Patriots to hire Greg Schiano as defensive coordinator, per report
For the second time in two offseasons, the New England Patriots are hiring a new top defensive assistant.
And for the second time in a row, the franchise is turning to a familiar face for the role.
The Boston Globe reports that former Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano will be hired as defensive coordinator with the Patriots, who lost linebackers coach and defensive play-caller Brian Flores to the Miami Dolphins when he took the team's head coaching job one day after New England won Super Bowl LIII over the Rams.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick has a close relationship with Schiano, who had routinely consulted with Belichick during events like the NFL scouting combine.
“I think Coach Schiano is a great defensive coach and he’s really coached all the positions — line, linebacker, DBs,” Belichick said in a press conference back in December 2015 when asked about the number of Rutgers players on New England’s roster.
“He’s had a lot of extensive work with defensive backs and I think he does a great job with them, but I’d say the overall way that he presents his program, the way he runs his program, runs his defense, teaches and so forth, that that’s all a great part of preparing players either in a similar way that we do it or when he was in college prepared them to come into our program with some changes but minimal maybe compared to other teams.”
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Twins Devin and Jason McCourty and Duron Harmon – all of whom are defensive backs – played under Schiano at Rutgers, where he was a head coach from 2001-2011.
For the last three years, Schiano had served as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator under coach Urban Meyer, who is also a close friend of Belichick. Schiano’s contract expired at the end of the season, after whic he announced he was leaving the program.
In 2018, the Buckeyes ranked 72nd in the country in total defense (403.4 yards a game allowed) and tied for 51st in scoring defense (25.5 points a game allowed).
Schiano also has head coaching experience with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2012-13), where he was fired after two seasons.
Follow Lorenzo Reyes on Twitter @LorenzoGReyes.