Rutgers Schiano Going to Tampa Bucs

Greg Schiano is leaving Rutgers University to become the new head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, multiple outlets reported Thursday.

ESPN, which was first to report the hiring, said the Bucs had finalized a five-year deal with Schiano, who has served as Rutgers' coach for the past 11 seasons.

The sides met Wednesday for the second time, and The Tampa Tribune reported several other candidates were notified Thursday morning that they were no longer being considered for the NFL's last remaining head coaching vacancy.

Schiano, who was a Penn State assistant coach from 1990-95, canceled a trip to State College Wednesday for the funeral of Joe Paterno amid talks with the Bucs, The Star-Ledger reported.

Schiano reportedly called a 2:00pm ET staff meeting at Rutgers, presumably to inform his coaches of his departure.

"Really? Not going to lie I am a little bit shocked right now," tweeted former Rutgers player Eric LeGrand, who was paralyzed during a game in 2010.

Schiano, 45, has resurrected the Scarlet Knights' football program, which went 11-44 in the five seasons before his December 2000 arrival.

Schiano has posted a winning record in six of the past seven seasons, with a record of 56-33 in that span. His overall head coaching record is 68-67.

Schiano was the defensive coordinator at Miami for two seasons before his hiring at Rutgers and served as a defensive assistant with the Chicago Bears from 1996-98.

He was also a finalist this month for the St. Louis Rams' head coaching vacancy before Jeff Fisher was hired, ESPN reported.

His departure comes at the worst possible time for Rutgers, with national signing day coming up next week. Many high school seniors who had committed to play for Schiano, and were expected to make it official next week, may now reconsider.

The Bucs fired Raheem Morris following the conclusion of a disastrous 4-12 season.

Former NFL head coaches Mike Sherman, Marty Schottenheimer and Brad Childress had interviewed for the position, along with current NFL assistants Mike Zimmer, Rob Chudzinski, Jerry Gray and Tom Clements.

The team thought it had found a new coach last weekend in Chip Kelly, but the Oregon head coach changed his mind Monday morning and stayed in the college ranks. Read more: ESPN