The Tennessee Volunteers were reportedly set to officially announce the hiring of Greg Schiano, but protests have put a damper on all that.
In fact, Jimmy Hyams of Sports Radio WNML reports the press conference has been cancelled. He also reports at least one prominent booster wasn’t happy with the hire, and he’s not sure if the press conference has been rescheduled or if the deal has fallen through.
Many protesters made it clear that Schiano’s involvement in the Penn State sex abuse scandal was not acceptable.
HAPPENING NOW: Slow but steady a few students and UT Alums are gathering outside of Neyland Stadium to protest the potential hiring of Greg Schiano. #WATE @WATEsports pic.twitter.com/mYy6Kgs4ao
— Madisen Keavy (@madisenkeavy) November 26, 2017
And at least one local politician isn’t happy about the hire.
I have reached out to @John_Currie and others in administration at UT expressing that WE as a TN Community do not approve of Schiano. #higherstandards
— Rep. Jason Zachary (@JasonZacharyTN) November 26, 2017
It’s going to be very interesting to see how things turn out going forward. The fact that the university is at least pressing the pause button on making the announcement tells us that it is at least momentarily reconsidering whether it’s prudent to make this hire.
Schiano has been the defensive coordinator at Ohio State the past two years. He had a run of success at Rutgers, posting a 68-67 record as the Scarlet Knights’ head coach from 2001-2011.