helicopter for his private use and stayed in opulent places while on the road, lambasted Schiano’s need for a private jet for recruiting and flying his family to away games. Former acting Governor Richard Codey, an ardent fan of RU sports despite his known affiliation with Seton Hall basketball, came down hard on RU administrators. Governor Phil Murphy did not enter the fray, as some had hoped.
Then suddenly, on Tuesday, a glimmer of hope arose with speculation from sources within the athletic department and the university that they might reconsider reopening the talks. Word came back that Schiano would welcome more discussions on his coming home. It was dubbed a “Thanksgiving Miracle.”
Nothing further had happened as I start to write this blog the day after Thanksgiving. I didn’t know if Hobbs sincerely wants Schiano, as he may have orchestrated a way to get around hiring Schiano, going for unproven coaches with little or no track record, some lacking the pedigree necessary to rally the fans. I had been dubious that this Schiano revival was going to happen and I still remained skeptical of Hobbs willingness to let it happen.
So far 12 RU players have entered the transfer portal, tired of the mediocrity and the failure to secure Schiano. The portal can be reopened and a player can return to his school if he wishes. That would only occur if Schiano became the head man.
As I had stated on a Facebook post by a former player who did not play for Schiano, I am not a big fan of Hobbs. Nonetheless, nobody had heard much about Greg Schiano before he came to Rutgers, and his success came at the end of his tenure, in a league not the caliber of the Big 10. Hobbs could choose someone else and that person could, in a matter of years, make us forget about Greg Schiano and how botched the whole sordid affair was.
If the stands are filled 5 years down the road, the capital infrastructure is in place and access to Big 10 money is secure, it would be Hobbs legacy. Whether that person manning the sidelines is Greg Schiano or someone else, this would be the positive effect of Pat Hobbs. Should the hirings, be it is Schiano or another coach who has the reins of the football program, fails to right the ship and the stands remain empty, that too, is Hobbs’ to live with.
It was certainly too early to assess what the future holds for RU football. What has happened is that there were a whole lot of people frustrated and angry with where it is now, given the developments of this week.
But in atypical RU fashion, the incredible commotion from the fans, alumni and politicians, including Governor Murphy, who spoke with Schiano and stayed on top of the new talks, was heard by the RU administration. Greg Schiano is once more going to be the head coach at Rutgers. Hobbs must have caved and he has said all of the right things in commenting on the news. Come Tuesday, when the Board Governors meets, this mess will finally be over and RU can start righting the ship.
Stephen F. Austin University is an institution of higher learning located in Nagcodoches, Texas. It is a state school, named after the great Texan, Stephen F. Austin. Started as a teachers college, the school has an undergraduate population just shy of 11,000 students. The graduation rate is 44%, with a lot of students on financial aid.
Athletics is a part of Stephen F. Austin. Teams compete in the Southland Conference, a regional association in the TexArkLa area. The schools which comprise the Southland Conference are: Lamar, Sam Houston State, Abilene Christian, Central Arkansas, Incarnate Word, Mc Neese, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Northwestern State, Southeastern Louisiana, Houston Baptist, Nicholls, New Orleans and Stephen F. Austin. Names known to athletics junkies and those in the region. Definitely second tier schools in athletics.
Contrast the Southland Conference with the Atlantic Coast Conference, one of the Power 5 conferences. The ACC membership is more notable: Clemson, Boston College, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest, Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and full basketball participation by Notre Dame. These are nationally-known universities and champions in many sports. And prestigious academic institutions as well.
So when Duke hosted Stephen F. Austin in men’s basketball on Tuesday night, it was a matter of the #1 team in the country playing a school ranked in the upper 200’s. Here was a revered program, the Duke Blue Devils, from a school renowned for its high level of education, in a top tier conference, playing a lesser light from somewhere in Texas.
Thus, the fans who entered Cameron Indoor Stadium, a cathedral of college basketball, on that night expected nothing more than a blowout victory for the home team. The visitors had just lost at Rutgers, regarded as a middle to lower end of the Big 10 school. Comparatively, Duke had just defeated California and Georgetown at Madison Square Garden. Duke had also handled Central Arkansas, a Southland school, by a score of 105-54. Which is why the oddsmakers tabbed Duke to be a 27.5 favorite in this game.
What we forget about Stephen F. Austin’s basketball program is this—in 2015-16, Stephen F. Austin won the Southland Tournament, went 28-6, which included a 14 point victory over West Virginia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before a 1 point loss to Notre Dame eliminated them. There was some pedigree for Stephen F. Austin. Also, there are 52 former players from the Southland Conference competing in some level of professional basketball. They may not have been the chumps Duke was looking forward to feasting upon and fattening their record.
Since I knew of their NCAA history, I purposely chose to see Stephen F. Austin play at Rutgers in the game prior to Duke. Rutgers put a clamp down on the Lumberjacks with a stifling defensive effort and shooting nearly 50%. The Lumberjacks did not shoot very well from 3 point range against the Scarlet Knights, and missed some critical free throws in the second half. While RU mounted leads of 14 and 13 points, Stephen F. Austin kept chipping away repeatedly, bringing the margin to 7 points with 1:37 left to play before RU surged ahead for good. The final score was 69-57, but I had been impressed with the defensive schemes and hustle from the visitors, who forced 19 RU turnovers while suffering their first loss of the campaign. I thought that it might be interesting to see how they would play against Duke for at least a half.
Well, Duke has learned the very hard way who were the visitors in black with the letters SFA stitched across their jerseys. The Cameron Crazies and the rest of the Duke legion of fans now know who Stephen F. Austin is: that they are the Lumberjacks and that they can play some serious hoops. This is because, in one of the more monumental upsets of any college basketball season, SFA defeated Duke 85-83 in overtime via a steal and layup as time expired by Nathan Bain. The huge underdog went toe to toe with the big dog and didn’t flinch. Every time Duke seemed to grab some momentum, back came the Lumberjacks and, for a significant period of time, actually led the Blue Devils in the second half. The score was tied 11 times and there were 17 lead changes. SFA shot over 48% for the game against a young and very talented Duke squad, which shot 50% for the game but hit on only 24 of 40 free throw attempts.
Kevon Harris led the Lumberjacks with 26 points. Bain hit for 11 points, with the two that counted the most, to end Duke’s long, 19 year unbeaten streak at home against non-conference foes.
In the post-game hysteria, the Lumberjacks were ecstatic about what they had accomplished. Coach Kyle Keller, a career assistant coach at a myriad of top schools before taking the helm at SFA for the 2016-17 season, thanked Duke for the opportunity to play them. Bain went from a Bahamian who lost his home over the summer in Hurricane Dorian to cult hero; his Go Fund Me Page to restore his home went from a couple of thousand dollars to over $100,000 as a result.
Not that the team isn’t well grounded. Upon returning home, the Lumberjacks served turkey dinner to those less fortunate in their area of Texas. They get it and they appreciate from where they came. Their perspective, no matter what happened on Tuesday night, will remain the same. I wish them nothing bu the best and hope they can meander through the remainder of the schedule and head to the NCAA tournament. Everybody will be gunning for them now—to defeat the team which took down Duke. For them, the rest of the season begins on Saturday when they are on the road again at Arkansas State. The reception they will receive on December 2 when they host Arlington Baptist will be beyond belief.
As for Duke, they have to face reality and adversity. Starting tonight, teams like Winthrop will be going after the wounded Blue Devils. I expect them to regroup and have a very successful season—provided that they learned well from this painful lesson.
It was fun watching history unfold on Tuesday night with a team I had a small connection to. This is a year where, in the early months, the behemoths are being shocked by the have nots. Tell me this isn’t fun? You bet it is. I wonder how much longer this trend will continue. For now it is a blast.
Some quick notes. I saw the 3 NFL games on Thanksgiving. The 3 teams I expected to win did. Dallas is a disaster and they are fortunate that 6-6 will keep them no worse than a tie for the NFC East lead.
I wonder what the schedule makers with the flex option were thinking when they chose to air New England at Houston on Sunday night instead of 1 loss San Francisco at Baltimore with the red hot Lamar Jackson at QB? Patriots-Texans is nice. 49’ers-Ravens is a marquee matchup.
I also feel sad that there are so few Thanksgiving high school rivalries in New Jersey. The NJSIAA playoffs have eliminated the multitude of those contests. Thanksgiving and high school football were synonymous in my youth and into my 30’s.
The Thanksgiving Egg Bowl pitting Mississippi at Mississippi State had a bizarre ending. Mississippi scored a late touchdown which put them within 1 point of a tie score. An unnecessary celebration by the Rebels, replicating a dog urinating, got them flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The kicker was moved back 5 yards for the extra point and he missed it. The final score was 21-20 in favor of State, who became bowl eligible with the win.
Finally, one NHL game was played on Thanksgiving night. The New Jersey Devils traveled to Montreal (where it was NOT Thanksgiving Day) for their 7th Turkey Day game—all on the road. Their opponent for many of those games was Arizona, and there were 3 times when the Devils played at the Dallas Stars or Anaheim the night before. Two times the team was under its former names, and the last time, in 2000, the Devils played in Los Angeles. For the record, the Devils won 6-4 over the Canadiens.
Maybe this pre-and Thanksgiving Day sports smorgasbord is part of the post-Thanksgiving blahs from too much eating. Then again, what if it isn’t? Oy…
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