In the end, the Glazers seemed determined to give it the old college try — no matter how many times it took.
Only four days after being rejected by University of Oregon head coach Chip Kelly, the Tampa Bay Buc owners returned to their cloak of secrecy Thursday and revisited the collegiate ranks — hiring Greg Schiano away from Rutgers University.
The man who took over the weakling Scarlet Knights 11 seasons ago and built them into a respected force is now tasked with resurrecting a Bucs team in disarray.
This move didn't come out of left field like Kelly's. It came from outside the stadium altogether.
To say Schiano was a surprise pick is putting it mildly — especially after an entire month of interviews from a list of mostly older candidates with previous head coaching or NFL coordinator positions on their resumes.
But for whatever reason, the Glazer family feels most at home when it's operating under the radar. Their stealth maneuvering was evidenced first with Kelly, whose name didn't surface until Sunday night when it appeared a deal was about to be struck.
Was Mike Sherman just a smoke screen this week when they brought him back for a second interview, while surreptitiously conducting a second undercover meeting with Schiano and putting the deal in place?
You can imagine the Glazer brothers and GM Mark Dominik high-fiving and doing their double-secret handshakes for pulling off another one — having pointed the media in one direction and then successfully tip-toeing out through the shadows to get their man.
The funny thing is, they were hell-bent on keeping his identity top secret for no apparent reason. It's not like other teams searching for a head coach didn't know he was out there, and the Rams had already considered Schiano — opting instead for Jeff Fisher.
To be fair, Schiano, 45, has done an admirable job — flat-out remarkable — at Rutgers. His overall record is misleading at 68-67. Prior to arriving at the school, the Scarlet Knights hadn't finished above .500 since 1992.
His first four seasons didn't change the trend, as the team sputtered to a mark of 12-34. But since 2005, the turnaround has been impressive: a mark of 56-33 and six bowl appearances (including five wins) and the feat of leading the 2006 Rutgers team to its first Top 25 ranking since 1976.
Can he replicate that accomplishment with the Bucs? There are some well-placed individuals who think he can, such as his good pal, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who owns three Super Bowl rings and could earn another in just over a week. Senior Sports Illustrated writer Peter King recently commented to Dan Patrick: "As far as a coaching sleeper, I think Greg Schiano is going to be a very good coach in the NFL."
That's all well and good. And in time, Schiano may be the man who'll return the Bucs to respectability, following their dismal 4-12 disintegration that led to Raheem Morris' firing on Jan. 2.
Maybe they're thinking that going to the New Jersey well one more time will finally pay off — following the failure of Jersey-born Morris and the failed attempt to land Jersey native Bill Parcells.
Maybe they're trying to replicate the success the San Francisco 49ers just had after plucking former NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh away from Stanford University. It wouldn't be the first time the Glazers made such a move.
In 2009, seeing the stellar success a former Bucs defensive backfield coach named Mike Tomlin had as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, they tapped one of Tomlin's protégés — former defensive backfield coach Morris — to lead the Bucs.
That experiment didn't work out so well, as events (such as an ongoing 10-game losing streak) played out. And that's precisely what makes this call something of another Glazer gamble.
There's going to be an NFL learning curve for the defensive-oriented Schiano, who served as defensive coordinator for the Miami Hurricanes for two seasons and was a defensive assistant and backfield coach of the Chicago Bears (1996-98).
Dominik will play a part — no surprise there — in helping Schiano assemble his staff and make personnel decisions. Of course, many top-flight coordinators have already been scooped up by other teams rebuilding their own coaching staffs.
For the record, Schiano was one of the three finalists — along with ex-Packers head coach Sherman and Panthers offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski — in the long and winding Bucs search that included 11 candidates.
The coach with the most distinguished record of the bunch with an NFL regular-season mark of 200-126-1, Marty Schottenheimer, didn't make the final cut.
Ultimately, the Glazers' decision to roll the dice on the heels of the fiasco of 2011 is risky business indeed.
They're counting on Schiano to bring his hard-nosed, hands-on style to a young team that lacked accountability, discipline and structure. And perhaps that alone will push the Bucs in the right direction.
But there's a long way to go in an NFC South division brimming with offensive firepower and tough competition from New Orleans, Atlanta and resurgent Carolina.
Only time will tell whether the decision to forgo an experienced NFL head coach — with the ability to hit the ground running with a proven staff — was the right way to go.
For now, all we know is that it was certainly the most surprising way.
