Rutgers Coach Schiano Focused On Season Despite Contract Talk

Schiano Says Revelations About His Contract Are Not Distractions

Rutgers Univ. (RU) football coach Greg Schiano yesterday said that his "only focus is on the 2008 football season" despite recent revelations "detailing a series of secret deals that enhanced his contract," according to Margolin & Sherman of the Newark STAR-LEDGER. Schiano, who attended yesterday's press conference in N.Y. announcing the rights deal between SportsNet N.Y. and the Big East Conference, said that the "disclosures about his contract with [RU] have not been a distraction." Schiano referred "all contract-related questions to [RU AD] Robert Mulcahy." Meanwhile, RU "refused to release a document spelling out one of several undisclosed changes to Schiano's employment agreement -- allowing the coach to walk away from his contract without penalty if the $102[M] Rutgers football stadium expansion project is not completed" by '09 as scheduled. RU President Richard McCormick Tuesday said that he has "asked his staff to determine exactly how the side-letter agreements were reached and whether that process ought to be changed." McCormick: "There's no reason to think anything was done wrong. But this is an opportunity to say can we do better here" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 7/24). Meanwhile, New Jersey state Sen. Loretta Weinberg is asking the state to investigate RU's "failure to make public the full terms of employment" that have pushed Schiano's annual compensation to almost $2M. Weinberg: "I do know that when you attempt a 'deal' like this, it's an attempt to hide something at a public university. If you're embarrassed about what you are doing, you shouldn't be doing it" (Bergen RECORD, 7/24).