Ben Volin: Greg Schiano Could Join Pats

Well, whatever Bill. After so convincingly telling us that the coaching staff was set in virtually the only real nugget of value in his impromptu press conference, it seems as if that may not be the case at all.

Ben Volin of the Boston Globe is speculating that former Buccaneers head coach, adopted coaching acolyte, and technically a would-be Rutgers recruit Greg Schiano could join the Patriots on a one year deal as the linebackers coach. Volin states that Patriots overlord Bill Belichick and Schiano were hanging out last night in Indianapolis, at the combine.

Of course, this could be smoke and Belichick could be hanging out with a friend and former longtime college coach in order to get some additional insight on "kids these days", but Volin says there's "buzz" around this potential hire.

If Schiano joins, it would actually be a good signing (in my opinion). Schiano was a disaster as a head coach because he went all Mangini/McDaniels/Pioli/etc by trying to force a culture on a team without having real standing in the franchise.

As a head coach at Rutgers, though, he brought the program to great heights on the defensive side of the ball, posting a top 20 ranking on defense in 3 of his final 4 seasons.Convert the league rankings into NFL terms and that would have his defense in, roughly, the top 15% of the league His last year, 2011, had Rutgers ranked 8th in defense, out of 120 teams. That's the equivalent of the 2nd best defense out of 32 teams, if you were wondering.

Schiano has close relations with roughly 130% of the Patriots defensive players, so it's not like it would be an adjustment in coaching styles. We'll keep track of this scuttlebutt as we move forward.