Greg Schiano didn’t come into the 2026 season on the hot seat, but he quickly found himself on it after Rutgers got dominated in their home opener by lowly UMass — which hadn’t beaten a Power Four team since joining FBS in 2012 and hadn’t won against any FBS opponent since 2023. 

The Scarlet Knights looked hapless on defense and weren’t much sharper on offense, and while Schiano is comfortably the most accomplished coach at Rutgers since Frank Burns in the 1970s, a loss like that to UMass is enough to raise questions about one’s job security. A slow start on the road at Boston College on Friday night only accelerated the frustration among the Rutgers faithful, as they began to ponder the possible reality that they were the worst team in a Power Four conference. 

That’s not a position Rutgers wants to be in and was a major reason it brought Schiano back in 2020. However, in his second stint in New Jersey, Schiano has not managed to win more than seven games in a season with the Scarlet Knights. 

With Schiano yet to recapture the magic from his first tenure at Rutgers and the Scarlet Knights seemingly plummeting back into football obscurity in 2026, many have wondered if the program might look to make a change. 

Greg Schiano on hot seat after Rutgers upset by UMass: Scarlet Knights struggling in coach’s second stint

Shehan Jeyarajah

Greg Schiano buyout, contract details 

Schiano signed an extension in 2023 after a 7-6 season that culminated in a Pinstripe Bowl victory that would keep him at Rutgers through the 2030 season. 

Schiano is scheduled to make $6.75 million in 2026 and has three years and $22.5 million remaining on his contract, with his buyout clause calling for him to get paid the extremely specific amount of 76.875% of the remainder of that contract — which would be $17,296,875. Schiano’s contract includes a mitigation clause where the buyout is offset by any football coaching contract he signs in the future, but the 60-year-old is not required to pursue other employment. 

That is not a massive buyout by Big Ten standards as a whole, but for a Rutgers program that is already underwater when it comes to finances, it might not be reasonable to pay a coach more than $17 million to go away after a couple of bad games. At the very least, Schiano figures to get the remainder of 2026 to see if he can turn things around and get the Scarlet Knights back to respectability. 

If a turnaround isn’t on the horizon for Rutgers and they go 1-11 with their lone win coming against Howard, then there could be phone calls made to see about raising the funds to make a change.